New tyres for A6 Avant 2.5TDi sport quattro

[fjtwelve]

I need to replace the front tyres on my A6. There are 3 different makes of tyres on the car just now that I inherited when i bought the car, which will probably not be doing anything any good. All suggestions of replacements greatly appreciated, whether must use, or must avoid.

 

[dreddg]

What size tyres are you after??

When I had 16 ", I used nokia directional 4 tyres for £150 fitted

Now I am on 18" using Pirelli p-zero at moment and no grumbles ...

But it all depends on your driving, hard and fast....or steady and careful.

It seems that the goodyears are getting a lot of raves, so take your choice.....or what you can afford !!!!

 

[fjtwelve]

Tyres are 235/45 ZR 17. I tend to drive reasonably quickly with higher corner speed than most, but i don't do much continuous high speed motorway driving. As the roads up here are twisty I often have a problem with the shoulders wearing off. My mate with a 3.0 quattro A4 is using Goodyears but does a lot of motorway miles. I had Goodyears on my Passat and liked the grip but can't live with 12000 mile life when i'm doing 30000 miles a year. I ended up on Continental Ecocontacts which lasted twice as long, with slightly less grip but predictable slides in the wet.

 

[fjtwelve]

After a bit of online research followed by the normal ringing around 5 tyre fitters who all will match each others price I've gone for Goodyear Eagle F1's. It was a toss up with the Pirelli P Zero but the Goodyears were 15 quid each cheaper. They're being fitted tomorrow, so we'll see how we get on. Its costing me £229 including £25 for doing the alignment so you can all tell me i've been diddled.
Someone asked me if I wanted the rear wheel alignment done as well. Is this a wind up or can this be adjusted?
The front Nexen that was fitted new when I bought it has worn out in under 11,000 miles. I don't know how old the Conti on the other front wheel is. The Dunlop Sportmax's on the rear are on the wear blocks now after an unknown mileage but they'll have to get done after the next payday. The spare is a Michelin, is having 4 different makes of tyre on one car a record?
Useful websites were mytyres.co.uk, with it's links to tyretest.com, and blackcircles.com

 

[fjtwelve]

And thats a pair of Dunlop Sportsmax on the rear after the cords started showing on the inside. I don't know if the previous owner had done some switching around to try and prolong the life of some unevenly worn tyres, but there was a difference of several mm between the inside and outside of the tyre.

 

[mickey_a6]

How did you get on with the F1s?? I need to replace all 4 tyres soon, and they seem to be the best compromise.

 

[fjtwelve]

Only 2000 miles down the road so it's a bit early to tell on durability. My mate with an A4 3.0quattro gets 20,000 plus out of his F1s doing lots of motorway but he does tend to press on a bit.
Handling is fine, but not startlingly good. The previous rears were so knackered that they threw the handling completely so it is only now that i am going to get a proper idea.
I'll keep you posted. I do about 600miles a week so I should be able to tell you shortly.

 

[mickey_a6]

Great, thanks - interested to hear if they cause a) any deterioration in ride quality and b) any improvement in handling in the wet!

 

[mas]

rear susp alignment *is* adjustable on the quattro. Worth having done but it will be more than any £25 to do it properly (nearer £100)

 

[fjtwelve]

Thankyou. Have been told there is a place near work that sorted someone else's A6 Avant so I'll be trying to get it done this week. Failing that its probably going to be Star Performance.

 

[fjtwelve]

Ride quality is better than it was.
I had a 35mile thrash along the (mostly) empty A701 in the dry this morning with a Volvo S60 D5, and had no problems with understeer or sliding from either front or rear. The car was leaping around a bit but the tyres stayed where they were pointed. They deal with the weight transfer from almost airborne to landing over the bumpy bits OK. I can drive at the same speeds in the wet as dry without problems at my usual speed, but I haven't attempted this morning's kind of sprint in the wet yet.
You need to watch those D5's. I was wondering why he was keeping up. A bit of research this morning and it appears there's 185hp lurking under the bonnet.

