Bob Petruska

I have an '02 3.0QM non-sport. The OEM Michelin MXM4 tracked straight as on rails even on PA's roughest roads. I never even thought about using more than 3 fingers to steer the car. Well the tires wore out, needed better snow traction than the Michelins. Bought Bridgestone Turanza LS-H based on the favorable reviews at Tire Rack. Both the Michelin MXM4 and Bridgestone LS-H are classified as Grand Touring with the Bridgestone rated 2 out of 15 for all of Tire Rack's Grand Touring tires and the Michelin was 15 out of 15! Now one would expect the Bridgestones to at least meet the Michelins head on if not better. Well now my A4 is nervous on the interstates, constant slight directional correction is required to keep it straight, it feels nervous, it wears you out on a trip. It feels as though the weight of the car keeps shifting and it wants to go in that direction. The car does not pull to the side on flat smooth roads but still feels squirmy. When I pass trucks or have cross winds the car really darts badly that I need to hold on big time. Now I let these tires break in for 2K miles and going for an alignment Thursday. I haven't hit any pot holes or curbs. The tires were balanced on the Hunter GSP9700 and are smooth riding with no vibration present at any speed. The car seems to grip and track OK at less than 40 mph.

My question is has anyone else experienced this wander, nervousness, darting before and was it due to the alignment off? It's really hard to believe that the Turanza LS-Hs could be this bad.

JeffPGH

I think some tires like different pressures. I would first try reducing the pressure.

bhvrdr

Do you notice it at low speeds as well? Is it just as bad?

por911

You went from a good tire(MXM4) to the Turanza,(fine for lighter car-Tercel/Corolla)which is below average for the Audi. The Audi with the V6 is a fairly weighty car. Try the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S next time, rock solid on the highway. With tires, you get what you pay for,unfortunately. I would hope no one at Tirerack recommended those tires for that car.

cpd

I hit a curb a couple years back in the b6, wacked everything out of place. The car displayed the exact same behavior after things were fixed because the aligment was not perfect. After aligning it a few times at a few different places I finally got it back to perfect, but I remember thinking about how small an adjustment it took to effect the path accurancy, and how drastically different the driving experience can be when our cars are only alittle out of alignment. I too have non-sport. The aligment at a good garage should cure things. Can't imagine the brigestones being much different from the michelins.

Bob Petruska

I have tried from 30 psi to 40 and still nervous. Only ride harshness increased as expected.

Bob Petruska

As stated in my original post 40 mph and below seem fine.

Bob Petruska

I have talked to other B6 owners who have them and they seem to ride as on rails. Money is no object for tires. I was looking for a good A/S with better snow performance. I have also heard enough bad about the Pilot Sport A/S that I steered away form them. Mercedes recommends to stay away from the Sport. Conti's were also on my list but they flat spot when sitting ans it's worse in the cold temps. There really aren't any good A/S tires out there anymore. I will probably just dump these tires if this is the problem and go back to Michelin XGT Z4's for 3 season use and then get a set of Dunlop M2s for the winter. The bottom line is that I just can't believe that the Bridgstones are worse than the MXM4s if this is the case.

Bob Petruska

I will also agree with you on pure enjoyment can be affected by alignment(hopefully) or tires(possible) to where one would sell the car.

German Driver

but i actually found the fl audi club guys name john, and his email, but if you have any info you can pass along that would still be cool. thanks