For the ignorant amongst us, whats "axle tramp"? Now I'm wondering if I have this on my TDi but don't even know it!

You'd know it if you've had it; feels like the front suspension is going to fall to bits!

To try and explain;

when you have an excess of power, enough to cause wheelspin but the road conditions are still quite grippy, the front wheels, under power, load up the compliance in the suspension ..... but then loose grip ...... so the suspension 'unwinds' the load ...... but this causes the wheels to grip again (not spin) ........ so under power the wheels load up the suspension .... and ..... cycle repaeted .... until full grip is restored. This cycle causes a somewhat violent up/down movement of the front suspension - axle tramp.

In theory the ESP should cut in to minimise the wheelspin but it seems to me that this only makes it (axle tramp) seem worse and switching off the ESP seems to make no difference.

The only cure that I have found is to back off the power to cut out the wheelspin. It is AFAIK a triat of high powered VAG group FWD cars with no apparent cure; other than to use a lighter right foot.

OK?

PS> The vRS TDI is perhaps more prone to axle tramp than the vRS TFSI due to its higher torque output.

So it would be more obvious with a Bluefin then!

I've not witnessed this, thankfully, so I guess I must be driving far too sensibly

You'd know it if you've had it; feels like the front suspension is going to fall to bits!

To try and explain;

when you have an excess of power, enough to cause wheelspin but the road conditions are still quite grippy, the front wheels, under power, load up the compliance in the suspension ..... but then loose grip ...... so the suspension 'unwinds' the load ...... but this causes the wheels to grip again (not spin) ........ so under power the wheels load up the suspension .... and ..... cycle repaeted .... until full grip is restored. This cycle causes a somewhat violent up/down movement of the front suspension - axle tramp.

In theory the ESP should cut in to minimise the wheelspin but it seems to me that this only makes it (axle tramp) seem worse and switching off the ESP seems to make no difference.

The only cure that I have found is to back off the power to cut out the wheelspin. It is AFAIK a triat of high powered VAG group FWD cars with no apparent cure; other than to use a lighter right foot.

Good little explanation there

I have to say it's not only VAG cars this seems to happen on. My Renault Clio 182 was a nightmare for this - it was so bad it broke my exhaust once whilst on a trip to the 'Ring :eek:

I agree with you entirely and on a FWD car will always fit my best tyres to the front because they are the tyres that can help me put down power, brake or steer most effectively which should put me in a better position to get out of trouble than having to rely on a pair of non-driven, non-steering wheels!

FWIW, no tyre fitter I've used has ever insisted or even suggested I put new tyres on the rear, despite booklets in the waiting room promoting it.

Chris

I always used to put the best tyres on the front, until I spun an ESP equipped car with no warning. I had different tyre brands front and back, but all had good tread. Basically, the Yokohamas on the back were rubbish in the wet, whilst the Bridgestones on the front were excellent.

I swapped them around and put up with the understeer, until I wore them out (as quickly as possible ).

FWIW my tyre experiences on my Mk5 GTI golf (18" wheels) over 62k miles/22 months:

Factory fit: Conti sport contact3 - pretty good tyres, good grip lasted well.

replaced with 4x Dunlop sport max - awful things - rock hard ride, no grip, lasted well (unfortunately).

replaced with 4x Eagle F1 assymetrics. Great tyres - justifiable winners of both the EVO and Autocar tyre tests IMO..

.. however - you need to be prepared to throw them away when you get down to about 3 mm remaining tread - the drop-off in performance at this level is worst than any other tyre i've ever had. Don't even think about running them down to 1.6mm - you'll fall off the road.

.. however - you need to be prepared to throw them away when you get down to about 3 mm remaining tread - the drop-off in performance at this level is worst than any other tyre i've ever had. Don't even think about running them down to 1.6mm - you'll fall off the road.

You need to do this for any and all tyres IMHO. If you read up on Independent tests of worn tyres, the drop off in wet weather performance is frightening with less than 3mm tread depth, for any tyre.

I replaced my front pair of Ultrac Sessantas recently at 2.5mm remaining and that was none too soon. They were replace by the rears (still Ultracs) with 6mm and they feel like new.