19" tyre recommendations please...

maars

maars

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So, two years and about 20k miles later, the tyres on my A3 TDI quattro are shot - currently Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetrics, 225/35x19, stretched on 8.5x19 BBS alloys.

I was pretty shocked at their eventual demise...parked up one night to hear hissing from the front right. When I took the wheel off the inside edge was worn away at 45 degrees and the tread has started coming away from the bead! A trip to my local tyre fitter confirmed that the other front tyre was ready to split and the backs were well on their way.

Question is, what caused the tyre failure? I've never had a tyre wear/blow like that before. Age? Stretching the tyre on the 8.5" wide rim? Tracking perhaps? The car is lowered but the wheels are the correct offset, there's no rubbing and it doesn't pull to one side.

The garage recommended fitting 235/35x19s but they would appear to have the wrong diameter compared to the OEM 225/40x18s (see visual-tyre-size-calculator).

So what to do? Go with F1s again (£170 a tyre)? Or a cheaper alternative? Thoughts please...
 
not sure about the tyres mate but wouldn't mind seeing some pictures of your car, sounds nice from your signature lol
 
Loving those German plates Smoothie - must get mine ordered this year! Here's an old pic of the car...
Image046_2.jpg


N8 - thanks for the offer. How do you rate the Falkens? PM me with price, etc.
 
If you want to go cheaper option but good for the money go for falkens as they are ridiculously good value. If your going for premium then go michelins!
 
Do you have a picture of the 225 tyre on these rims showing how much the tire is stretched?

maars said:
So, two years and about 20k miles later, the tyres on my A3 TDI quattro are shot - currently Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetrics, 225/35x19, stretched on 8.5x19 BBS alloys.

I was pretty shocked at their eventual demise...parked up one night to hear hissing from the front right. When I took the wheel off the inside edge was worn away at 45 degrees and the tread has started coming away from the bead! A trip to my local tyre fitter confirmed that the other front tyre was ready to split and the backs were well on their way.

Question is, what caused the tyre failure? I've never had a tyre wear/blow like that before. Age? Stretching the tyre on the 8.5" wide rim? Tracking perhaps? The car is lowered but the wheels are the correct offset, there's no rubbing and it doesn't pull to one side.

The garage recommended fitting 235/35x19s but they would appear to have the wrong diameter compared to the OEM 225/40x18s (see visual-tyre-size-calculator).

So what to do? Go with F1s again (£170 a tyre)? Or a cheaper alternative? Thoughts please...
Click to expand...
 
Falken FK452 are very good tyres (I'm running them at the moment) and very reasonably priced.
Only negative is that I find them to be very noisy, especially on older road tarmac.
 
Stretching isnt ideal for the daily grind, small stretch shouldnt be too bad though but at the end of the day, they are not designed to be stretched so the side walls eventually give way

Falkens are good choice, i'd either have them or kumho's. Also good value
 
Stretching in not good indeed but 225 on 8.5J rims isn't that stretched so I was wondering how this looks so a picture would be very very helpfull
 
maars said:
Loving those German plates Smoothie - must get mine ordered this year! Here's an old pic of the car...
Image046_2.jpg
Click to expand...

Cheers mate, car is looking well always liked the splits, big brakes always look good with them
 
maars - out of curiosity were the Goodyears "eXtra Load" rated. Glad to hear it didn't let go whilst you were at motorway speed!
 
Yes, I think they were - they were the 88Y version. Supposedly these have reinforced sidewalls?
 
Thanks for all the help guys. I have a few leads on some cheap F1s - best price so far is £140/tyre. Considering a set of Falkens if I can't source the F1s again.

Had to laugh at Audi, who wanted £280 for a four wheel alignment (because it's a quattro). Phoned around and most of the decent tyre shops offer the same service for £50!!
 
Last edited:
Paul_S3 said:
Stretching in not good indeed but 225 on 8.5J rims isn't that stretched so I was wondering how this looks so a picture would be very very helpfull
Click to expand...

