Continental Sport Contact 5's are on + Hunter tracking done!

[mjr901]

Well, had these fitted yesterday and its feels very strange to have rubber again.

Not my tyre below but looks like it!

My 4 Bridgestones covered 13,500 miles and there was an inch on the inside on both front tyres which was down to metal braid. whoops.

The tyre fitter was like, how have these not exploded?? So check your tyres guys!

Now seeing this massive uneven wear, I went for 4 wheel alignment. I found a place in Worcester, with a brand new Hunter machine with a strange hammer head set up with lasers everywhere.

It was quite different to the usual thing of bunging the lasers on the wheel and that fires the laser onto a board on the front/back wheel idea.

It was all done on computer and very cool to watch actually.

The bloke doing it said, it wasnt massively bad, and the wear I'm getting is 99% to do with the caster which isn't unadjustable.

Here are the before and afters.

Now for the people who know about this stuff (I'm not one of them!) could someone please tell me what "steer ahead" is??



As for the new Contisport 5's, they are not a noisey tyre at all.

The ride is MUCH better and the compound is on the softer side.

So plenty of grip, i cannot tell you about the wear rate yet.... only been on 12 hours.

No traction control light on any more, It was forever flashing with the Bridgestones.

I think also, the tyres look much better with the extended bead to protect the rim, these Contisports have a pretty big bead which I am pleased about. they make the wheels look more bulky.

Overall so far, Im very pleased. You will not regret these if you intend to buy them.

 

[Ste_Nova]

the castor may not be adjustable but yours is out of spec

so something is wrong

 

[mjr901]

From what i can gather the caster is normal

found this on another site for the 8P which shows the degree of tolerance.

-----------Front----------Rear Chamber -1.0 to 0 and -1.8 to .8 Caster 7.1 to 8.1 and no spec Total toe 0 to .33 and .25 to .58

 

[Ste_Nova]

the hunter kit knows what its doing, they should all be in the green

 

[mjr901]

We selected caster alterations for the car on the computer and it was N/A.

It was also the same for my previous S3.

The caster is also even on both sides.

Stick yours on one, it'll be the same I bet.

Need an anti-lift kit to change it.

 

[Ste_Nova]

moving the subframe will affect the castor setting

 

[Sidhu88]

Told ya so enjoy em mate

 

[Minstadave]

How much is a 4 wheel alignment mate?

 

[mjr901]

well the going rate where I went was £75. I got it for £45 as I knew the bloke.

 

[Artimus]

Did your mate advised you that your supposed to run the tyres in before having this setup done? you should go back at around 1000 miles wear to have fine adjustments done.

 

[mjr901]

why would it have changed? tyres changed shape a bit?

it's not a problem going back to check it.

 

[Artimus]

basically yes! you need to wear off the little molding nipples (don't laugh) & release compound coating before it will sit flat on the tread apparently - that's what I was always told by UK Tyres Online Cheap Car Tyres Shop | Blackboots Wheels in Motion & it seems logical, also you might have a slightly mis-shapen tyre you need to change, and that means getting it done again. The guys in the link would normally do my fine tuning for free.

 

[gixerson]

Really struggling to see how caster is going to dramatically affect tyre wear.

This is caster:

Uneven tyre wear is usually caused by either wrong tyre pressures or extreme camber

Severe toe in/out will cause premature wear, but camber being reasonable it'll give pretty even wear

Steer ahead is the angle your steering wheel is out in relation to the front wheels

Your caster is JUST out of spec, personally if i had other work to do i'd have a wiggle of the subframe, otherwise i'd leave it.

Did your mate advised you that your supposed to run the tyres in before having this setup done? you should go back at around 1000 miles wear to have fine adjustments done.

Sorry but your tyre fitter is either pulling your leg or trying to pull a fast one.

Tyres play absolutely no part in a cars alignment, the figures are taken off the wheels NOT the tyres.

 

[gixerson]

Out of interest where were your tyres worn the most?

 

[mjr901]

Out of interest where were your tyres worn the most?

The fronts on the inner side. the rest of the tyre was mostly even.

backs were pretty evenly worn.

 

[N8]

Nice one Mike, and everyone should always check their tyres

 

[gixerson]

The fronts on the inner side. the rest of the tyre was mostly even.

backs were pretty evenly worn.

That's very very weird.

I wouldn't expect the camber you had to cause uneven wear.

The caster does increase the negative camber but only when the wheels are turned, so unless you spend most your time driving around in big circles i wouldn't expect to to uneven wear from those figures.
Even then the inside wheel will have more positive camber.

How often do you rotate your tyres?

 

[mjr901]

That's very very weird.

I wouldn't expect the camber you had to cause uneven wear.

The caster does increase the negative camber but only when the wheels are turned, so unless you spend most your time driving around in big circles i wouldn't expect to to uneven wear from those figures.
Even then the inside wheel will have more positive camber.

How often do you rotate your tyres?

So looking from a birds eye view, the inside was down to the metal braid approx an inch across.

I do drive quite aggressively and in reality the tyres should have been changed 1k ago at least.

Normally I'd rotate once in the tyres lifetime. This time I didn't as the backs really weren't far behind so I did not see the point.

 

[Ste_Nova]

take it for a straight drive then feel the tyres for heat, see if they are hot/warmer where the excess wear is

 

[S3Alex]

The alignment on Quattros is always going out of line even over fairly short periods of use....
Here's mine,before and after.... http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-...ime-build-thread-big-turbo-4.html#post1565629

 

[mjr901]

Yours was well out mate! must be all that power shaking things about!

 

[S3Alex]

Yours was well out mate! must be all that power shaking things about!

I wish....the same thing has happened with the 3 Quattros I've owned and my local tyre dealer says pretty much the same,but for sure,mine was trying to turn right!

