cbusA3

After noticing a "bumpiness" in the ride (at low and high speeds), I took my A3 3.2 to the dealer. I thought it may be a bent wheel. The dealer told me it was uneven tire wear. I have less than 17,000 miles (99% is straight-line highway miles) in less than a year. The all-season Pirelli tires are on the 17 factory wheels. Not only are the tires REALLY loud but the thumping and feeling it in the steering wheel really sucks!

Anyone else have the same problem? Do I have a legitimate warranty claim (from Pirelli)?

Any recommendations for some reasonably quiet, ultra-high performance all-season tires?

Thanks all!!!!

azoceanblue

I personally don't think necessarily that the problem is with the Pirelli's, but the oem tire pressure is too low. I changed my P6's at 20k (suffered with the noise for about 5-7k).

I bought Bridgestone RE960AS's, changed my tire pressure to 38 (F&R), and I now have 31k miles on them. They still have about 40% of the tread left, are still relatively quiet, and have plenty of grip.

The bad news about them, is that they have increased in price from $154 per tire to $182 per tire since 12/06.

Scott

danham

Very interesting. My OEM Michelin Pilots with 25k on them sound like a road grader. I seriously thought I had a bad wheel bearing. The good news is that unlike Michelins at around 25-30k miles that I've had before, these still do really well in rain.

A coupla questions, if I may. How did you conclude the pressure was too low? What is the max inflation shown on the sidewall of the Bridges?

Thanks,

-dan

azoceanblue

outer edges was because my tire pressure was too low. I had my tire pressure at oem, 35F/32R.

Max. pressure on the bridgestones is 51psi.

So I decided to raise my tire pressures. I had read were others set their tire pressures to 40 F/R, I thought this may be to high, decided to gradually work my way towards a higher tire pressure, and settled on 38 F/R.

Like I said in previous post, since I have raised my tire pressure, I have gotten 31k with the bridgestones. My tire wear is now even on all four tires. After 31k miles, my tread depth is 6/32nds on all four tires (new 11/32nds).

Interestingly though, since I had coilovers installed a couple weeks ago, I have lowered the tire pressures to 35F/36R. Why? Higher spring rate of the coilovers?

After the coilover install, while making left or right hand turns, if I gunned it, the front tires would squeal. Without the coilovers, I never heard the tires squeal. In my driveway,I noticed that when the front tires were turned fully left or right, only a third of the tire was touching the ground. at 35psi front, almost all of the tire is now touching the ground.

I am going to get the coilovers corner-balanced and re-aligned. I had an alignment done after install, but I am not sure if the alignment was good.

I will post again after cb and alignment.

Scott

ABarthol

There are a number of archived threads that talk about what tires people have replaced with with and the luck that they have had with each.

Craig3Q

I typically run my ContiSportContact 3's on my 3.2 at 36F/38R.

Although I'll be driving at an HPDE track day this weekend in 100+ deg weather, so it will be interesting to see what I end up with that day.

danham

I'll start experimenting with pressures - thanks very much for the thorough reply.

A few observations (which from a distance may not be worth as much as firsthand eval by the service folks). Cupping is usually balance, unless there is also an alignment issue, such as excessive toe-in.

The lack of contact at full lock could be a sign of just such an issue -- usually that is a caster problem but last I checked, caster is not per se adjustable on our cars, though a suspension mod could definitely affect it. Changes to camber will also obviously affect this.

That said, be careful about making conclusions about contact patch with a car that's standing still. One of the goals of a good competition alignment is to set up the suspension so it provides maximum contact at cornering speeds. It's a matter of many compromises, but a car set up for the track will show "too much" negative camber parked in your driveway, for example.

When you go for the alignment, be sure to mention the pressures you actually run, otherwise the tech may set them to factory specs which can influence the outcome.

-dan

azoceanblue

Thanks dan! I will mention the air pressure.

azoceanblue

I'm in AZ, 110 degrees, probably 42psi, will have to check it out.

azoceanblue

Began Saturday at 36f&r, after a 30 mile round trip, tp was 42f/41.5r, temp 103