Have been reading the threads about tyre wear with interest, and having had a strange steering characteristic on my car since brand new decided to check mine out.

The results on inspection were bizzare to say the least !

All the tyres bar the front nearside have worn evenly, but the front nearside is wearing smooth on the inner inch or so.

I have attached photos as it is far easier to show than explain.

The car is a Octavia MkII VRS petrol, bought new in Dec 2006 and having covered 13,000 miles on these tyres.

Since new I have had the car four wheel aligned twice in an attempt to put right a strange anomaly wherby the car appears to pull to the right against camber ( more so under power, or so it seems ), and the steering and handling sems more "positive and firm" on left hand bends than right handers ( when the steering feels strangely light and a bit vague !)

Car is otherwise fine but I am somewhat puzzled as to why this tyre has worn as it has.

The tyres are Bridgstone Potenza RE050.

The first time it was aligned it was done by Bickerton Skoda, Sheffield a month or so after it was bought, they then said it drove "fine" when they road tested it.

I then had it done a few months ago at a very reputable local independant garage who used to service my BMW, and they said the rear alignment was "miles out".

They set the alignment to VrsStu's recommended settings, and it did appear a bit better, but now the snow is coming I want to put some fresh rubber on, but am loathe to do so if they will wear like these.

Help ?

Stupid question but setting the camber - is it done with the original tyres? Surely if thats the case then the set up will not be correct (if a oddly wore tyre was on it at the time) due to the profile of the tyre sitting on the ground.

Also is there a chance that when the alignment was being done and assuming one of the back tyres was worn on the inside, a problem was found like you mentioned above and adjusted, would that badly worn tyre have then been put on the front and cause handling issues with the front of the car?

What about swapping the front 2 tyres? Bascially to see if it keeps pulling to the right.

The other thing is instead of putting new rubber on the front what about putting the 2 rears on the front (check them before hand to make sure wear is reasonably level), and put new rubber on the rear. Then check after a while and you'll know if the front is out of alignment and you'll ONLY have damaged a fairly worn tyre and not a brand new one

I know Mcgyver had an issue with his steering rack, a judgement was made that the front alignment was not right, it was done by a garage next door and the car started pulling to the right afterwards, so what ever alignment was done it knock it out of its ideal set up.

Cheers for the reply Gaff.

The tyres are the original ones, and have never been off the car, they are in the same position that they were when it was aligned both times.

Not sure about swapping the rear and fronts over as they are getting to the end of their lives, and I would rather have fresh ones up front and the originals at the back ( the back ones have worn okay, loads of life left ).

May switch the fronts side to side though and see how it drives.

The car is currently at the local garage being 4-wheel aligned again, I pointed out the wear to the mechanic, and he said he would contact the company who supplied the alignment machine and see if they have any updated camber settings. Apparently the ones in the book are not always accurate, Lotus Elises being particularly specific dependant on model apparently !?!

Will let you know how it feels after I get it back.

A word of caution - please check that these tyres are NOT directional before swapping left to right.