Tyre Wear / Pressures

[amjpedersen]

Has anyone had any issues with uneven tyre wear? My 'roc has done nearly 14,000 miles and the tyres are looking quite worn down the middle of the tread. I check the pressures often and they are always topped up if need be, but always bang on the 33PSI (i think) it needs to be. Obviously I check the poressure details inside the petrol filler cap prior to whipping out the pressure guage!!

Has anyone else had any similar issues at all? From the looks of the wear, i would say the tyres are over-inflated, as does a tyre technician I asked, but obviously don't want to lower the pressures if not safe...

[sir_rocco]

What brand of tyre do you have ?

Mine are wearing evenly at 16000 miles (Dunlops) and are running 35-36 psi. Have you checked your gauge is accurate ? Tried another gauge ?

[amjpedersen]

Mine are Pirelli P Zero Rosso 235/40 18's... According to the pressure settings, they should be 33 PSi as it's usually just me in the car too. I use two separate guages (one traditional on the plug in inflator, and one digital) to check the pressures and top up...

[ZephyR]

Excessive wear in the centre of the tread is normally due to over inflation but you seem to have got the correct pressure. Do the tyres look over inflated ?
I would agree that it would be worth trying a different pressure gauge. I've had a couple of those digital gauges and have found them to be totally unreliable.

[amjpedersen]

I'll whizz over to the petrol station in the morning and check on theirs to see how it fares...

[wigit]

amjpedersen what depths are you down to given your concerns, face value thought my pirellis were doing well at 12,000, my golf's fronts (pirellis but not same as rocs) are sh#gged after 8,500 miles

[wigit]

did a depth check today details below

scirocco 12,500miles pirelli p zero rossos 235/40/r18s fronts 4mm and 7mm rear (car was remapped at 7,500 miles)
GTI 9,300miles pirelli p zero 225/40/r18s MO fronts 3mm and 6mm rear (car standard)

impressed by wear rate on the scirocco

[wigit]

finally had a change of front tyres at 15,300 miles on the roc, surprised how well the pirellis have lasted on front and rear

[Turbo]

i had ta change my tyres after 15,000km but that prob had my tyre pressures at 30psi and should b 33psi and still wore like they were over inflated have my new tyres down ta 28psi now

[jc74]

Excessive wear in the centre of the tread is normally due to over inflation but you seem to have got the correct pressure. Do the tyres look over inflated ?
....

Or you could try cornering harder to get the wear a bit more even on the edges

Do remember having tyres slightly overinflated is meant to also improve fuel economy, so underinflating your tyres might even out your tyre wear and give you a bit more usage, but the extra cost in fuel might not compensate (not to mention the effect on handling etc).

[maisbitt]

For anyone inflating their tyres, you are checking the cold pressures (like overnight or at least 4 hours since driving)? Although this would most likely lead to underinflation rather than overinflation if the tyre pressure wasn't checked cold.

tyres checked at 33psi cold would be around 36psi if checked straight after a drive.

Is there a pattern here with the tyre types? Someone on this thread have said their Dunlops are wearing evenly, but everyone with excessive or odd wear seems to have Pirellis.

I have Dunlops inflated to recommended pressures and mine are wearing evenly.

Without tons of wheelspin and harsh cornering, you should be expecting 20-25k miles on your front tyres, and double on the rears.

If you do 10000 miles a year and expect to change your car after 3 years then swapping fronts for rears after 18 months might save you having to buy any tyres (punctures excluded) for those 3 years. Anyone know how much replacements (235 45 R18) are?

[rhcp128]

Today had my tires reversed and the front had 5mm and rear 7mm after around 14.5k km. They are Michelin Primacy HP 225/45/17. Seems fine to me... only thing is that they had to rebalance the wheels! Seems strange after only 14k km...

[skyblues11]

maisbitt, according to mytyres.co.uk, they are from £134 to £213.

i have noticed that some road surfaces these days can be abrasive, like those red parts they put on urban roads.

and also the rubber compound too. we don't know how soft they make them.

[jonallen628]

Kwik Fit want £198 a corner for a replacement Pirelli.

[alanstead]

Blackcircles.com want £125 for the Dunlop sport 01. Thats just delivered and not fitted, think they put about a tenner on if you go for fitted. I find there sometimes cheaper than mytyres, but it varies month to month, the advantage with blackcircles is you can have them fit them if you want.

Alan