Here's a pic of the offending tyre...note the wear on the inside edge, and the nice split...
split-F1.jpg
 
Will do N8...all depends on if I can/can't get the F1s sourced in time.
 
maars said:
Here's a pic of the offending tyre...note the wear on the inside edge, and the nice split...
split-F1.jpg
Click to expand...

Wear like that is the norm if your wheel alignment is out, get it sorted when you get your new tyres. However exactly the same happened to muy 2 front tyres because lowering the car adjusts the camber slightly and that coupled with the heavy TDI block means front tyres get scrubbed up easy on the inside.
 
Last edited:
That looks serieus.
DO you have a picture like this, but then the outside of the wheel so I can see how much the tire is stretched on that side?

thanks
 
Paul_S3 said:
That looks serieus.
DO you have a picture like this, but then the outside of the wheel so I can see how much the tire is stretched on that side?

thanks
Click to expand...

I dont' have a side profile shot - I'll take one at the weekend. From memory the stretch is a little less on the outside that the inside, but that might just be an optical illusion. The fronts are much worse than the rears, and yes the car is lowered. But the tyres have done well otherwise - 20k miles over two years, and they've all worn evenly otherwise.
 
Decisions, decisions! Seems everywhere (in the South East) is out of stock of F1s in 225/35x19 and they're on back order (read five week wait) at the factory. Based on EVO's tyre test results I've looked at the Continentals, Pirellis & Michelins but they're all more expensive, and still out of stock.

Plan B is to go for 235/35x19s in a Goodyear F1, which are in stock!
 
N8 said:
So N8s Falken's it is then :Flush:
Click to expand...
Haha...got offered a good deal on the 235 F1s (which I love) and reckon the extra width could look sweet! Sorry N8!
 
maars said:
Had to laugh at Audi, who wanted £280 for a four wheel alignment (because it's a quattro). Phoned around and most of the decent tyre shops offer the same service for £50!!
Click to expand...

No question that Audi were taking the mick here but be very careful who you get your alignment done at, best get it done by someone who understands it and calibrates their kit frequently. I know a few folks round the country who do it. The wear on your tyre is almost certainly excess camber, the problem with getting this adjusted means that it will also affect your toe settings and often you have to sacrifice a little of one to gain another to keep it close to the limits of what it should be.

Personally I'd spend the £280 and go to someone like Dixon Motorsports, Center Gravity or Wheels in Motion who'll do it properly and your car will feel amazing having had it done. There are plenty of other places but those are ones that I or pals have had positive experiences with :).

That of course is just me, you may find that the places that charge you £50 aren't just lining up the front wheels with the back, but I'll be very surprised.
 
I don't doubt Audi would do a good job, and I'm sure it's their hourly labour fee that causes the £280 charge more than anything else. And you're right, the wear is almost certainly a result of camber change from lowering the car.

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm in the South and was originally planning to go to Elite in Rainham, who quoted £50. I might reconsider and speak to Dixon who are not far from me...
Wheel Alignment UK - Wheel Alignment London - 4 wheel Alignment London
 
UK Tyres Online Cheap Car Tyres Shop | Blackboots Wheels in Motion
Or DMS will be excellent for you imo :) I've had only good reports about both.

I do doubt Audi will do a good job ;) I've only had bad experiences with dealers on servicing with the exception of Perth Audi who are pretty good. Up here in Inverness though the local indie specialist makes the dealer look like an incompetent 4 thumbed village idiot.
 
Ah I was talking about alignment, sorry :). Lowering a car in that way and forgetting to get a really good geo done could be much more expensive in tyre wear :)
 
Off to get the new tyres fitted & geometry checked/fixed first thing tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how I get on!
 
Okay, now to find someone elses Granny, I think she needs to learn how to suck eggs.... Sorry :)

I've never figured out where that came from :D
 
New tired fitted, geometry checked & reset - normal service is resumed! I'll post more info on the setup later...
 
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