Matching tyres

sp3ctre

sp3ctre

Administrator
Staff member
First off, this question relates to my Audi A6 Avant (3.0 Bi Turbo Black Edition, not that it really makes a difference)

It was wearing the Kumho's that it came with, but it needed two new front tyres. I was on my way back from Stockport and I got a flat near side front. Anyway, it had a major gash so I put on the space saver and went to National Tyres just before closing. The only tyre they had was a Pirelli P Zero. I let them put that on, but I still need to replace the other side and eventually the rears.

I don't like the idea of different tyres on a single axle, so I am thinking to put another matching trye on the other side. The question is what to do with the rears. as I see it there are 3 options:

1: Put P Zeros on the rear as well
2: Put Michelins or Goodyears on the rear
3: Move the Pirellis to the rear and put Michelins or Goodyears on the front

(both 2 and 3 assume eventually ending up with matching sets once the Pirellis wear out, but my mileage means that would be a fair while)

Obviously it's a big heavy car, and 4WD, so it's a bit different to the Z4, but interested in people's thoughts.
 
Personally, on an AWD car I would always have the same tyres all round. I know from experience on my XC90's that having differing brands front to rear does cause uneven wear rates, something I never had with 4 matching tyres.

Mike
 
4WD is indeed different. Even to the point that on BMWs if you mix them, they "eat" the transfer box and with mixed tyres you have a warranty issue on that as well.

I would get rid of the P zero and put 4 new tyres on. How long are you planning to keep the car?
 
how often do you push the boundaries of grip and braking? and how picky are you about tyres?

personally if it was my car id probably take the p zero off again, and put on two new kumhos to match the rears, then replace the rears with the same when required. Kumhos aren't a bad tyre, and I don't drive my daily hard enough to warrant premium brand tyres in my opinion - despite it being a remapped 330d. and then sell the nearly new Pirelli on ebay, its probably worth double what a kumho is.
 
Interesting... Will be keeping this car a few years yet, we'll be changing the other car before this one. If it's really that important to keep matching I might just put P Zeros on the back as well, I'm (slightly) less precious about tyre brand on this car than the Z4 or S5, so long as it's a premium brand, and P Zeros do seem reasonable.... certainly not sure I want to eat £180 just for the sake of changing to Michelin.
 
brillomaster said:
how often do you push the boundaries of grip and braking? and how picky are you about tyres?

personally if it was my car id probably take the p zero off again, and put on two new kumhos to match the rears, then replace the rears with the same when required. Kumhos aren't a bad tyre, and I don't drive my daily hard enough to warrant premium brand tyres in my opinion - despite it being a remapped 330d. and then sell the nearly new Pirelli on ebay, its probably worth double what a kumho is.
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Sorry, cross posted there... I don't push it hard at all, it's a family car so performance in that respect (of pushing it hard) is less important than safety and wet performance.
 
On a Quattro it should have matching all round I'm afraid, same make, pattern and within 3mm tread depth of each other, I don't know how old your car is but Audi used to invalidate the transmission warranty if the above weren't followed.

In all honesty it's not just an issue with Audi but most vehicles with permanent 4WD, I have encountered the same issues with all the BMW X1,X3 & X5 models and Volkswagen 4Motion.

I had a customer once with an X3 that had replaced the tyres with a budget rather than a premium approved tyre and within a month the transfer box started to whine. BMW refused to touch it, a local transmission specialist wanted to put a gearbox in it and charge £3.5K.....................turns out that swapping the tyres back to an approved Pirelli sorted the issue before any real damage was done :thumbsup:
 
Tyreman said:
On a Quattro it should have matching all round I'm afraid, same make, pattern and within 3mm tread depth of each other, I don't know how old your car is but Audi used to invalidate the transmission warranty if the above weren't followed.

In all honesty it's not just an issue with Audi but most vehicles with permanent 4WD, I have encountered the same issues with all the BMW X1,X3 & X5 models and Volkswagen 4Motion.

I had a customer once with an X3 that had replaced the tyres with a budget rather than a premium approved tyre and within a month the transfer box started to whine. BMW refused to touch it, a local transmission specialist wanted to put a gearbox in it and charge £3.5K.....................turns out that swapping the tyres back to an approved Pirelli sorted the issue before any real damage was done :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Thanks, good to know... looks like it's either 4 Goodyears or 3 P Zeros then :)
 
sp3ctre said:
Tyreman said:
On a Quattro it should have matching all round I'm afraid, same make, pattern and within 3mm tread depth of each other, I don't know how old your car is but Audi used to invalidate the transmission warranty if the above weren't followed.

In all honesty it's not just an issue with Audi but most vehicles with permanent 4WD, I have encountered the same issues with all the BMW X1,X3 & X5 models and Volkswagen 4Motion.

