Q7 needs new tyres every 20k - suggestions?

[nightphotographer]

Our Q7 is needing it's third set of new tyres and it's just about to hit 40k - it has 21x10J wheels and take 295/35's if I remember rightly. The tyres are about $600-700 a corner so they're not the cheapest tyres either.

I was just wondering if there was any tips to get longer life out of the tyres specific to the 2.5 tonne Q7 - I had it booked in to get alligned months ago but when I turned up the place could only do up to 20" wheels and I just put it off. Tyres were wearing about 20% quicker on the fronts so were rotated and are now evenly sitting around 2mm.

Google is saying the Q7 is renowned for poor tyre wear with most people needing new tyres at 20,000 miles - that's nearly double the life of ours. No other forums have got any decent answers regarding a solution or anything that might help.

Is there any Australian delivered tyres we can try next that might be harder and get a few more ks out of? Would moving down to a 20" and higher profile tyre make any difference or at least widen the market for tyres 295/35/21 is a pretty small market.

Any tips would be appreciated!!!

Edit: in comparison, my polo is completely out of allignment, driven quite aggresively and I haven't needed to replace tyres in nearly 4 years of ownership and 50k - it didn't come with new tyres either!

[team_v]

Probably downsize wheels to get more range and cheaper tyre options.
At 21 inch you are likly to only have a few options for tyres and most of them will be sports oriented.
Basically if you stay at 21 inch wheels you are stuck with:
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx
Michelin Latitude Sport
Pirelli P Zero Rosso



Otherwise you can run your tyres at higher pressures to reduce the likelihood of early wear.

[Umai Naa!!]

How are they wearing?

If they're wearing both the inner and outer edges, but not feathering, I'd recommend increasing the tyre pressure.

[tigger73]

You could try changing brands to see if you can find a harder wearing compound. Often the sports tyres are a soft compound combined with a 2.5 tonne vehicle = recipe for wear.

You could try tirerack.com - they have a few options in the $350-400 range. But then you'll be up for freight and import duties if you bring in 4 at a time.

Otherwise stgeorgetyres.com.au or ozzytyres are the other local online stores.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[h100vw]

You could try changing brands to see if you can find a harder wearing compound. Often the sports tyres are a soft compound combined with a 2.5 tonne vehicle = recipe for wear.

You could try tirerack.com - they have a few options in the $350-400 range. But then you'll be up for freight and import duties if you bring in 4 at a time.

Otherwise stgeorgetyres.com.au or ozzytyres are the other local online stores.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have always found Dark Horse to be an exceedingly long lasting tyre. Sometimes twice the life of the car. They seem to be made of some rubber substitute, possibly space age tech from NASA?

[nightphotographer]

Having done a little more reading, I think incorrect tyre pressures could be one of the problems - apparently with the weight of the car and the profile of the tyre it's pretty important to check the pressures more often.

Having said that now's the time to change tyre - Bridgestone is an option apparently these are better than the Pirelli's that come from factory and we have on at the moment - apparently the Dunlops have massive noise issues so I'll avoid though. Continental - unsure - I know they make the size and they weren't ridiculously expensive but as for wear I don't know.

All tyres are wearing evenly in terms of sides - no massive differences on the edges. Will buy a tyre pressure gauge and have a look tonight - the car is my gf's dad's at the moment, he has mentioned handing it down though

[Lucas_R]

Do you know what the treadwear rating is on your current tyres? This number will indicate basically how soft the tyres are and will dictate greatly on how long they will last. No doubt a low profile 21" tyre will be performance oriented and will have a low treadwear number. (say lower than 250 - the tyres i recently bought for my GTI are a 240 treadwear and they are a performance oriented 18 inch tyre by Michelin)

If you were to move to a 19 or 20 inch rim, this would no doubt open up your choices to get a longer lasting tyre.

See info here on the treadwear rating and how to locate it on your tyre: What are UTQG Ratings - Cooper Tires

Also - a few other options for 21" tyres: 295/35R21 Tyres - 295 35 21 Tyres - JAX Tyres

[Polo GTEye N9]

Edit: in comparison, my polo is completely out of allignment, driven quite aggresively and I haven't needed to replace tyres in nearly 4 years of ownership and 50k - it didn't come with new tyres either!

My Polo My08 is similar, aligment has not needed doing in 40000 plus and no issues. I pity your Q7 tyre wear and costs!

