Tyre confusion

jassyo06 said:
Show me the wear marker never heard of this mate
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Haha proper girly reply lol
That would explain your 23k mileage on your last set.
 
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I know you’ve already ordered OP, just my 2p worth. I had 19” Conti SportContact 6s on my REVOs until last week. Absolutely stunning tyres and bear no relation, performance-wise, to the 5P which are adequate at best (although I did move up to 19” wheels at the same time I swapped from AO 5s to 6s). HOWEVER, and this didn’t worry me as much as it would some people, they wear fast. Very fast. Awesome tyres, very grippy and superb handling characteristics, but as others have said they aren’t built for longevity.
Just put Pilot Sport 4Ss on to replace the Contis and they are also superb, I have to confess they already feel better after just one (soaking wet) blast today than the Contis.
 
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Flowrider99 said:
Read the whole thread, then you will understand.
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I do understand. But It should be applied that you are covered as long as all 4 tyres are replaced with winters.

Replace just 2 (like a wally) and you're not covered.
 
Within a month of buying my S3 I changed from the 19" with ContiS5, far too noisy and harsh, to 18" with Michelin CrossClimate+.

Now almost a year and 5000 miles later I have no regrets. Much quieter and wear seems to be pretty good and grip has never let me down, dry or wet or snow. Total recommendation from me.

I have been running on full winters in the winter for the past ten or so years, currently Conti 850/860 full winters, on my Cavalier SRi so you can tell I am a believer in the right tyres for the time of year. I have Michelin CC on my Cavalier SRi130 for all year use.

We don't get much snow here in MK but we do have lot of wet greasy roundabouts and country roads.
 
Interesting to read peoples thoughts. My FL S3 came with Bridgestone Turanza T005. I cant really comment if they are any good as not driven the car with anything else on to compare. They have worn well and seem to do the job. I’ve now done 16,000 miles on them and looking to change them very soon. Did anybody else have these on their S3 , and have you found a better replacement? The Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance seem to get very good reviews on BlackCirlces.com: https://www.blackcircles.com/catalo...p-performance/225/40/R18/W/92/f?tyre=32248041

May sell the car as still want an mM2 so not looking to spend top money on replacement tyres, but still want to put something decent on. Any advice much appreciated folks. Thanks.
 
E S Blofeld said:
Interesting to read peoples thoughts. My FL S3 came with Bridgestone Turanza T005. I cant really comment if they are any good as not driven the car with anything else on to compare. They have worn well and seem to do the job. I’ve now done 16,000 miles on them and looking to change them very soon. Did anybody else have these on their S3 , and have you found a better replacement?

May sell the car as still want an mM2 so not looking to spend top money on replacement tyres, but still want to put something decent on. Any advice much appreciated folks. Thanks.
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My car also came with these tyres. I have done just over 11,500 on them and they have 6mm left. Personally, I am not that keen on them. There seems to be very little steering "feel" and somehow the car does not feel as surefooted as I would like. I don't have a Summer tyre to compare but my car is on Winter tyres at the moment (Pirelli Sotozero) and actually the car feels better. I need to decide whether I will put the Bridgestones back on in Spring or bin them which would expensive whilst there is still some wear left in the tyres. When I replace I intend to go for Michelin Pilot Sport 4. My wheels are 18".
 
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Svenedin I couldn’t agree more. The car seems to have no steering feel whatsoever. I’m not 100% sure the steering wheel is actually doing anything !! It’s the main reason I’m thinking of selling and going back to a BMW M2. Loved my E46 M3 all those years ago. I have no faith in the front end of this car at all as nothing comes back through the wheel. Perhaps the tyres are part of the issue. I appreciate that Audis are not exactly known for the driver involvement by put perhaps you’re right and the the tyres are to blame. So incidentally why have you chosen to fit Michelin Pilot Sport 4’s next time (mine are also 18” wheels), have you driven an S3 with them fitted?
 
