Typical A2 tire wear?

Xiter

Xiter

Member
Car at 82000 kms (51000 miles)
Tires at 43000 kms (27000 miles)


I've been changing the tires from front to rear and the other way round a couple of times and now this is the result. The inside edge of one particular tire (right now at front left) is worn down with still 3 mm thread left elsewhere.

Another one is on it's way to the same result and the other two are pretty much okay, although a very slight tendency to wear more on the inside as well. These tires are original 175/60-15 Dunlop SP30's fitted at the factory. The car is going in for a wheel alignment at my local Audi dealer next week. Since more of you A2 owners seem to suffer from the same issue I'm starting to believe it's a waste of money since the design of the A2 seem to cause this in the first place. I guess I'll find out when I get it back if it was inside specifications. BTW the car doesn't pull in any direction.
 
All my cars seem to wear their tyres in this pattern. My A2 does it, my wife's Golf does it, and even my Porsche does it. When I posed this question on another forum I was deluged by people who also reported this type of wear on various cars. It seems to be a phenomenon of modern suspension design.

I'd be very surprised if they find anything amiss with your alignment.
 
Mine did this and I got a 4 wheel alignment done,
sorry I havent done enough miles to report anything yet
Its had 4 sets of tyres in its 100000 miles.
 
Has anybody noticed any problems with locking wheel screws?
I suspect the weight of a locking screw is not the same as a standard screw and it might affect the wheel balance. Maybe not noticable but still out of balance.
 
As suspected, there was nothing wrong with the alignment.
All values were well within tolerance.

So no apperant reason for the wear I'm afraid, other than the design of the suspension itself.

The only solution seem to be to remove the tires from the rims, turn them over the other way and refit the tires to the rims. But with only 3 mm left,
I don't feel like it's worth the extra cash. Maybe on the next set of tires.
 
Wear on the inside of the tyre is usually indicative of too much toe-out. I had similar problems with my Lupo 3L when new although the toe-out was as specified. I reduced this by a third with a large reduction in wear.

RAB
 
John H said:
It seems to be a phenomenon of modern suspension design.
Click to expand...

Could also be a phenomenon of modern road design which incorporates traffic calming by using speed cushions?

Are there many speed cushions in Sweden.

Just a thought.

John
 
Man-made speed bumbs are common, yes, but not in my regular commuter route.
The bumbs caused by the hard climate and neglected road
maintenance are just as bad if you're not paying attention
or is unfamiliar with the road. The extensive use of studs
is also a factor since it causes severe wear in the road surface, hence very obvious tire tracks.
 
Just to confirm, wear on the inside of the front tyres of both our Lupo 3L's has been totally eliminated by reducing the toe-out setting to about a third of what it should be. A Gunson Trakrite was a useful aid. VAG seem to be too pessimistic about the slack in their steering mechanisms with the result that the wheels are still toe-out under traction.

RAB
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top