Quattro and tyre tread difference

[motty225]

I remember at one time you couldn't have much tread difference between the front and rear tyres due to it possibly damaging the diff, is that still the same with modern quattro systems?

 

[smog c6]

Don’t worry about tread difference, it’s not going to damage your car. As an example My fronts are both around 2mm and rears are around 7mm. I’ve driven easily 1000 miles like that and it’s fine.

I believe the owners manual states that the same type, tread pattern and make of tyre should be put on all four wheels, however the tread wear differences across the tyres doesn’t cause any damage.

 

[psychopomp1]

Talking about tread wear, am I right that on Torsten Quattro models tyre wear Will be roughly equal on all 4 tyres since on ordinary day to day driving, power is equally split between front and back? Obviously on 2WD models the front tyres get worn out quicker.
Cheers

 

[Dippy]

Fronts still tend to wear quicker due to steering so its best to rotate occasionally.

 

[pagenotfound]

Don’t worry about tread difference, it’s not going to damage your car. As an example My fronts are both around 2mm and rears are around 7mm. I’ve driven easily 1000 miles like that and it’s fine.

I believe the owners manual states that the same type, tread pattern and make of tyre should be put on all four wheels, however the tread wear differences across the tyres doesn’t cause any damage.

2mm on the fronts, best double check the inside edges of those front tyres by the way to make sure they haven't worn to the cross ply. Mine had before they got to 2mm

For reference, the handbook states "On vehicles with four-wheel drive, all four tyres must have the same rolling circumference. Also avoid using tyres with varying tread depths". Check the index for quattro for the page number but it's p174 in mine.

 

[smog c6]

2mm on the fronts, best double check the inside edges of those front tyres by the way to make sure they haven't worn to the cross ply. Mine had before they got to 2mm.

Changed them yesterday, they were worn pretty evenly from checking the tread. They were at R 2.4/2.5/2.2 L 2.4/2.4/2.1 so slight wear on inside edges as to be expected.

Had an alignment check the toe was in 0.10 on each side if I remember so everything made sense.

 

[S19 MYD]

I rotate mine every spring when I put the OEM wheels back on after my winters.

Swapping to winter wheels also means they get a proper deep clean inside and out and I can check the wear properly all round.