E S Blofeld said:
Svenedin I couldn’t agree more. The car seems to have no steering feel whatsoever. I’m not 100% sure the steering wheel is actually doing anything !! It’s the main reason I’m thinking of selling and going back to a BMW M2. Loved my E46 M3 all those years ago. I have no faith in the front end of this car at all as nothing comes back through the wheel. Perhaps the tyres are part of the issue. I appreciate that Audis are not exactly known for the driver involvement by put perhaps you’re right and the the tyres are to blame. So incidentally why have you chosen to fit Michelin Pilot Sport 4’s next time (mine are also 18” wheels), have you driven an S3 with them fitted?
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That’s very interesting what you say. I also have no faith in the front end on those Bridgestones. I thought it was me! I can’t feel anything so I don’t have confidence on a bendy road (even roads I know extremely well). The car feels far better on my current Winter tyres, so much so that I now realise it is a tyre issue. I am actually enjoying driving the car far more (and I have noticed I am inadvertently driving faster). No I haven’t driven an S3 on the Michelin PS4 tyres but I have driven other powerful (FWD) cars on them. Since the S3 is predominately FWD my assumption is they will perform well (and others on the forum report good things of them as does a friend of mine with an S3 but he’s too far away for me to have a test drive).
 
Svenedin, I’ll tell you what, if I decide to keep the S3 I’ll go for the Pilot Sport 4s. They came out on top in the 2017 EVO tyre test. I see you’re in Surrey too so you could try my car and see what you think. There is a lot to like about the S3, but the steering is pants!!

Chances are I’ll sell it soon as the deals on the M2 currently are phenomenal (huge discounts as talk of the M2 CS has halted sales of normal M2s!!)
 
E S Blofeld said:
Svenedin, I’ll tell you what, if I decide to keep the S3 I’ll go for the Pilot Sport 4s. They came out on top in the 2017 EVO tyre test. I see you’re in Surrey too so you could try my car and see what you think. There is a lot to like about the S3, but the steering is pants!!

Chances are I’ll sell it soon as the deals on the M2 currently are phenomenal (huge discounts as talk of the M2 CS has halted sales of normal M2s!!)
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Thank you. Very kind of you.

As soon as I switched tyres to my current Winter set up I noticed a huge difference. The most striking thing is the return to centre (rtc) of the steering. With the Bridgestones the rtc almost hardly seems to exist. With my current Pirellis I can feel the pull back to centre. I noticed this on the very first turn after driving just a few hundred yards. I could hardly believe it. I knew I didn’t like the Bridgestones but I didn’t think they could really make that much difference. I think Audi are particularly stupid to supply S3’s on them!

I love my S3 and I’m going to treat it to the PS4’s sooner (bin Bridgestones with 6mm) or later (when Bridgestones wear out). I suspect it will be sooner because I want to enjoy the car more. Also Costco are selling the PS4's at £109 a corner fitted (I had a look last week in Costco, Croydon).
 
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Wow that’s sounds like it really is very noticeable. May even fit the Pilot Sport 4s before changing the car. If it makes a big difference may hold onto the car and not sell. Like I said a lot to like about the S3, but the current steering drives me mad. I had a Golf R before the S3 (sadly was stolen) and it was a better car to drive. Better steering and chassis. Stupidly decided not to replace with another R and bought the S3 instead. Love a lot about the S3 but it seems to lack something in the ‘driving’ dept!! Fingers crossed different tyres improve things. Thanks for the advice.
 
E S Blofeld said:
Wow that’s sounds like it really is very noticeable. May even fit the Pilot Sport 4s before changing the car. If it makes a big difference may hold onto the car and not sell. Like I said a lot to like about the S3, but the current steering drives me mad. I had a Golf R before the S3 (sadly was stolen) and it was a better car to drive. Better steering and chassis. Stupidly decided not to replace with another R and bought the S3 instead. Love a lot about the S3 but it seems to lack something in the ‘driving’ dept!! Fingers crossed different tyres improve things. Thanks for the advice.
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No problem and check out Costco for the PS4's (see edited post above)
 
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Svenedin said:
No problem and check out Costco for the PS4's (see edited post above)
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https://www.costco.co.uk/michelin_promotion

Looks like they have an offer on also so you get £50 Costco vouchers on 18" if buy a set of 4.

3 of my tyres are on 4mm and the other on 3mm. Not sure really when to change them.. Maybe should take advantage of this offer.
 
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oli356 said:
https://www.costco.co.uk/michelin_promotion

Looks like they have an offer on also so you get £50 Costco vouchers on 18" if buy a set of 4.

