S3 Tyre Question?

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Juniper44

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Just about to buy some new front tyres for my s3 - is it important to keep them the same as the ones on the back? Then maybe change all 4 next time to something new?

The back ones aren't that worn compared with the front so doesn't warrant changing all 4!

Current on sport contact 2's but looking at getting eagle f1's in the future.
 
Not sure on mixing them...

I have the Goodyears on my 3.2 and can't moan about them.


If you search on tyres Goodyears seem to come up as the most liked.
 
tyres = most important part of the car - they stop/go/turn/etc. Don't skimp, go with the handbook and change all 4 together. Eagle F1's tyre of choice at the mo - have them on A4 - excelent, will swap S3 to those as soon as I've killed the current OEM set.
Paul
 
You will be fine running new ones and the older ones (until they need replacing). The thing you are advised not to do is to run different tyres on the same axle.

The fronts will wear quicker, so changing all four everytime will be expensive and needless. I swap the rears onto the front and there generally is only a couple of months in it until they need doing anyway. That said, the choice is yours.
 
I got my first set changed at main dealer and they advised that it would be fine swapping them over - so they did. As I said earlier it's your money mate, but changing out perfectly good tyres is not something I will entertain. :huh:
 
audi upgrades
Quattro makes no difference, I had different tyres front and back on my A3.
 
You're getting a right old mix of views here - personally I change all 4 at the same time and make sure I get four the same (always Contis or Michelins).
Like AuldReekie I do swap front and rear to make sure there is even wear (as much as possible) to avoid replacing tyres with good tread levels still on them.
 
The man at kwik fit said as long as there isnt 4mm difference between then tyres then its fine. Hes the man to trust, so the ad goes.
 
It's just common sense and logic.

What reason is there to change all 4? So theres the same tread on each tyre? in 10000 miles time you'll be in exactly the same boat, rears don't need doing but fronts do, so you'll have been driving with un even tyre tread depth anyway.

Personally i'd have stuck the rears on the front a while ago so they all level off at around the same time, but as your too late just get 2 new fronts, and go with whatever make you want to.

It's not like your car will explode if you drive round with 4 different budget tyres on anyway, you just have to take it easy.
 
It shouldnt be a problem with changing the fronts or the backs together BUT off subject it would on a skyline lol. Mate changed back 2 before on his R43 GTR and had problems with 4wd light coming on!! The car thought the back were turning quicker than the front (or the other way round) so the car was trying to make the fronts match the back wheels speed! MAD!! Doubt the S3 tech aint that extreme!!
 
dc240969 said:
The man at kwik fit said as long as there isnt 4mm difference between then tyres then its fine. Hes the man to trust, so the ad goes.
Click to expand...

+1

I remember reading somewhere (maybe the car manual??) that different size (size as in height, profile) of tyre will confuse the ESP function. All 4 wheels should have equal height. It depends what it means by "different" though. :confused: I'll try to find it, if it is in the manual I will post the info.

I always change the complete set. I rotate the front with the rear tyres when they are at about half their life (estimated). I always get similar wear on all tyres and change them simultaneously...
 
Just my own view on this.....I changed the tyres on mine from the Bridgestone RE050s it came with(and I think everyone knows my feelings about those!) to Goodyear F1 Assymetrics.

I had to change the fronts first then go back for the rears a week later....the handling was wierd to say the least,as the front had rather more grip,and it just made the car feel pretty awful.

I've had exactly the same experience with an Escort Cosworth equipped with Quaife diffs,and again,unless the grip levels are very similar,it will change the balance of the car.
 
S3Alex said:
I had to change the fronts first then go back for the rears a week later....the handling was wierd to say the least,as the front had rather more grip,and it just made the car feel pretty awful.
Click to expand...

Always put the newer tyres at the back (unless it's a rear wheel drive car).
 
JeffY said:
Always put the newer tyres at the back (unless it's a rear wheel drive car).
Click to expand...

Maybe true...I honestly can't remember for the Escort.
 
When my front tyres wore out I had two new fronts with quite worn rears ( probably 2-3mm ) for a while.