 

[gixerson]

So looking from a birds eye view, the inside was down to the metal braid approx an inch across.

I do drive quite aggressively and in reality the tyres should have been changed 1k ago at least.

Normally I'd rotate once in the tyres lifetime. This time I didn't as the backs really weren't far behind so I did not see the point.

Our A3's tendency to understeer doesn't really help the front tyres much, i'm still really struggling to see anything that would cause excessive wear in that area though.

What tyres pressures are you running at?

Usually if they're over inflated it's the centre section that wears the most, but i have seen a few cars over the years where over inflating over exaggerates the camber type wear.

Might well be worth rotating the tyres a little more regular to get the most out of them.

 

[mjr901]

I'm running 40psi front and 38psi back. roughly in the middle of the load ratings.

 

[The Governor]

Can anyone recommend a Hunter place in the Southampton area that's good?

 

[Ste_Nova]

Can anyone recommend a Hunter place in the Southampton area that's good?

Welcome to Align My Car

A1 Automac LtdApproximately 16.7 Miles from Southampton
Unit 2 Cluster Industrial Estate
Rodney Road
Southsea, PORTSMOUTH PO4 8ST
02392 178909
http://www.a1automac.com
Voucher: Yes
[h=2]Advanced Automotive[/h]Approximately 16.8 Miles from Southampton
Egan Ventures Ltd.
21A Park Road
, RYDE PO33 1HH
01983 614350
http://www.advancedautomotive.co.uk
Voucher: Yes


[h=2]Seward ARC (Havant)[/h]Approximately 18.9 Miles from Southampton
Langstone House
Southmoor Lane
, HAVANT PO9 1JW
02392 499049
Voucher: Yes

 

[The Governor]

Blimey they're all miles away, they're giving as the crow flies miles. I'm surprised there's nowhere closer than 40+ miles away... thanks though, I'll keep an eye on that site

 

[Ste_Nova]

do you not have motorways down there?

 

[The Governor]

Yes, but they're always chocker

 

[gixerson]

I'm running 40psi front and 38psi back. roughly in the middle of the load ratings.

Might be worth dropping the front pressures down a noggin on your new tyres.

I'm running 225/40 18's and find 36psi all round feels about the best (the roads here are pretty terrible though).

To be fair the 2psi difference on the rear tyres is nothing, but then the rears seemed to wear ok right?
4psi doesn't sound much but that's still a fair bit more pressure.


Might be worth a shot anyways.



btw
The old tyres weren't stretched or anything dumb like that were they?

 

[mjr901]

Nope no stretch. just bog standard as it came out the factory.

Since its been re tracked it feels so much different to drive. I feel like I have to do more turns and I feel a little disconnected. Almost like the steering is too light now.

Guess I'll have to learn how the current set up drives and adapt to it.

Either that or I'll have to fit WALK to it.

 

[Artimus]

Are you forgetting you have brand new tyres! they'll have the release compound on them, which is slippery ...and the little pimples means you're not yet fully in contact with the road surface! They will improve.

 

[gixerson]

+1 on the release agent.

Also worth checking the tyre pressures as every tyre fitting place i've been over inflates them.

 

[Sidhu88]

Are you forgetting you have brand new tyres! they'll have the release compound on them, which is slippery ...and the little pimples means you're not yet fully in contact with the road surface! They will improve.

+2 my conti 5s went into beast mode after the wear in process. Made me way more confident in the car and it's been relatively drama free. Just as a rough idea, in both wet and dry i used to be able to spin up the fronts in first on my old ps2's after changing to the conti 5s even before they had fully worn in i had grip from harsh digs at all times. I used to see esp flash in 2nd and third with the ps2s, none whatsoever on the contis. The grip in the rain is also unbelievably good. Get some miles on them and then go for a blast

 

[The Governor]

Anyone used these guys? Contact | The Wheel Alignment Centre Pistoheads mob seem to like them... also Christchurch Tyres get a positive mention generally too...

 

[RPB]

A bit concerned by your tyre pressures if you are driving an S3. My 2011 S3 label on the door clearly says the fronts should be 43 to 45 PSI and the rears 33 to 43 PSI.
Mine were changed when it went in for its first service and the Audi tech changed them to 45 F and 38 R. This is what i keep them at now. I do carry rear passengers on and off so need the rears in the middle of the range.
mjr901, your front tyres are too low according to my door sticker and yours is a 2011 S3 isn't it? So must be the same surely?

 

[mjr901]

Im running 40psi front which is 2psi lower than recommended (so granted a bit low actually), and 38psi back which is roughly halfway between load ratings.

 

[RPB]

mjr901, thats the same pressures on the label as mine then. How do you find the Conti's now you bedded em in? I must say i used to use Vredestein on my Subaru but am tempted to go for the Conti 5's when I need some new ones. I checked my original tyres this morning and still have around 4mm left yet! LOL.

 

[mjr901]

So far so good, I've done over 1,000 miles on them already and they seem to be just what the doctor ordered.

It's be quite hard testing them recently as the weather has been rubbish, but they seem to cope quite well in the rain.

If you've ever had the Michelin PS3, it's on par with that, It's a good tyre, with the pretty massive bead on the rim which makes it look better and may possibly save my bacon when parking stupidly one day.

On the dry days I have had, I think they performed well, I was a bit hesitant at first as I was used to the slick bridgestones, but I find myself going way too fast into corners and still coming out of them alive, so they must be doing something right.

However the dreaded understeer will always haunt us on these things, maybe I'll ask Santa for a WALK kit...

 

[mjr901]

They put these Conti's on the RS3 (in 19" obv) apparently now as a factory fit if you like. Thank god they ditched the bridgestones