Facelift S3 Rear Tyre Wear

[Pops&Bangs]

Hi All,

I have a FL S3 2018 Sportback with Magride on 235 35 R19 91Y XL A0 Continental CONTISPORT CONTACT 5P. These tyres were factory fitted tyres. I've covered 17,000 miles on them and both the rear tyres are wearing slightly more than the fronts. The wear across each rear tyre is even across the width of each tyre. Both the front tyres have 4.5mm tread left whilst both the rears have 3.5 mm tread left. As the maximum amount of power that can be delivered to the rear wheels is 50% and most of the time the power is sent to the front wheel and with the weight and steering is on the front wheels one would have thought the front tyres would wear more than the rear. The tyres have never been rotated from front to back. Is this normal or is there an alignment/tracking issue, thoughts? Many thanks.

 

[Harvey]

Are you sure they have never ever been rotated front to back? That's decent mileage out a set of sports rubber on a sports hatch. How does the steering feel, sharp & precise or a bit woolly? If your not quite sure get the alignment checked anyway at a specialist alignment center who use decent laser kit like the Hunter HawkEye. As you have even flat wear across the tyre it doesn't mean something isn't out.

I can't really comment regarding wear as I rotate front to back on my FL S3 annually & do so on all my cars. I also change tyres when they get down to 3mm & never ever wait until 1.6mm (UK legal limit for US readers).

 

[Potterswheel]

When I was looking for my 3 year old S3 I was quite surprised by the number I looked at which needed new tyres after as little as 10k miles, I avoided these as I thought this was a sign of hard driving and use of the launch control, as Harvey says with my brief knowledge it looks as though yours are lasting well.
There is a silver lining - you have an excuse to get some Michelin Pilot sport 4's fitted now!!!!!!!!

 

[Pops&Bangs]

Are you sure they have never ever been rotated front to back? That's decent mileage out a set of sports rubber on a sports hatch. How does the steering feel, sharp & precise or a bit woolly? If your not quite sure get the alignment checked anyway at a specialist alignment center who use decent laser kit like the Hunter HawkEye. As you have even flat wear across the tyre it doesn't mean something isn't out.

I can't really comment regarding wear as I rotate front to back on my FL S3 annually & do so on all my cars. I also change tyres when they get down to 3mm & never ever wait until 1.6mm (UK legal limit for US readers).

The tyres have definitely not been rotated from front to back as I've had the car from new and they were never rotated when the car has been serviced at Audi. I did ask Audi what they thought and they just said that they normally see even wear across all 4 tyres on the S3. The wear was even across all 4 tyres since new to around 14k miles. In the last 3k miles the rear tyres are approx 1mm more worn than the front. All 4 tyres have the same date of manufacture. Perhaps it might be different batch of tyres fitted on the rear, my driving style (don't normally carry much weight at the back) or alignment out of check.

I think I will get the alignment checked out at a specialist as you suggest when I get a set of new boots for peace of mind as there's no point ruining a new set of tyres if the alignment is out. May I ask what tyres you are running on your FL S3? Need to try and find a decent tyre place that won't mark the wheels when they replace the tyres. Many thanks.

 

[Pops&Bangs]

When I was looking for my 3 year old S3 I was quite surprised by the number I looked at which needed new tyres after as little as 10k miles, I avoided these as I thought this was a sign of hard driving and use of the launch control, as Harvey says with my brief knowledge it looks as though yours are lasting well.
There is a silver lining - you have an excuse to get some Michelin Pilot sport 4's fitted now!!!!!!!!

Totally agree! I can't really complain after 17k miles and the fronts are 4.5mm and the rear 3.5mm worn. Are you running MPS4s? If so how are you finding durability/wear rate as there not much info on the forums about this even though alot of people are running MPS4s. I personally would expect tyres to last around 15k miles with a mix bag of driving. Or would I not expect this from running MPS4s? Cheers.

 

[Harvey]

The tyres on my S3 are Michelin Cross Climate+ in 225/40R18. Exceptional all rounders & highly recommended rubber.

 

[Pops&Bangs]

The tyres on my S3 are Michelin Cross Climate+ in 225/40R18. Exceptional all rounders & highly recommended rubber.

I've heard good things about the Michelin Cross Climate+. Someone else with an S3 is also running Michelin Cross Climate+. Unfortunately I don't think you can't get Michelin Cross Climate+ in 235 35 R19 so that's not an option for me.

 

[Harvey]

I've heard good things about the Michelin Cross Climate+. Someone else with an S3 is also running Michelin Cross Climate+. Unfortunately I don't think you can't get Michelin Cross Climate+ in 235 35 R19 so that's not an option for me.

Your correct as I've just checked and no MCC+ in your size. If I had 19s & in the market for fresh rubber I'd be opting for MPS4 no question about it. Any competent tyre fitter will be able to replace tyres on 19s without causing damage but there are lots of cowboys out there who just don't care. If you were near Nottingham I can highly recommend Spare Deal Tyres. I've been using them for years and they have never marked any of my rims, even the 20s on my old beloved Touareg v10 Altitude weren't a problem for them

 

[RPB]

Your correct as I've just checked and no MCC+ in your size. If I had 19s & in the market for fresh rubber I'd be opting for MPS4 no question about it. Any competent tyre fitter will be able to replace tyres on 19s without causing damage but there are lots of cowboys out there who just don't care. If you were near Nottingham I can highly recommend Spare Deal Tyres. I've been using them for years and they have never marked any of my rims, even the 20s on my old beloved Touareg v10 Altitude weren't a problem for them

Hi Harvey, does this recommendation still stand for Spare Deal Tyres? I’ve driven by but never thought of using them. Am after puncture repair or new tyres of course. ***. My life with tyres has been a f’ing pain up my **** over my Subaru and now, my S3. Every puncture I’ve ever had has been to an almost new tyre! Never an old one.
Thanks

 

[Harvey]

@RPB yes they still come recommended as I've used them for years for both supplying new, used & fitting tyres that I've purchased elsewhere. Had a few punctures repaired by them & never had any issues afterwards. Just pop in see what they say

 

[Damo S]

Michelin PS 4s do offer good grip in the wet, but they come at a sacrifice of a noisy ride, especially on certain road surfaces. I have to say I was pretty disappointed at the noise levels after having fitting them. The worn toyo proxies they replaced were pretty bad (well known for it) and I was looking forward to a quieter ride with those gone that was not the case with these things. But as already said they do offer great grip in the wet: night and day compared with the toyo proxies. I would be happy to pay more for similar grip levels as the PS4s but with less road noise.