S3 Tyres...

S3inSE21

S3inSE21

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I have just read that my car will come with ****** awful Continental tires. I absolutely despise Conti's, mainly due to having 4 motorway blowouts in the space of a year on a previous car.

Just wondering if any of you have had any joy asking your dealership to put a different tire on? I'm thinking something like Michelin Pilot Super Sport, Dunlop SP Sport Maxx RT or Pirelli PZero, but ideally would like to avoid shelling out almost £500 if I can help it. I guess the other option is to buy them and then sell the Conti's but who in their right mind would ever want to buy such an abysmal tire?
 
They come as standard (Audi must have contra with Continental), so can't imagine you'll be able to change them without paying full price for extras...

You will end up with a full set of Conti's though, someone will want them...
 
I had 2 blowouts on my Conti 5's in the space of 3 months, 1 front, 1 rear. This one below was from the rear, it went at high speed (95ish) the car remained stable, it was just the noise that was the give away. Front was at low speed, steering went heavy, wasn't as dramatic as the pic below..



Both times I replaced the matching tyre so all 4 were replaced in the end. Fortunately they were all around 3mm so weren't far off replacement anyway.

As for Audi, no chance they will give you a different tyre, you'll have to buy new tyres and then list the Conti 5's in the for sale, someone will buy them.
 
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I had Bridgestone Potenza on my last A3 and the fronts didn't wear very well. Had the tracking checked and not sure it was down to that.
 
Never had any problems with Continental tyres. The ones on my S3 have been excellent. Good grip, VERY low wear rates (still got 4mm after 21,000 miles) and consistent handling. I usually put Michelin or Dunlops on my cars, but when I need to change, think I will stay with the same continentals it came with. Just think, Audi put Toyos on the TTRS I bought - now that was pants. They last 10,000 miles and the wet grip was terrible. When people get blow outs like that they immediately blame the tyre, but hey, it could have happened no matter what brand you had on - think about that one...
 
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It's actually Continental Sport Contact 5 (although runflats @ ~£40 a corner premium) I have on my 3 series. Just coming up to 22,000 miles and (annoyingly) I am changing the fronts this friday (3 months before collect my S3!) as they have worn to just below 3mm. OK, they could probably last and still be legal for the part-ex date but i don't like less than 3mm for safety. Rear's probably have another 10,000 miles in them i'd say. I'm pretty impressed with that wear rate really.
 
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SilureMark said:
Never had any problems with Continental tyres. The ones on my S3 have been excellent. Good grip, VERY low wear rates (still got 4mm after 21,000 miles) and consistent handling. I usually put Michelin or Dunlops on my cars, but when I need to change, think I will stay with the same continentals it came with. Just think, Audi put Toyos on the TTRS I bought - now that was pants. They last 10,000 miles and the wet grip was terrible. When people get blow outs like that they immediately blame the tyre, but hey, it could have happened no matter what brand you had on - think about that one...
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I don't really care about wear rates. What I want from a tire is decent adhesion in both wet and dry conditions, minimal road noise, and ideally one that doesn't fail as a result of a manufacturing fault (as it was determined on my 4x blowouts).

I guess they can't all be bad. If they were they would have filed for bankruptcy by now... But they're certainly not for me. If you want a set with less than 50 miles on them at the end of July, give me a shout and I'll sell them to you.
 
S3inSE21 said:
I don't really care about wear rates. What I want from a tire is decent adhesion in both wet and dry conditions, minimal road noise, and ideally one that doesn't fail as a result of a manufacturing fault (as it was determined on my 4x blowouts).

I guess they can't all be bad. If they were they would have filed for bankruptcy by now... But they're certainly not for me. If you want a set with less than 50 miles on them at the end of July, give me a shout and I'll sell them to you.
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Yes, but lots of mileage without problem (wear rate) means a long time running them without a blowout.
 
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Never had any problems with Continentals on my last 4 S3's.... although, I was going to go for the Goodyear Eagle 1's or Michelins this time but when I came to order, the Continentals came out at around £105 each - no brainer. Always found them to wear well and are good in the wet (although, I don't try and drive the car to its limit). If they were as bad as some people say then I'm sure they'd have gone out of business by now.

