Tyres
- Thread starter JonRola
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I have potenzas on the front and eagle f1s on the back and no problems!
Soon to be all f1's though
Soon to be all f1's though
alfiejts
Registered User
90% of the time, you're not going to notice are you? but in a 4wd car, then at the point that you're starting to lose traction, you ideally want all four tyres to have the same degree of grip. If you have different tyres on front and rear and they have different grip characteristics, you're could get front and rear losing traction at a different time to the other - which isn't ideal for getting the best traction.
Even on a two wheel drive car, when you're cornering, the suspension is designed to be "balanced" assuming the grip from all four wheels is the same.
If you have different tyres with different grip levels on front & back, then when cornering near the grip limit, you could get the front or rear breaking away, in a way that is different to the safe, neutral way that was designed in by the suspension designers- you could get unexpected understeer or oversteer if the front or rear breaks away before the other end.....
I had a 2wd Alfa 156 that felt really awful cornering on roundabouts even at reasonable speeds, when I bought it and it had two different types of tyre on it. As soon as I fitted all four of the same tyres, it felt great again - just like my previous 156....
So you're really not going to notice much until you get near the grip limit and then the issue is that because you can't predict how the two different tyres will react in the same extreme circumstances, you can't predict how the car will react...
Having completed my rant - I'm sure that nearly half the cars in the country will have a mix of tyres and I'm sure most people survive - but personally, I prefer to know I'm going to get the same balanced grip from each corner....
Even on a two wheel drive car, when you're cornering, the suspension is designed to be "balanced" assuming the grip from all four wheels is the same.
If you have different tyres with different grip levels on front & back, then when cornering near the grip limit, you could get the front or rear breaking away, in a way that is different to the safe, neutral way that was designed in by the suspension designers- you could get unexpected understeer or oversteer if the front or rear breaks away before the other end.....
I had a 2wd Alfa 156 that felt really awful cornering on roundabouts even at reasonable speeds, when I bought it and it had two different types of tyre on it. As soon as I fitted all four of the same tyres, it felt great again - just like my previous 156....
So you're really not going to notice much until you get near the grip limit and then the issue is that because you can't predict how the two different tyres will react in the same extreme circumstances, you can't predict how the car will react...
Having completed my rant - I'm sure that nearly half the cars in the country will have a mix of tyres and I'm sure most people survive - but personally, I prefer to know I'm going to get the same balanced grip from each corner....
Usually when talking about awd it means Identical SIZE tyres. So 225/40/18" in all corners and does not matter if they all four are different brand.
Some say it's ok to use 10% wider in back and some say who cares.
It's not really about levels of grip, the main reason to have identical tyres on all round is to ensure they are all exact the same rolling diameter or as close as possible. In the 90s the Vauxhall 4x4 on the Calibra and Cavalier was super-sensitive and apparently the transfer box could be ruined if you ran different tyres but I don't think the Quattro system is as sensitive as that but it does make sense to use exact same tyres all round to ensure wheelspeed information is exactly the same.
You might think you can go off say 225/40/18 but not all brands of tyres are strictly the same physical size. Some will look a little taller/wider than others etc of the same apparent size.
You might think you can go off say 225/40/18 but not all brands of tyres are strictly the same physical size. Some will look a little taller/wider than others etc of the same apparent size.
Spin140
Registered User
I noticed when I bought an approved used quattro that the dealer (audi UK) forms stipulated that tyres on the same axle must be of the same type/brand so I guess they insist on this for a reason, so different front and back should be fine. I have Conti on mine all round at the moment but when the first 2 wear I'll move to Goodyear F1 assymetrics again, superb tyre.
beanoir
Large Member
I'm actually trying my level best to wear my Potenzas as quick as I can with a view to getting some Goodyear, much prefer them. Although this time I may get some new shiny bits to fill the middles at the same time 
Someone touched on this briefly earlier, it is down to the overall diameter. If you fit 4 brand new tyres but different brands in pairs then no problem. However if your new tyres on the front have 7mm tread and your worn rears only have 3mm left on them, this could potentially cause issues with the four wheel drive system. Measure the remaining tread depth on the tyres you want to keep on, and compare it to the tread depth of the new ones, usually 2mm is the tolerance most manufacturers will work to.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Good luck with the F1 Asymetrics! I ordered 4 last week at a trye fitter and when I turned up to have them fitted they'd sent 2 asymetrics and 2 F1 GSD3(?). They said they'd get 2 more asymetrics for the next day, but when I turned up they told me they couldn't get any. Later that day they rang to say they had found some - abroad !! They should be here Thursday hopefully.
