Quattro's eat tyres?

Inexperienced Joined: Mar 07, 2010 Posts: 31

Just had the original tyres replaced on my car after about 7 months and 10700 miles (its 2010 Audi A6 Allroad 3.0TDI). They were the original Continentals the car came with, it definitely needed doing as the car had developed a 'shimmy' at certain speeds and the rubber on 3 of them was down to the wear bars. On its new rubber its back to good behaviours.

When the Kwikfit mobile fitter arrived at my house to carry out the work he said "Ah, its an Allroad, the four wheel drive system on these cars knackers tyres"

I was a little surprised by this as, whilst not brilliant, I didn't think almost 11000 miles on a set was too bad. My previous car, an XC90, ate them much faster than that.

Anyway, I now have a new set of Goodyear F1's on the car and we shall see how long they go for. The good news is that I have a maintenance contract and tyres are included otherwise I think I would have been £1000 poorer.

What do other people get out of their tyres with Allroads is this the norm?

Chunkers

Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 8:23 pm

One of the biggest factors on tyre eating is the setup of the steering. That also means setting it up yourself by kerbing the wheels. Also a bad setup front to rear will chew up tyres quite happily. As yours is a 2010, I wouldn't think the setup should be too bad ex factory at that age.
Tyres on my Allroad have done about 7k, with very little sign of wear, including a lot of snow driving up here, and some very crappy roads too.
I use Yoko Advan tyres, a good compromise, but I'm changing them over for the summer months for a good dry/wet compromise. (F1's maybe? - did you see the Audi Driver article on the F1's?)
Obviously the other factor is how you drive too. If you park at 60mph then you'll get more wear along with playing with seductive corners and the quattro sport of clearing the lower bowles of passengers Smile

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Inexperienced Joined: Mar 07, 2010 Posts: 31

Interesting, we are not fast drivers at all, I would say and neither me or the wife have been anywhere near exploring the limits of the road-holding, especially with 2 kids and a labrador in the back!

In fact, when i see the dog fall over and tumble across the boot thats usually a good indicator that I need to slow down, lol

The other one is 'Daddy, I feel sick'

Will be interesting to see how long the F1's will last, I am encouraged that the F1's are a decent match - I haven't seen the article but I am guessing from the tone of your note they are a decent choice.

Thanks for the reply

Chunks

Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 7:56 pm

The article says they are the top choice. Keep us all informed how the F1's perform.
By the way, my dogs have worked out how to get the lean right on corners and hard braking Smile

Cheers

Newbie Joined: Oct 18, 2007 Posts: 6 Location: North Herts

Don't pick Continentals is the simple answer. They do provide excellent grip but wear down way too fast. I have friends with other makes (2wd & 4wd) of car who say the same thing. I've got Dunlops on my quattro and they have lasted much, much better. ( I drive an A6 4.2 V8 and I often use the 300bhp available under my right foot! )

Newbie Joined: Oct 18, 2007 Posts: 6 Location: North Herts

Don't pick Continentals is the simple answer. They do provide excellent grip but wear down way too fast. I have friends with other makes (2wd & 4wd) of car who say the same thing. I've got Dunlops on my quattro and they have lasted much, much better. ( I drive an A6 4.2 V8 and I often use the 300bhp available under my right foot! )

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:51 am

Interesting reading....

My experience with Continentals was way different...

I have a FWD A6 and that had Pirelli PZeros on from new, and I drove like a saint as it was running in, and got 15400 miles before they were basically slicks.

I put on a pair of Contisport 3s and I've done nearly 17k of 'spirited' driving and there's still 4.9mm to go!

Not sure whether the Allroad Contis wear differently but I'd definitely recommend them over Pirellis for 2wd.

Regards

Pete

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 8:07 pm

One thing I can say first that Allroads don't wear tyres any quicker than any other 4x4.
If yours do not last at least close to 15k per set then you have suspension issue. Get tracking and full alignment done asap at reputable workshop which would these days shown you before and after diagrams.
Also these cars are fussy so all angles have to be set spot on for best performance.
From my experience with C5 Allroad, oem pirelli's lasted me over 20k and had a good grip on everything, current Eagle F1's getting close to same as well, good grip on dry and wet, but terrible on snow/ice/mud while still having about 4-5mm left. Edges on these are round with low tread so they have to be inflated to 37-38 psi otherwise edges wear out too quick at front.
I always thought Contis were softer than Pirellis?

Btw how is C6 Allroad comparing to C5? I quite like them.

Just my 2 cents... Wink