I did read on here recently that the tyres that come with the car are not quite the same as those you'd buy directly - not sure if that is true - whether there is any difference in quality - but surely they couldnt sell a cheaper version of the same tyre to manufacturers could they ? maybe that do.
 
You've obviously been very unlucky!

I've had nothing but Continental ContiSport Contact M3 tyres on my cars for the past 12 years and never had so much as a slow puncture. They perform magnificently in all conditions, they wear well and they always come out in the top three of any independent head-to-head review. I was absolutely delighted when I learned that my new S3 saloon was to be shod with these fabulous tyres!
 
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Cars with smaller wheels seem to come with a variety of tyres, but every single 8V I've seen with 18 inch wheels has had the Conti Sport Contact 5s. My major issue with them is noise, and judging by previous threads on here I'm not alone in that. In answer to RGS3's post the factory tyres are "AO" or Audi Original, but I've seen these listed with tyre dealers as well. I'm not sure what (if any) difference this makes or whether it's just a marketing thing.
 
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steeve said:
Speed humps, potholes?
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Nope. Every one of my blowouts was travelling at reasonable speed, either on a motorway of a dual carriageway. None of them were due to debris, and three out of the four were failures in the side wall.
 
ContiSport 5's on the S3 are utter tripe for me.

A set has lasted me 12,000 miles. Poor grip, both wet and dry. Noisy.

My next set will be GY F1 Eagle Assy2's. Although the PS3 and PSS might be better for grip, the generous rim protector on the Assy2's are important to me.
 
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driver_tim said:
Cars with smaller wheels seem to come with a variety of tyres, but every single 8V I've seen with 18 inch wheels has had the Conti Sport Contact 5s.
Click to expand...

Mine came with Sport Contact 2s, I imagine because it's a Sport rather than an S. I find them to be perfectly grippy in both wet and dry conditions (certainly on par with the Michelin Pilot Sport 3s on my other car in the same 225/40/18 size) and I haven't noticed any excessive road noise.
 
Can honestly say in 30+ years of driving I've never had so much as a slow puncture!

.......now if only I could remember the makes of some of my previous tyres ;)
 
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I've got normal sport contact 5s on my E46 330. They are excellent , very soft tyre though which I like. The "AO" tyres on my S3 are nowhere near as good, much harder with less grip in dry and wet in my opinion. I can even feel with my fingers the difference in the tyre compound between the ****** "AO" tyres and the real ones. The "AO" also have a worse official wet tyre rating than the real ones.
 
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veeeight said:
ContiSport 5's on the S3 are utter tripe for me.

A set has lasted me 12,000 miles. Poor grip, both wet and dry. Noisy.

My next set will be GY F1 Eagle Assy2's. Although the PS3 and PSS might be better for grip, the generous rim protector on the Assy2's are important to me.
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I have F1 eagles on mine and even with their larger rim protector there's barely any protection. I think the design of the alloys means they stick out a bit. I can check tomorrow how many pounds thickness the protection is, but from eye it looks like 1 at best.

Much quieter than the Contis though, and grip seems good so far.
 
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I always had Goodyear eagle f1's on the old s3 had great grip in the dry and wet. The conti contact 5's are okay so far but I haven't really pushed them yet.
 
Michelin Supersports.

These are the best all round tyre I've used so far.
I've had PS2's,PS3's,R888's(fantastic summer tyre)and the utterly hideous RE050's.

Even on my car the Supersports cope well.
 
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Flibble said:
I have F1 eagles on mine and even with their larger rim protector there's barely any protection. I think the design of the alloys means they stick out a bit. I can check tomorrow how many pounds thickness the protection is, but from eye it looks like 1 at best.

Much quieter than the Contis though, and grip seems good so far.
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Eagle F1's here too. I binned the Conti's after about 9,500 miles as they were dire. The GY rim protection is I'd say 5mm better than the Conti but like you say it's still not fab due to alloy design (but it's a damn sight better!!). That in itself (given the cost of the alloys) is enough for me to say GY FTW but they are also quieter and provide more grip than the rubber bands provided OEM.
 