Either they're dicking me around (I'll name and shame if Thursday doesn't happen) or there's a shortage on Asymetrics at the moment - at least in 225/40 18 92Y guise.
Of course this means I've been running with new tyres on the rear and very worn ones on the front for a week - hope it hasn't done any damage? (though with Haldex, I assume if I drive steadily so the 4WD doesn't kick in, it shouldn't matter?)
Either they're dicking me around (I'll name and shame if Thursday doesn't happen) or there's a shortage on Asymetrics at the moment - at least in 225/40 18 92Y guise.
Of course this means I've been running with new tyres on the rear and very worn ones on the front for a week - hope it hasn't done any damage? (though with Haldex, I assume if I drive steadily so the 4WD doesn't kick in, it shouldn't matter?)
had both GSD-3's and asymetrics on the S3 but would have Potenza 050's over them any day. just bought new quattro with contisport 3's, not so impressed. Michelin PS2's best tyres ive ever run but i hear the PS3's are even better so they will be going on next.
BigBird
Lost in music...
I had the reverse of markwiggy's temporary tyre set up & no probs.
I swapped the Conti SportContact 3s for GY F1 asymmetrics, running for 2 months with brand new GY rears & mostly worn Conti fronts before changing the fronts for GY F1s. Didn't notice any problems at all...
I swapped the Conti SportContact 3s for GY F1 asymmetrics, running for 2 months with brand new GY rears & mostly worn Conti fronts before changing the fronts for GY F1s. Didn't notice any problems at all...
That's good to know.
I rang the tyre place this afternoon and they confirmed my remaining 2 F1's had arrived. So hopefully tomorrow I'll have 4 new F1's on the car and will be able to see if they live up to the hype. I've been running Michelin PS2's on my last car for 7 years and they're what was on my S3 when I bought it last year. I always found them a great tyre, so the F1's have a lot to live up to.
providing the tyres are the same size it wont matter. quattro owners manuals also say that the tyres dont need to have the same tread depth, just need to be the same size. the slight changes in width and rolling radius between different brand tyres of the same size will account for no more of a difference than tyres that are new/half worn/legal limit. otherwise over/under inflated tyres would cause damage to the 4 wheel drive system.
the reason they tell you to fit the same tyre all around is to encourage responsible maintenance of the car, and drivers not just fitting any old tyre when they change 1/2/3 tyres as opposed to a complete set.
as a rule of thumb similar tread depths, similar quality tyres and the same type of tread pattern (asymetric/directional/symetric) wont damage the car and will keep the handling balance as audi intended.
the reason they tell you to fit the same tyre all around is to encourage responsible maintenance of the car, and drivers not just fitting any old tyre when they change 1/2/3 tyres as opposed to a complete set.
as a rule of thumb similar tread depths, similar quality tyres and the same type of tread pattern (asymetric/directional/symetric) wont damage the car and will keep the handling balance as audi intended.
I've had a problem with one of my wheels - I wasn't driving...really!! I now have to replace the rim and the tyre. Does anyone know where I can source Kenda Kaiser tyres in Northern Ireland?
I sourced a brand new rim from a company called alltyresandwheels2010 on Ebay but it arrived, bare, in a single skin standard cardboard box and had been damaged in transit - surprise, surprise!! I have contacted them about this incredible situation and am awaiting a reply.
Back to the tyres - can anyone help, please?
I sourced a brand new rim from a company called alltyresandwheels2010 on Ebay but it arrived, bare, in a single skin standard cardboard box and had been damaged in transit - surprise, surprise!! I have contacted them about this incredible situation and am awaiting a reply.
Back to the tyres - can anyone help, please?
About alltyresandwheels2010 - they gave me a partial refund of £20 which makes it a reasonable 'second hand deal'. I had taken pics to back up my complaint but they didn't ask for any evidence. If they sort out their packaging I reckon they'd be a good bet.