[nat225]

Downsize and go with cooper tyres that come with 80,000km warranty. They will last much longer and will turn the q7 with a road train noise

[snerlo]

Mate, my dad just literally went through exactly the same thing. He has the same pirelli tyres on his Q7 V8 and purchased some new pirellis through tyresales.com.au or something like that. Got them delivered to his house for pretty much $2k. He will get them fitted in the next few months once the originals finally crap themselves. He has only got about 20k out of his too but he does tow a caravan on the odd occasion. He is a little surprised by the tread wear and sort of regrets going back to the 20's with coopers like he had on his last Q7 but the 21's accompanied by the guard flares do look bloody hot so he just puts up with it. One thing i guess you have to be careful with is load ratings so just be mindful of that too. I will also have to tell him to monitor his tyre pressures because i am quite certain that he doesnt check them that often. Anyhow, that is just an expense when you own a prestige vehicle, plus the torque that dads diesel produces, you really should have some decents boots to keep these things on the road whe you want to get somewhere quick!

[nightphotographer]

Hi guys - bumping this again as we're about to fork out for new tyres (again) - sizes are 295-35-21

Options are:
Pirelli P Zero which are currently on the car - very fast wearing.
Continental Cross Contact
Michelin Latitude Sport
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx (heard they are very loud road noise wise)
Yokohama Advan Sport

Does anyone know which brands here are harder wearing and will last longer?

[nightphotographer]

UPDATE:

Just read there's people getting over 80K off Hankook Tyres on the Q7 in the UK - not just one person, a few! So just called to get a quote on some in our size and they're only $445 a corner which is about $300 cheaper than the Pirellis - so $1200 cheaper all up. Anyone got anything to say about the Hankooks before we go ahead?

[brad]

What pressures do you run and waht are the recommended pressures on the fuel flap? (PSI would be nice as I can't get my head around metric pressures)

What is the Tread wear rating on the Pirellis? (I think you'll find it's TWR160 which is very low)
For the other tyres you listed:

Continental Cross Contact - TWR 280 $430
Michelin Latitude Sport - TWR220 $530
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx (heard they are very loud road noise wise) - TWR240 $450
Yokohama Advan Sport - TWR280 $420

There's also a Michelin Latitude Tour which is TWR 440 - they are $550 at Tempe Tyres



Are the tyres showing any abnormal wear patterns?

Have you had an alignment by a specialist (not just somebody that can operate a machine and set the adjusters). Did they inspect the old tyres before doing the alignment.

What type of rotation are you doing?

What type of driving are you doing (towing? Course chip roads? Lots of corners?).

[nightphotographer]

Thanks for the additional info Brad.

It's at about 38PSI which I think is the recommended pressure. People in the UK are running 40 to try and get extra miles out of the tyres.

It hasn't been aligned, that's something I'm going to get done now probably when it's in getting tyres. It does pull to the left slightly, but there's no noticeable difference in wear on the inside or outside. The front's are wearing about 20% faster than the rears, these were rotated and now it's back to even sat with maybe 2.5mm left.

Driving is a wide range, we've done a lot of snow trips so plenty of corners. It does a lot of freeway driving too, a lot of general country driving and then town driving too - roundabouts etc. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I really want to find out more info on the Hankooks for people in the UK to be getting 80k+ compared to maybe 30k out of other brands is definitely impressive. Those prices you've quoted are really good - but we're in Albury/Wodonga so freight and fitting is a bit of a killer - might as well buy local.

[brad]

I would be running somewhere between 42-45psi in a vehicle that size. It will help a bit but if a tyre has a TWR of 160 it will disapear pretty quick no matter what you do when it's suporting a 2.5tonne vehicle (they are around that aren't they?).

I think the TWR on the Hankook is 340. While it will give you better mileage, i really doubt it will give 80,000km unless there are aspects of handling & braking that are severely compromised. It could be that the high milers drive like pussies too.

freight on a set of tyres is $60. Fitting will be $80-$100. Knowing this, get your local guy to price match. BJs will price match off a web price or try & get close.

Personally, I'd take the punt & go with the Michelin Latitude Tour because I think Michelin make great tyres.

The only other alternative is to get on eBay & Gumtree & look for some 20" used Q7 / Toureg / Cayenne wheels with tyres for around $1k-$1.5k and keep the 21" for when you sell the car.

BTW: if you just want cheap you can get yumcha tyres for <$200