 

[mickey_a6]

Great - that's very helpful fjtwelve. I guess I'll probably go with the F1s when the need arises (v. soon /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif)

I looked at an S60 before I bought the A6 - think it was one of the 200 or so bhp turbo petrol jobs that I drove. I thought it was a truly awful car - didn't feel that powerful or quick, handling was dire, the interior was shocking compared to the A6 and it looks ghastly from the outside - IMHO of course /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif. Maybe the D5's OK under the bonnet, but that experience put me off for sure.

 

[fjtwelve]

Have just had the 4 wheel alignment sorted out by CL CM Autotyre, 11 Bankhead Drive Sighthill Industrial Estate Edinburgh EH11 4EJ 0131 453 2698. They used a laser measurement set up and printed out a before and after report. The rear wheels were generally well out of adjustment and the toe and camber on the front was out too. Took less than 45 mins and the guy knows his stuff. Looked like the rear end had never been touched. £59, a bit less than the £100 expected.
Handling is much better and smoother. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif The vibration that I had been suffering has almost gone, I think there may be a balance problem. I had the wheels balanced when i got the new tyres on, so there may have been some uneven wear which i am going to wait and see if it wears back again now everything is strightened out.
Had a good look at the brakes while it was up on the ramp, and new pads are the next thing to do. This is endless.
Have now had a good thrash around in the wet and the F1s are fine, as are the Sportsmaxes, no slides at either end.

 

[imported_kris_tdi]

i use toyo t1's on mine, best tyre i have yet to use on a car, will be putting t1r's on when they need changing

 

[fjtwelve]

10,000 miles on, and the F1s are well worn, visibly wearing on the outsides just like they did on the old Passat. One of the prices I pay for the privilege of commuting on the A701. I think they'll do over 12k but I'll be pleasantly surprised to get 15k . The rear Dunlops are nice and flat, no significant wear visible. Still getting vibration, going to get them balanced again.

 

[fjtwelve]

Now up to 16000 miles with the F1s to my surprise, 3000 mostly motorway miles on the continent has extened the life a bit i think. Had them balanced before i went away at CLM, ended up ith 80g on one of the fronts. He thinks that the wheel is out of shape, possibly hitting pothles at speed when the wheels are hot. They were better but not perfect. However now the balance seems to be super smooth, maybe the motorways have evened up the wear. Sportsmaxes on the rear are fine, but seem to be wearing a bit quicker than i had expected. They are a couple of thousand miles younger than the F1s but are almost as worn.

 

[fjtwelve]

Have just replaced all 4 tyres with Goodyear EAGLE F1 GS-D3 235/45 ZR17 94Y BSW, £314 delivered from blackcircles.com plus £47 to fit at CLCM in Sighthill.
The existing F1s on the front had done 21000 miles and were completely shagged. I bought the new tyres 10 days ago but have managed to do nearly 2000 miles before i could get booked in for a change. I would say that the proper life was somewhere around 18-19000 miles. The outside of both sides of both tyres was worn away due to we think underinflation despite regular ie weekly checks at my local garage. (My enthusiastic cornering style has probably not helped, but this would cause wear on the outside rather than both sides.) So either their relatively new gauge is wrong or i should be using 36psi instead of the book 34psi. I will run the new ones at the higher setting and see what happens.
The Dunlop Sportsmaxxes on the rear have done 19000 miles but again are shagged, and wore slightly before the Goodyears at the front, true life probably around 16-17000 miles. They were worn almost flat across the middle as if overinflated but i have been running these at 34psi too. CLCM says the Dunlops are a harder rubber but i am not sure why this would cause a wear pattern like overinflation.
The wheels are all rebalanced, and the worry about the out of shape wheel has receded. There was a small bulge apparent on the relevant tyre and we think the tyre was unbalanced. Doing the tracking next week after everything has settled down, as the front nearside was worn more on the inside than outside so is obviously out.
Oh and some **** ran into the back of me 2 minutes after I pulled out of the garage, this is 10 days after someone else ran into the side of me. Joy.

