What are the quietist Tyres for an Ocatvia RS

[jbee]

Hi Brad

Thanks for that I think we have settled for the v500's. and the size is right.
If you get the correct specs for a 2009 2.0TDI RS wagon that would be a real help, as VW treat it like a state secret.

Many thanks - John

I don't think the Yokohama db comes in the right size for the RS. 225/40x18 isn't it?
Toyo Teo are quiet - 235/40x18 though.

I thought the CSC2 on my Elegance were bloody noisy - especially when they got below 50%. Now running Michelin Primacy & they are much better. For you, the Michelin PS2, Goodyear Eagle F1 or Pirelli PZero might be worth a look. Truly, almost anything will be better than the Dunlops.

My best mate in NZ does wheel alignments for a living - do you want me to ask him what the factory specs are& what he would set it to? It isn't rocket surgery - even I can set a car up based on the tyre wear patterns.

jbee - seriously, your better off importing from tirerack.

edit: does Tassie still have all those crap course-chip roads? They will make any tyre/car noisy.

[jbee]

Hi Everyone - thanks for the suggestions and ideas, I think we will go for the V550dB's and a good wheel aligner and see how it goes.

Cheers - John

[woofy]

And what effect will that have on the noise? The 235 tyres are legal from a Vicroads and insurance perspective (the insurance said as long as Vicroads are happy, so are they). So drop it............

I actually had asked about what you paid for the PS3s then remembered you got the bigger size..so edited it...I probably should have just deleted it, but didn't it, so I think you took it as meaning something else.

Just to check, I've got the Zenith tyres which from memory are 7.5" and those tyres are minimum 8", I have had the same issues with my previous cars as mazda run narrow alloys as well. Technically the 225s are only just meeting the spec (min 7.5", recommended 8")...so surprised the tyre guys fitted 235s, they are legal for the 18" size, but not in respect to the width. Most tyre places won't fit them for that reason. I don't know if the Neptunes are 7.5 or 8" though.

[brad]

Hi Brad
If you get the correct specs for a 2009 2.0TDI RS wagon that would be a real help, as VW treat it like a state secret.

I'm not sure what happened - I'm sure I posted the info the other day. Anyway, I'll try again.

A summary of his emails to me. The guy has been doing wheel alignments for 30 years.

• the specs are only a guide & 80% of cars I set outside of specs ( it s real easy to change the spec s to make them look like they are factory on the printout summary )
• for some reason the europeans still persist with front toe out on their front wheel drivers which is crap as alot of these cars run negative camber as well so you end up with boatloads of inside wear

front (machine specs)
Camber: -0.68deg +-0.50deg
Caster: 7.78deg +-0.50
Toe: 1.1mm +-1.1mm

Cross camber: 0 +-0.50
Cross caster: 0 +-0.50
Total Toe: 2.1mm +-2.1mm
His notes:

A fraction less -ve camber &/or caster on the RHS isn't a bad thing - helps it steer straight on a cambered road.
If the front camber is anything greater than -0.75 then go for maximum toe-in. I'd go up to 5mm depending on tyre wear & what the current setting is.

rear (machine specs)
Camber: -1.75deg +-0.50deg
Toe: 1.1mm +-1.1mm

Cross camber: 0 +-0.50deg
Total Toe: 2.1mm +-2.1mm
Thrust angle: 0 +-0.33deg

his notes:

Depending on tyre wear & previous settings, this would be a classic case of giving the car more toe-in on the rear & reducing -ve camber if possible.
If rear camber is greater than -1.0deg then I'd be aiming for about 6mm total toe-in, then take the car for a drive at speed & swerve from side-to-side to make sure the rear end isn't oversteering the car.

none of the above is rocket surgery. Any good/experienced wheel aligner looks at the old tyres wear pattern & adjusts to suit. I always prefered to have my customers bring in their car with the old tyres on, do the alignment & then get the new tyres fitted & do any minor adjustments after that (to get the steering wheel straight). If your alignment guy doesn't want to see the old tyre wear patterns then he probably isn't that good & just blindly follows the spec book.