This seemed to have two effects

- Made the car 'interesting' to drive as it generally oversteered on the limit and could be coaxed into interesting power slides ( not really possible with good rear tyres )

- The ESP light seemed to occasionally flicker when I was driving straight - not even accelerating. The system didn't seem to actually intervene enough for me to notice but I wonder if it was due to the rear tyres being different height due to worn tread. I almost took the car to Audi for them to check but after getting new rear tyres it stopped happening.

I decided to rotate my current set diagonally every few months to try and even the wear out.

The rears on mine wear a bit slower than the fronts but definately a lot quicker than the rears on my old Leon Cupra - I guess Quattro is doing something!
 
rotate often... to avoid this problem never criss cross only front to back on the same side....in other words Never diagonally.... don't ask me why scientifically and so on but thats the main line as far as I have heard from tire shops, magazines...
 
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S3GG said:
rotate often... to avoid this problem never criss cross only front to back on the same side....in other words Never diagonally.... don't ask me why scientifically and so on but thats the main line as far as I have heard from tire shops, magazines...
Click to expand...

Isnt the type of tyre rotation dependent on wheel type and driveline configuration?

http://www.idisagree.org/Passat/TSBs/Manuals/Tire Rack Tips.pdf
tirerack is smart, page 16 for reading.
 
S3GG said:
rotate often... to avoid this problem never criss cross only front to back on the same side....in other words Never diagonally.... don't ask me why scientifically and so on but thats the main line as far as I have heard from tire shops, magazines...
Click to expand...

Due to directional tyres - you'd have to take the tyres of the wheel to swap them to different sides of the car.

Probably I'd agree with the summary which appears to be if you rotate back to front often enough the grip from all 4 tyres is the same - so as would be new out of the box.

If you don't and drive in a manner which invokes the rears that much, then if you don't rotate, front will wear more than rear, so you could treat it like a front wheel drive car and buy new fronts - I wouldn't swap back to front and replace rears though as you want best grip on the wheels doing the most work - i.e. front - and you'll end up with an oversteering car - fun but not what you want if you don't drive in that style!

Alternatively, drive like a hoodlum and wear all the tyres out at the same rate! :s3addict:

Need to get head round this, as the A4 we have is perminant 4x4 so definately needs 4 changed at once.

Paul
 
Im running staggered wheels on my S3, and have been for some time, with no issues. The tyres are slightly different in rolling radius too.

Changing fronts or rears only will be fine.
 
I changed 2 worn front Bridgestones for F1s.
Then 6 months later did the same on the rears.

In that 6 months the only thing I noticed was a slight tendency for the rear to break away when cornering hard in wet weather.
Which you would expect.

Apart from that all was well.

Certainly convinced me that its NOT necessary to change all 4 together for normal day to day use.
Cant comment for those who do track days though.
I suppose any marginal differences would be more important for the more `enthusiastic drivers`.

cheers
Paul
 
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Crunch said:
If all your tyres had 4mm left on them and you got a un-repairable puncture on one, would you then replace all 4?
Click to expand...
Nope, buy one with 7mm of ebay. Which happened to me a few weeks back.
 
audi upgrades
Then you'd have 3 tyres with 4mm on and 1 with 7. Thats worse than having 2 on the same axle a bit out isn't it?
 
With regard to rotating tyres it kind of depends if you have directional tyres or asymetric.

If they are directional you can't swap them left to right without also swapping the tyre round on the wheel.

asymetric you can put them on any corner.

Personally I did diagonally as we have lots of roundabouts here and the left tryes always seem to wear faster than the right ones.

I guess it could be argued I should slow for roundabouts more, but where's the fun in that?
 
anyone who says you need to change all 4 is talking utter ********, do what you have planned, exactly as I did, 2 new eagle F1's on the front and replaced the rear Conti's 5k later. No problem's whatsoever.

Mark
 
As I said before keep the newer tyres at the back, when it's time to change the front tyres get the garage to move the rears to the front and put the new tyres on the back.
 
I have potenza's up front and kumho on the back - currently shopping around to get a decent price for some performance 19" tyres for the back as I have a gash in the side wall :(

Fronts will be changed probably next month but the rears will be this month!
 
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