 

[fjtwelve]

I have just had a 2.7TDi S line tiptronic on loan for 2 weeks whilst mine has been in dock for body repairs. It was fitted with Pirelli Zeroes.
The S line was only 2WD and the traction light was alight frequently, but i think this is the difference between 2WD and quattro. However to compare like with like when rolling I have to say i prefer the Goodyears, I think they stick better and feel better.
Can't really compare road noise levels as mine has done 145000miles and the S line had done 4500, and needless to say was much quieter generally. Although the Zeroes were slightly lower profile and ran at much higher pressure the ride felt more supple, whether this is more to do with the age of my suspension and a lack of damping or the tyres is difficult to say. When i got the S Line the pressures were way low, things improved quite a bit when pressures were increased to what it said inside the filler flap.

 

[fjtwelve]

Have just had to put the spare on the front nearside as a golfball sized bulge had appeared on the inside of the tyre. Had taken it in for balance and tracking as it was vibrating and found the bulge when we took the wheel off. Have done 12000 miles since putting this set of tyres on, extra pressure seems to have kept the wear even across the tread. Still got about 2mm left to the treadwear indicators. Have started doing a lot more motorway mileage now so expect the life will be longer than expected

 

[icenutter]

Keep the updates coming - you're a one man tyre testing machine!

 

[fjtwelve]

Well my earlier prediction of 30k miles in the year was well out, i ended up doing 44k. Maybe i should look for sponsorship. Now commuting about 130 a day to Glasgow on the M74 which will make the tyres last longer but bores the tits off me, find myself racing the train and equally silly things.

 

[mas]

ive seen several reports of bulges and splits on f1's on a volvo forum. interesting.

 

[fjtwelve]

Still suffering vibration that i can't get rid of, and now have slow puncture in rear offside. Thus will be ordering new set of something tomorrow payday. This is a pain as there is a couple of mil to the wear blocks left yet and the cash flow was braced for the cambelt replacement at Star in 2 weeks, tyres were meant to be in March.

 

[Joni_s]

Got F1's on my a4 205/55/16. done about 18k and looking low on tread. have a slow puncture so gonna have to change at least 2 tyres. have Bridgestone potenzas on my 205 gti road rally car and they are really good, has anyone tried them on an audi and what were the results (wear/grip)?
Like the goodyears and they are pretty cheap compared to bridgestones. Any other suggestions? Need to order soon. mytyres.com seem the cheapest but will shop around. Do 30k a year with lots of motorway and a roads but would go for grip over wear anyday!

 

[Joni_s]

think going to go for f1s again. Can get the tyres for £45 plus vat through a mate in the trade so should do the job nicely.

 

[fjtwelve]

Here we go again. The vibration resolved itself into a knackered O/S front CV joint which i got fixed in Exeter last week (see thread on dealers forum) but i had to have the the tyres balanced with up to 80g before it went away completely. Inspecting the tyres while being balanced showed that the rear nearside tyre was deforming along the outer edge. The circumference of the tyre was becoming wavy and you could feel them mis-shapen section with your hand. All the tyres were down to just above the wear blocks at 17500 miles, and had worn evenly across the tread, so running them at 36psi not 34psi seems to have cured the uneven wear problem described above. The edges of the tyres looked a little worn, but nowhere as bad as before. The proportion of motorway driving i do has gone up significantly which has probably helped too.
Just before i set off to Cornwall i reviewed tyre choice. I did not want to go for another set of Goodyears because of the bulging and deformation problems i have had on the last 2 sets. They are getting very cheap though. If you changed them at say 12000 miles you'd be ok, but i can't afford that wear rate. I didn't want the Pirellis as i had not liked the ones on the 2.7tdi i had on loan while my car was being repaired. I thought the Michelins were too expensive, so in the interests of research i bought a set of Continental Sport Contact 2 from mytres.co.uk. I used Conti ecocontacts on my old Passat and they did well. The Sports have just been fitted at 159391 miles, scrubbed in over the A701 yesterday, and we'll see how we get on.

