Excellent write up there. Am not an expert but still have some observations.
* +1 on the thought they would entertain any warranty with a modified vehicle. However, they are very conscious of their brand name/value & duty of care and would examine the tyres to ensure their product is not faulty in any way to negate any possible future litigation.
* There does not appear to be any comment from Pirelli about tyre pressures.
* From personal experience, the outer wear appears simply from positive attitude when cornering!
* If this occurs from rubbing on something on the inside with spacers on, surely spacers off would exacerbate the problem?
* Interesting that there appears to be no such problem on AudiZine US forum.
* Because they are s-o-o similar, obviously "Sam Taylor" has a letter template and simply inserts the relevant text. Many more similar letters??
* Audi & Pirelli are o/seas based multi-national corporations. Increases the difficulty in being heard by the appropriate staff who should hear about the problem. It's called Vertical Filtering, when UK will only tell HO when it is absolutely necessary that there is a raging bushfire.
* The Pirelli kerb protection looks good, that's all. Ours has dreadful P Zero's and before the next set of tyres, will require repairs to a rim, and the biff was not that hard. Granted there is protection when turning into or out of a driveway.
* Contemplating PS4s. You say Michelins open a whole host of traction issues. Only aware of better grip wet & dry (it is hybrid construction) with better turn in. Done a forum search which appears to reveal nothing. Would you please clarify?
I’ve filled in answers to your points in red as that’s easiest....
* +1 on the thought they would entertain any warranty with a modified vehicle. However, they are very conscious of their brand name/value &
duty of care and would examine the tyres to ensure their product is not faulty in any way to negate any possible future litigation.
Pirelli genuinely weren’t phased by the idea of the car having spacers, it isn’t heavily modified in any way haha. When they thought it through as I waited, they realised in reality the effect would be little to none and dropped any idea of that being the issue. Had it been a possibility they would have raised it with me on the day of inspection.
* There does not appear to be any comment from Pirelli about tyre pressures.
Eagle eyed viewer I had forgotten to mention that and was going to add a piece. We discussed pressures and compared to what is recommended on the sticker inside the drivers door. My pressures are monitored daily by way of TPMS answers normally manually checked with a compressor monthly anyway. From the visit to Pirelli they recommended I upped my pressures as a trial. I used to run 39psi front, 36psi rear as recommended, now I’m testing with 42psi front and 39psi rear. The ride is obviously a lot firmer than it was, steering feel is relatively similar so I’m sticking with it but the tyre wear does still seem to be happening however I am only 3000 miles in.
* From personal experience, the outer wear appears simply from
positive attitude when cornering!
Agreed that seems to be normal, I didn’t pick up on the outer wear that was Pirelli. It is the inside wear that has bothered me obviously, the outside wear was only slight and not something I’m worried about because the tyre would have lasted.
* If this occurs from rubbing on something on the inside with spacers on, surely spacers off would exacerbate the problem?
If you mean the inside of the tyre rubbing on something, don’t you mean spacers would eliminate the issue? If it was rubbing due to clearance then spacers would help clear the issue? Anyway as I’ve mentioned through this thread which is quite quickly growing, my spacers are only 8mm which is very small.
* Interesting that there appears to be no such problem on AudiZine US forum.
That is interesting, but then not everybody on this forum in the UK has the issue either. It seems to be an issue with a certain build period or particular combination of optional extras.
* Because they are s-o-o similar, obviously "Sam Taylor" has a letter template and simply inserts the relevant text. Many more similar letters??
I was thinking that, the Pirelli letters are very similar so it is just a standard thing but still if they get no end of complaints they may feel the need to take more serious action.
* Audi & Pirelli are o/seas based multi-national corporations. Increases the difficulty in being heard by the appropriate staff who
should hear about the problem. It's called
Vertical Filtering, when UK will only tell HO when it is absolutely necessary that there is a
raging bushfire.
Well aware this is going to be one of my biggest issues. This is why I’ve left an email pushing my disappointment through with Audi and requested that they try and find the best people to send it to. I hear a lot about ‘Audi Technical’ but so I’m told you can’t ever speak to them yourselves, there isn’t a contact number and they only speak to dealers and tell them what to do. I need this to be escalated to those with the power to act, before anything will happen otherwise there is no hope going between customer service and the Audi centre.
* The Pirelli kerb protection looks good, that's all. Ours has dreadful P Zero's and before the next set of tyres, will require repairs to a rim, and the
biff was not that hard. Granted there is protection when turning into or out of a driveway.
It’s not invincible and I didn’t think much of it, until they saved me. I am so so careful with my wheels, I won’t go up any kerb or down for that matter and I very rarely parallel park. Once in a multi-storey car park my back wheel clipped a kerb and the whole car jolted and shuffled across to the left. It made me feel sick and I dreaded looking at the damage, there wasn’t a blemish on the wheel just a dirty scuff on the tyre. If the tyre can bounce off a kerb and move the whole car without causing damage, I’m sold on them.
* Contemplating PS4s. You say Michelins open a whole host of traction issues. Only aware of better grip wet & dry (it is
hybrid construction) with better turn in. Done a forum search which appears to reveal nothing. Would you please clarify?
Best to refer to Billy’s and Callum’s feedback on this, I’m just going off of their experiences that I’ve read about before.