[dazag]

Was having some inside feathering on the rears on my 09 RS TDI Wagon, and had a good chat with the guys I take my Skoda to about wheel alignmentand what i wanted from the vehicle. I told them the kind of driving i do and how often i load the back up etc and they adjusted to suit what i wanted in the end.
But what's interesting is what Brad has said with the Specs.......I'm not disputing what he said or 30 years of experience but what I've found is a Rear-wheel drive vehicle "pushes" the front tires, as they roll along the road, resistance causes some drag resulting in rearward movement of the suspension arms against their bushings. Most rear-wheel drive vehicles use positive toe to compensate for suspension movement.

But Front-wheel drive vehicle "pulls" the vehicle, resulting in forward movement of the suspension arms against their bushings. Most front-wheel drive vehicles use negative toe to compensate for suspension movement.

Obviously there is handling characteristics to take into consideration as well - depending on what kind of driving you do etc

I have the "degrees-Minutes" measurements for my Front wheel drive 09 RS TDI Wagon in stock suspension trim
This is the Specs i have
Front:
Ride Height: 366mm to 386mm
Camber: -1deg 11min to -0deg 11min
Caster: 7deg 17min to 8deg 17min
Toe: 0deg 0min to 0deg 10min

Cross Camber: -0deg 30min to 0deg 30min
Cross Caster: -0deg 30min to 0deg 30min
Total Toe: 0deg 0min to 0deg 20min

Rear:
Ride Height : 370-390mm
Camber: -2deg 15min to -1deg 15min
Toe: 0deg 0min to 0deg 10min

Cross Camber: -0deg 30min to 0deg 30min
Total Toe: 0deg 0min to 0deg 20min
Thrust angle: -0deg 20min to 0deg 20min

Not sure if people also want the SAI & Included Angle measurements?? These aren't adjustable but help diagnose bent steering/suspension parts

For the rear feathering problem i had the rear camber set as close to the least -ve limit ( -1deg 15min ) so when the back is loaded up ( which it is for those long haul trips ) then as it's weighed down the the rear -ve camber increases then the inside of the tyre wont be loaded up as much as if it was already set to a higher -ve........ does that make sense to people??

Anyway I hope that helps people a little??

[brad]

dazag
You are correct on all counts.
If the figures i posted had come from any other wheel aligner I'd have said they were a load of tripe. From this guy though, he'd be near the money. Geebuz, you should have seen what he used to set-up W124 Mercedes with. I learnt so much from him & became so good at wheel alignments that I was head-hunted into aircraft maintenance by one of my clients (who reckoned I was the only person between mascot & Gosford that could do his alignments properly - he had tried a dozen "specialists"). This guy is an excellent driver - one of the few that I can relax enough to have a sleep instead of crapping my pants. We used to race together & his feel for what the car was doing & how the chassis was reacting was several levels above me (bastard!).

I can understand what he is doing with his big toe-in figures but it would all centre around tyre wear & how the car drives. I don't think he's done many Octavias & I'm guessing his assumption is there isn't any adjustability in the camber (is there? Front doesn't look good). There might not be adjustment bolts but there may be some areas of slop in the suspension to undo bolts, move a component & tighten again. My Gen2 Liberty had about half a degree movement available in the rear suspension bolts despite having "no adjustment".

From your figures (I think I have this right), front camber is -0.6deg +-0.5 which would be much better if you tended to run a lot of straight roads. if you were running the wheels relatively upright like this, then toe-in would be far less severe. i have no idea how to convert degrees of toe to mm.

your rear camber (I think) is -1.75deg +-0.5 and if the adjustment is there, I'd be going as upright as possible for the reasons you stated. Again, get the wheel upright & the toe can be wound back a bit.

It really depends how you drive - if your like me & trundle up/down the M5 most days then you have to be conservative. If you are lucky enough to have to do the twisties fairly often then you can afford to run a bit more -ve camber.

[K1W1]

And there was me thinking that tyres were round rubber things more or less in the corners of a vehicle that rotated for several tens of thousands of km then wore out and were replaced.