3 of my tyres are on 4mm and the other on 3mm. Not sure really when to change them.. Maybe should take advantage of this offer.
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Thanks. I didn't even notice that offer. Bonus++

Just my tuppence but I'd change them now. The legal limit is too low for a performance car and below 3mm the water dumping ability on wet roads is compromised.
 
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Svenedin said:
Thanks. I didn't even notice that offer. Bonus++

Just my tuppence but I'd change them now. The legal limit is too low for a performance car and below 3mm the water dumping ability on wet roads is seriously compromised.
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Yeah, I agree. 3mm can't be too far off and i wouldn't want to go any lower.

Effectively its half a tyre free (almost) in Costco vouchers. So will get them done before end of month :)
 
oli356 said:
Yeah, I agree. 3mm can't be too far off and i wouldn't want to go any lower.

Effectively its half a tyre free (almost) in Costco vouchers. So will get them done before end of month :)
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Good idea. Far better to enjoy safe motoring than penny pinch and take risks. You only have to aquaplane once.......
 
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Svenedin said:
I love my S3 and I’m going to treat it to the PS4’s sooner (bin Bridgestones with 6mm) or later (when Bridgestones wear out). I suspect it will be sooner because I want to enjoy the car more. Also Costco are selling the PS4's at £109 a corner fitted (I had a look last week in Costco, Croydon).
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Out of interest did you change to the PS4's? Any better?
 
I changed from Pirelli P-Zeros (stock) to Michelin PS4’s - these are the 18in model, not the 19in Pilot Super Sports, which the R forum rave about. I upgraded cos I had wheel spinning/traction control flickering issues, and the P-Zeros are known to perform poorly in very cold weather.

Handling has improved, and they are great in the wet, but as I came from a Golf R, I will always sense/miss the superior handling capabilities of the R. That said, the PS4’s on my S3 are a brilliant fit - and definitely worth investing! Note: wheel spinning was down to Haldex pump failure, had this replaced 2 weeks ago and I can now feel the AWD kicking in!
 
Has the steering improved? I found the car to have totally numb steering on the Bridgestones I had. I had no faith in the S3 front end at all.

I also had a Golf R and would say the standard setup on the R beats the S3 in the steering, ride and handling dept.
 
There is a bit of improvement on the steering, but not vastly, I'm afraid. I love the R, however, I just didn't want the same car (from 7 to 7.5) again.
 
E S Blofeld said:
Out of interest did you change to the PS4's? Any better?
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Not yet. I've had Winter tyres on and only switched back to the Bridgestones a few weeks ago. Due to a number of expenses at the same time the new tyres have been pushed down the list of priority as the old tyres still have plenty of tread.
 
I switched to Michelin Pilot Sport 4 225/40/R18 tyres all round a couple of weeks ago. They seem quieter, more sure footed and feel more secure on cornering. There is better steering feedback but it is still not exactly marvellous but an improvement. I have only done 300 miles on the new tyres and will report back in a few weeks after a 1,500 mile trip to Austria and back (including very long stretches of German Autobahns and winding Alpine roads). So far I am happy with the switch from the Bridgestone Turanza T005, I really did not like those tyres.
 
Svenedin said:
I switched to Michelin Pilot Sport 4 225/40/R18 tyres all round a couple of weeks ago. They seem quieter, more sure footed and feel more secure on cornering. There is better steering feedback but it is still not exactly marvellous but an improvement. I have only done 300 miles on the new tyres and will report back in a few weeks after a 1,500 mile trip to Austria and back (including very long stretches of German Autobahns and winding Alpine roads). So far I am happy with the switch from the Bridgestone Turanza T005, I really did not like those tyres.
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That’s good to hear. Glad it’s an improvement. Those Bridgestones were horrible. Hope the Michelin’s work out for you. I decide to trade the S3 so never got round to trying the Michelins on my S3. Got a stupidly good deal on a new M2 so couldn’t help myself!!
Sounds like a great road trip you have planned. Hope you have a good one.
 
E S Blofeld said:
That’s good to hear. Glad it’s an improvement. Those Bridgestones were horrible. Hope the Michelin’s work out for you. I decide to trade the S3 so never got round to trying the Michelins on my S3. Got a stupidly good deal on a new M2 so couldn’t help myself!!
Sounds like a great road trip you have planned. Hope you have a good one.
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Thank you. I'm looking forward to it. Hope you are enjoying the M2!
 
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