 

[fjtwelve]

First impressions are that the ride is harder, but I have fitted Continental SportContact 2 235/45 R17 97W, note the 97. This is a higher load rating than the 94 rated Goodyears I was using previously (730kg vs 670kg load rating). Am I correct in thinking that therefore the sidewall construction would be stiffer?
Otherwise they seem a little less sticky, not as much feel as the Goodyears. Noise level not noticeably different. I am now commuting up and down the M74 not cross country on the A701, so don't have complete like for like comparison yet. I am planning to replace the shocks soon and expect that that will affect ride quality.

 

[nivagh]

Quick interweb search gave me this....
PZero: www.national.co.uk £151.65 www.etyres.co.uk £109.9 www.blackcircles.com £107.04 www.mytyres.co.uk £89.9
Michelin Pilot Primacy www.national.co.uk £142.65 www.etyres.co.uk £124.9 www.kwik-fit.com £118.5
Michelin Pilot Sport www.blackcircles.com £125.12 www.mytyres.co.uk £110.2

So, if you know what you want it's definitely worth shopping around! Mytyres seem about the cheapest, but that's not fitted, so add on between £7 and £15 per corner depending on where you are - they will have them delivered to a local partner garage for you.

 

[nivagh]

Sorry, that was for 235/45/17

 

[Rev-head]

http://audi-sport.net/classifieds/showproduct.php/product/53/cat/10

 

[fjtwelve]

Anyway back to the story
2500miles on and i'm quite happy. On the motoway i think they are a ltle bit noisier than the Goodyears but its very difficult to be exact about that without back to back tests. Had a thrash down a wet A701 on Saturday and was pleased with the tyres. They certainly give a firm ride, positive grip, no slides or loss of feel atall. Definitely a worthwhile alternative to the Goodyears from that point of view, time will tell if the extra money has bought some extra mileage.

 

[fjtwelve]

After getting the Koni FSDs fitted the ride quality improved, but i've now dropped the pressures back to 34psi (was at 36psi as the Goodyears) and it's improved again. The Contis are definitely noisier than the Goodyears on the motorway.

 

[rickquattro]

This is an interesting read, especially from a fellow afectionado of the A701. I do this a lot between Musselburgh and the company office in Windermere.. I will keep an eye out for you!

As for the Conti's, keep an eye out for them. Mine literally fell to pieces on the inside edge of the tyre wall.. on three out of the four tyres....

Photobucket is on site maintenance, will post when its back up...

 

[rickquattro]

The conti tyre pics as promised...

When they were on the car like this I didnt feel any change in handling at all... Which is a bit of a worry.

 

[fjtwelve]

Terrific. And i changed from the Goodyears because of the problems with bulges and deformation. I will look out for this and keep up the flow of posts.

 

[rickquattro]

As I said, this damage was on the inside edge of the tyre and not spotted until the tyre fitter called me over..... how long they had been like this I dread to think.

They did grip well though, especially in the snow

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

 

[meatychi]

I have just been hunting around for some new boots for me motor and here are my findings:

1 Costco - £76.36 pt/ff
2. Local Dealer - £82 pt/ff
3. Mytyres - £74.40 additional fitting cost required.

Last place

National Tyres - £104 pt/ff
Kwik Fit - £126 pt/ff

Tyretest.com rated them as the best all rounder - I know this doesnt help you chaps with the larger rims but it may help someone!

 

[fjtwelve]

Couple of days ago dropped the front offside wheel into a pothole on the M74 by those roadworks at Lesmahagow at about 70 - very nasty bang. Now getting strange feeling in the steering, so as i'm working in Glasgow just now went to Audi Glasgow to see if they do the 4 wheel alignment.

£180 + VAT.

What planet are these people on? Back to CLCM as soon as poss i think.

 

[fjtwelve]

Went to my trusty local garage, the wheel bearing is knacked and there's a big dent in the inside of the alloy rim. So new wheel bearing in to replace the one that went in 52000 miles back, straightened out the dent best as poss and put it on the back wheel. Need to get it balanced now, off to Munich this weekend.

 

[fjtwelve]

All fixed up. Munich trip went fine. The Contis have done 13000 now and have 5mm of tread left. This is what lots of motorway miles does for you.