I had a customer once with an X3 that had replaced the tyres with a budget rather than a premium approved tyre and within a month the transfer box started to whine. BMW refused to touch it, a local transmission specialist wanted to put a gearbox in it and charge £3.5K.....................turns out that swapping the tyres back to an approved Pirelli sorted the issue before any real damage was done :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Thanks, good to know... looks like it's either 4 Goodyears or 3 P Zeros then :)
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Go for the Asymmetric 3 :D
 
Save yourself some dollar and get 3 new P Zeros.

On a 4WD drive family car you don’t really need Michelin’s imho. (If it was an RS6 that would be a different story however). :wink:
 
Unless you are reading bad things somewhere, about the P Zeros, then 3x new P Zero's. would seem the logical thing to go for.
 
Seeing as your already into a new pirelli p zero I'd just match up the others. Now you've got a bit of time hopefully you won't be into £180 a corner and can get a better deal elsewhere, especially as you'll be buying three. The only issue I've ever really had with the pirellis is nothing to do with handling or grip, its they just never seem to last as long as equivalent Goodyear or michelins.
The argument against premium tyres that is often spouted "I don't drive it hard enough to justify the cost" just does not stack up for me. First of all a lot of folks who buy mid range have never bought premium so arent really in a position to offer a compariable opinion. Of course mid range is good enough to them, its all they've ever experienced.
But the main deciding factor for me isnt the handling, it's the braking distance. At the end of the day most of us drive on fast roads at some point and invariably the premium tyres offer the best stopping distances, particularly in the wet. For me I'd rather put a bit extra into the tyres than have a bump and be sat there thinking "I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't bought mid range tyres."
 
MACK said:
Seeing as your already into a new pirelli p zero I'd just match up the others. Now you've got a bit of time hopefully you won't be into £180 a corner and can get a better deal elsewhere, especially as you'll be buying three. The only issue I've ever really had with the pirellis is nothing to do with handling or grip, its they just never seem to last as long as equivalent Goodyear or michelins.
The argument against premium tyres that is often spouted "I don't drive it hard enough to justify the cost" just does not stack up for me. First of all a lot of folks who buy mid range have never bought premium so arent really in a position to offer a compariable opinion. Of course mid range is good enough to them, its all they've ever experienced.
But the main deciding factor for me isnt the handling, it's the braking distance. At the end of the day most of us drive on fast roads at some point and invariably the premium tyres offer the best stopping distances, particularly in the wet. For me I'd rather put a bit extra into the tyres than have a bump and be sat there thinking "I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't bought mid range tyres."
Click to expand...

The difference in braking distances between products can be quite scary...........hence the introduction of the E.U. tyre label in 2012 :o
 
Totally agree with you guys, wouldn’t be buying crap tyres. I consider the P Zero to be premium, just not my choice. Not much in stopping distance between that and the Goodyear/Michelin... Main gripe was wear rate and noise, but the Kuhmos were noisy anyway.
 
Tyreman said:
MACK said:
Seeing as your already into a new pirelli p zero I'd just match up the others. Now you've got a bit of time hopefully you won't be into £180 a corner and can get a better deal elsewhere, especially as you'll be buying three. The only issue I've ever really had with the pirellis is nothing to do with handling or grip, its they just never seem to last as long as equivalent Goodyear or michelins.
The argument against premium tyres that is often spouted "I don't drive it hard enough to justify the cost" just does not stack up for me. First of all a lot of folks who buy mid range have never bought premium so arent really in a position to offer a compariable opinion. Of course mid range is good enough to them, its all they've ever experienced.
But the main deciding factor for me isnt the handling, it's the braking distance. At the end of the day most of us drive on fast roads at some point and invariably the premium tyres offer the best stopping distances, particularly in the wet. For me I'd rather put a bit extra into the tyres than have a bump and be sat there thinking "I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't bought mid range tyres."
Click to expand...

The difference in braking distances between products can be quite scary...........hence the introduction of the E.U. tyre label in 2012 :o
Click to expand...
Totally agree.
I might not drive it like I stole it but I do want it to stop well. 😀
 
sp3ctre said:
Totally agree with you guys, wouldn’t be buying crap tyres. I consider the P Zero to be premium, just not my choice. Not much in stopping distance between that and the Goodyear/Michelin... Main gripe was wear rate and noise, but the Kuhmos were noisy anyway.
Click to expand...

PZeros are premium, no issues there at all :)
 
Tyreman said:
sp3ctre said:
Totally agree with you guys, wouldn’t be buying crap tyres. I consider the P Zero to be premium, just not my choice. Not much in stopping distance between that and the Goodyear/Michelin... Main gripe was wear rate and noise, but the Kuhmos were noisy anyway.
Click to expand...

PZeros are premium, no issues there at all :)
Click to expand...

Agreed, like spectre said, in terms of performance they're a great tyre, it's just the wear rate etc I dislike.
 
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