Morning all, 

 

Just had car serviced, it's 2 years old, 18000 miles on the clock.  3 tyres all have 6mm of thread left but the front left wheel only has 2mm. 

 

Doesn't seem right to me. Is there anything I should he asking the garage to check for me?

19 minutes ago, techsearchuk said:

front left wheel only has 2mm.

Need more detail on the wear pattern, and are all 4 tyres the same make and model?

Check that measurements given.  But you sit at the front corner.  Do you live / drive where there are lots of roundabouts or even mini roundabouts.   A pity that before now like a year / 9,000 miles ago the wheels / tyres were never swapped front to back or even checked.   At some point there was 5 mm then 4 mm tread on the tyre. 

Edited 22 January, 20224 yr by roottoot

Thanks for the responses. All four tyres are Pirelli P7 235.45.R18. 

 

There are plenty of speed bumps near where I am.. one ones that don't cover the whole width of the road (hopefully that makes sense!) 

34 minutes ago, techsearchuk said:

one ones that don't cover the whole width of the road

Usually referred to as "speed cushions".

Also @roottoot makes a good point about roundabouts; is the LHF wear worse on the outside edge?

Check the tyre depths yourself with a tyre depth gauge or other measuring instrument.

My car was serviced at the dealer and they reported 3mm on the front, 2 weeks later the car was in for its MOT at the same place, and the fronts had magically grown to 5mm

As long as the tread wear is even across the entire tyre, you have nothing to worry about, just a worn out tyre

1 hour ago, ApertureS said:

As long as the tread wear is even across the entire tyre, you have nothing to worry about, just a worn out tyre

Could be steering alignment.

 

However it does highlight the need to swap the tyres around at intervals.  It’s not very helpful having one badly worn tyre, when the same total wear could have been 4mm tread all round.   
 

If you have 3mm difference in tread size on same axle, then you have wheels 6mm diameter different.  Not going to help car drive in a straight line.

 

2 hours ago, ApertureS said:

As long as the tread wear is even across the entire tyre, you have nothing to worry about, just a worn out tyre

 

If the car still has all 4 original tyres and the tyre wear is even across the tyre there is still something wrong. I know that nearside tyres do have a tendency to wear quicker than offside, and I've noticed this on the rear of some cars that I have had, there is something amiss if one front tyre is 2mm and the other is 6mm. As mentioned above, tread depth is often an estimation, and I find it odd that a front wheel drive car would have 6mm on one front and 6mm on the rears. I think the first thing to do is to measure of have the tyres measured.

Suggest you have all 4 wheels tracked. My n/s front was out of sync, although I am the second owner. The previous owner looked after the car very well, and only clocked 27,000 miles in 5 years. I had front and backed tracked for £73. recently. Just make sure the steering wheel is centered after tracking.

It’s a stretch given the sizeable difference in tread depth, but any chance that’s the wheel that scrabbles for grip coming out of junctions and entering roundabouts etc?

1 hour ago, UndertheRadar said:

It’s a stretch given the sizeable difference in tread depth, but any chance that’s the wheel that scrabbles for grip coming out of junctions and entering roundabouts etc?

Don't know how the OP drives, but it's that corner, yes.

8 hours ago, UndertheRadar said:

It’s a stretch given the sizeable difference in tread depth, but any chance that’s the wheel that scrabbles for grip coming out of junctions and entering roundabouts etc?

Could be, and Pirelli P7 summer tyres are known not to like cold rain, with grip falling off in wet below about +10c.  Others have reported spinning front wheels with these tyres pulling out of junctions on cold wet mornings (even with 1.0tsi engines)

 

I actually find the P7 are very good summer tyre, but it is not an all year tyre, so you do need to swap to winters Nov-March.  Seasonal swapping time does mean would have been able to even out tread depths by refitting in different corner.

 

Hopefully @techsearchuk realises factory fit summer tyres (and handbook indicating should be swapped around) means don’t just use them all year in same corners until one dies.  Probably more of a warning to others.

 

1 hour ago, SurreyJohn said:

Could be, and Pirelli P7 summer tyres are known not to like cold rain, with grip falling off in wet below about +10c.  Others have reported spinning front wheels with these tyres pulling out of junctions on cold wet mornings (even with 1.0tsi engines)

 

I actually find the P7 are very good summer tyre, but it is not an all year tyre, so you do need to swap to winters Nov-March.  Seasonal swapping time does mean would have been able to even out tread depths by refitting in different corner.

 

Hopefully @techsearchuk realises factory fit summer tyres (and handbook indicating should be swapped around) means don’t just use them all year in same corners until one dies.  Probably more of a warning to others.

 

I completely agree, the P7s on my 220 are shocking. Try to pull out of a junction a bit quick and they just spin. Terrible really

Thanks for the comments guys. I measured the tyres myself this time and tyre in question is actually 4mm and not 2mm. So I'm less concerned now than I was before. Still wearing faster than the others but not quite as bad. 

I don't know what material Pirelli P7 tyres are made out of but both my front tyres are just touching 5mm at 22,000 miles, the rears at 6mm. I measured them at 7mm new. So it could be that they would last 55,000/110,000 miles front/rear to 2mm, not withstanding that tyres usually wear slower when the tread depth is lower.

 

Somewhat surprising and at the same time depressing as these tyres are the noisiest and harshest I've ever experienced, by far. I constantly worry that my differential is shot such is the drone I hear on occasion. Must be extremely hard compound, which would explain others complaining about traction issues.

 

I can only assume that Skoda wanted an eco tyre that pushes down their pretend emissions figures so saving them a bit from the ludicrous EU penalty payments/tax.

 

There is another Superb 3 poster that recorded a ridiculously high mileage on their P7 tyres.

 

20 hours ago, xman said:

I don't know what material Pirelli P7 tyres are made out of but both my front tyres are just touching 5mm at 22,000 miles, the rears at 6mm. I measured them at 7mm new. So it could be that they would last 55,000/110,000 miles front/rear to 2mm, not withstanding that tyres usually wear slower when the tread depth is lower.

 

Somewhat surprising and at the same time depressing as these tyres are the noisiest and harshest I've ever experienced, by far. I constantly worry that my differential is shot such is the drone I hear on occasion. Must be extremely hard compound, which would explain others complaining about traction issues.

 

I can only assume that Skoda wanted an eco tyre that pushes down their pretend emissions figures so saving them a bit from the ludicrous EU penalty payments/tax.

 

There is another Superb 3 poster that recorded a ridiculously high mileage on their P7 tyres.

 

They seem to be a much harder material meaning less wear, but also less grip. I bet theyre cracked to **** though, mine are full of cracks

21 minutes ago, ApertureS said:

They seem to be a much harder material meaning less wear, but also less grip. I bet theyre cracked to **** though, mine are full of cracks

No cracking that I can see as yet

 

 

8 hours ago, xman said:

No cracking that I can see as yet

Me neither.