Rear Tyres Feathering

[Fourwinds]

Just had the VRS in for first service (12500 k), and requested the tyres to be rotated. The dealer said they did not rotate the wheels as the rears had feathering and would be noisy if place on the front.

I have searched through the forum and it seems to be a problem with the Octavia regarding tyre wear.

So my question is:

1. just how noisy would they be, if I rotated them; and

2. Can anyone recommend a good alignment place in Geelong or Ballarat (I will even go to Melbourne for the day if someone can highly recommend a place).

Are Continental Sports Contact 2 prone to this type of wear. The Yokohama on the wife's Lancer have done 85000 k with 1.5mm left to the wear mark, and the son just replaced the Kumho on his Mazda 3 Sports @ 68000 k.

Moreover, I realise that tyre wear has many variables due to wheel alignment, tyre pressure, pushed hard into corners etc but, to have this type of wear @ 12000 k on a car that has been driven at a leisurely pace seems a bit rich.

TIA for any help and recommendations,

[Antiplastix]

The tyres aren t going to be any noisier on the front than they are on the rear, so that's just a cop out. On my Mk. II vRS I had the rear camber set to standard (non vRS) specs and doubled the tyre life of the second set of tyres.

[KWICKS]

Good soft tyres like the OEMs are good for at least double that when driven respectfully. So have that alignment done. It reminds me I need to do mine straight after I take delivery.

I've heard Tru-Track in Melbourne is reputable.

[wai]

I had similar problems with Dunlop SP Sport tyres on my Caddy. It looks like your tyres are also asymmetric tread tyres as well.

Different rolling resistance across the tread face will see the tyre "twist" and this causes this abnormal wear.

It is not unique to a particular car. I have seen the same issues on a BMW with asymmetric tyres.

You need to keep the tyre pressures up, but the only cure is to replace them, and then look at getting a symmetric tyre. Mine showed abnormal wear at the 5,000 km.

[Fourwinds]

Thanks for the above comments. Found a VW specialist in the Geelong area with a Hunter alignment rig, so I will see what the options are to rectify the problem.

[brad]

Just had the VRS in for first service (12500 k), and requested the tyres to be rotated. The dealer said they did not rotate the wheels as the rears had feathering and would be noisy if place on the front.

I have searched through the forum and it seems to be a problem with the Octavia regarding tyre wear.

So my question is:

1. just how noisy would they be, if I rotated them; and

2. Can anyone recommend a good alignment place in Geelong or Ballarat (I will even go to Melbourne for the day if someone can highly recommend a place).

Are Continental Sports Contact 2 prone to this type of wear. The Yokohama on the wife's Lancer have done 85000 k with 1.5mm left to the wear mark, and the son just replaced the Kumho on his Mazda 3 Sports @ 68000 k.

Moreover, I realise that tyre wear has many variables due to wheel alignment, tyre pressure, pushed hard into corners etc but, to have this type of wear @ 12000 k on a car that has been driven at a leisurely pace seems a bit rich.

,

That's pretty crap tyre wear. I'd expect at least 25,000km out of CSC2s - and more likely 40,000km.

1) They'll hum a bit but X-rotate them so they are rotating in the opposite direction & the high spots should wear off after a few thousand km. Run them about 36psi (or more) all round as well.

2) Ralf at Tru tRac in MEL is pretty good. I don't know the other places (regional centres) but surely there are some options.
You'll probably find the rears are at about 1.5 degrees -ve camber. You need to bring it to about 3/4 degrees negative. Toe should be about 2mm in IIRC.

Fronts should be around 0.8 -ve camber & if the wear is OK then it can stay there. You can force a small amount of adjustment out of the ball joint bolts but it's minimal. If the camber difference is too far on the right you can move the x-member.

I had CSC2 on my Octavia Elegance as OEM. The dealership must have done a great alignment as part of the PD (it should be checked) and I never had any feathering / saw-toothing.

[brad]

I had similar problems with Dunlop SP Sport tyres on my Caddy. It looks like your tyres are also asymmetric tread tyres as well.

Different rolling resistance across the tread face will see the tyre "twist" and this causes this abnormal wear.

It is not unique to a particular car. I have seen the same issues on a BMW with asymmetric tyres.

You need to keep the tyre pressures up, but the only cure is to replace them, and then look at getting a symmetric tyre. Mine showed abnormal wear at the 5,000 km.

Sorry, I really can't agree with your twisting theory. It's an alignment & pressure issue.

If by "symetrical" you mean directional tyres then again, I don't agree. If you mean a traditional non-assymetric / non-directional then good luck finding a 225/40r18 as fitted to the vRS.

Dunlop SP Sport are a fairly rubbish tyre (as are most Dunlop tyres IMO). I'm not surprised you had wear issues.

[wai]

Sorry, I really can't agree with your twisting theory. It's an alignment & pressure issue.

If by "symetrical" you mean directional tyres then again, I don't agree. If you mean a traditional non-assymetric / non-directional then good luck finding a 225/40r18 as fitted to the vRS.

No, not directional, this is where there is a difference in tread pattern inside to outside.

[dArK5HaD0w]

my CSC2 (factory fitted) lasted 62,000 kms.....and there was close to 2 mm still left.
had no issues whatsoever - wearing, or gripping related.

i'm CSC5 now.

[Fourwinds]

Just had the alignment checked, the alignment guy said the stealer ship was talking crap..... The tyres were find and no feathering was apparent but the alignment was out.



Attached Print-out

[donweather]

Looks like your toe's were out more than anything.

And gee, it's not like a stealer to talk cr@p!!!

But if the stealer was talking crap and the alignment guy reckons the tyres are fine, surely you could visibly see if the tyres were/are feathering when the stealer told you about it? Didn't the stealer at least point out visually where the tyres were "supposedly" feathering when you picked the car up from the stealer?

[Fourwinds]

Looks like your toe's were out more than anything.

And gee, it's not like a stealer to talk cr@p!!!

But if the stealer was talking crap and the alignment guy reckons the tyres are fine, surely you could visibly see if the tyres were/are feathering when the stealer told you about it? Didn't the stealer at least point out visually where the tyres were "supposedly" feathering when you picked the car up from the stealer?

The tyres look OK to me (but I am know expert). I just walk out in disgust that they were to lazy to rotate the tyres.

[brad]

I think he's set it up with a bit much toe-in Front & Rear - I'd aim for 2mm.

I would have shifted the front x-member a fraction to reverse the front camber readings (more on the LHS is better).

A fraction less camber on the rear - as close to 0.8 as you can get but equal on both sides.


Did the aligner x-rotate the tyres for you as well?

[Fourwinds]

I think he's set it up with a bit much toe-in Front & Rear - I'd aim for 2mm.

I would have shifted the front x-member a fraction to reverse the front camber readings (more on the LHS is better).

A fraction less camber on the rear - as close to 0.8 as you can get but equal on both sides.


Did the aligner x-rotate the tyres for you as well?

Hi Brad

All those numbers mean nothing to me, I am a total novice regarding wheel alignment and can only be guided by the so called experts. They did balance and rotate the tyres, and there was know additional tyre noise on the trip home (75 km).

I would say it sounded a bit quieter but probably wishful thinking on my part.


Cheers Fourwinds

[kaanage]

The tyres aren t going to be any noisier on the front than they are on the rear, so that's just a cop out.

I've had the tyres rotated during a service the noise difference was massive due to the scalloping on the former rears (yes, I neglected to rotate the things during the course of their 56,000km life). I was trying to cheap out as I intended to trade in the car shortly after the service but a delay in the shipping of my VW meant that I was forced to get a set new tyres.