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I did the pound test today, I can balance a single pound coin on the rim protector with the Goodyears, so they're one pound thickness better than the contis. ;)
 
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I use Michelin Pilot Supersports 235/35/19 since last summer.
Made a big difference in how the car handles.
The grip in the wet is so much better than with the contis.
Car feels much more planted.
I would always choose this tyre again.
 
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I always ran Michelin on my past cars. My Favorite.
 
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I'll go with any brand as long as they're red ;)
 
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Gorillajebus said:
I use Michelin Pilot Supersports 235/35/19 since last summer.
Made a big difference in how the car handles.
The grip in the wet is so much better than with the contis.
Car feels much more planted.
I would always choose this tyre again.
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+1 - fitted these to my previous car (Mitsubishi Evo X) and they were fantastic wet or dry, and little road noise. When my Conti's wear out, if I still have my S3 then these are what will be fitted!

Having said that, I've had Sport Contact 3's on some of my cars previous to the Evo and found them to be very good. No real complaints about the Contact 5's though in 9k miles, pretty good all rounder.

What I have found though is that different manufacturers tyres perform differently on different vehicles, on my bikes, my Honda handles brilliantly on Bridgestones whatever the weather, whereas when I tried the same tyres on my Suzuki, it was all over the place! I've found exactly the same with car tyres, for instance Goodyear Eagles on my ST220 I had some years ago were pants, yet on my M3 were brilliant.

At the end of the day, it's what tyres work for you on the car you have at the time, doesn't really matter what others say, and doesn't mean that the same tyre will perform as well on your next car.
 
Apart from all the issues mentioned above about the Conti 5's,l would just like to add that LOOK PANTS Into the bargain,horrid looking tyres Pilot sport/F1's next
 
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jassyo06 said:
Apart from all the issues mentioned above about the Conti 5's,l would just like to add that LOOK PANTS Into the bargain,horrid looking tyres Pilot sport/F1's next
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Maybe I've led a sheltered life mate but I can't say I spend a huge amount of time admiring my tyres ;)
 
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jassyo06 said:
Apart from all the issues mentioned above about the Conti 5's,l would just like to add that LOOK PANTS Into the bargain,horrid looking tyres Pilot sport/F1's next
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With one exception - I love the totally smooth sidewall on my Contis - will make applying tyre dressing a cinch and look lovely too!
 
Simon L said:
Maybe I've led a sheltered life mate but I can't say I spend a huge amount of time admiring my tyres ;)
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Simon your right,its a bit of OCD,the full range of conti's are all the same Fugly had Conti's3 on my RCZ.
 
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Switched to Michelin Pilot Supersports right away on mine, much better than the conti's.
 
driver_tim said:
How do you define a good looking tyre? :)
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By the tread design and most of all the side wall design,the best looking tyres l ever had where Vredestein ultrac sessanta
Vredestein ultrac sessanta
Ye did ask....lol
 
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pbm said:
How much are you looking for the conti's ?
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Not picking the car up until end July/beginning August. I'll revive this thread when I get it and have changed the tyres, and if you're still interested just send me a message.
 
Well I am changing my tyres on my s3 this week. Had a puntrue caused by a nail about 18 months ago, 6 months after getting the car from new. Audi repaired it but it's now not totally air tight. Car in for service but list 34 psi in 3 days. Rears are on 4 mm and fronts are 3 mm. I could do a repair again and it may be ok, otherwise I'd have to swap the rears. However as fronts are only 1mm or so from changing I may as well change the lot. Continentals have Benn fine if a bit noisy. Audi prices weren't too horrendous at 98.00 each, better ythan my peugeot 307xsi which used to be expensive at 200 each for decent Michelin.

No michelin at audi do went to costco reafing who have done a decent job on my cars before. Bridgestone s001 were 88 with 50 off for 4. Michellin pilot 4 were 100 and Michellin supersports are order only for 128. Going for the supersports, only downside is fuel economy isn't so good with the supersports
 
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