Johnstay

At 16.5K miles I had cracks (tire defects) about four inches long radially on the inside wall in four to five places along the tire in the general area where the Continental logo is located. (I posted about this before.) Two different mechanics said the tires were unsafe and needed to be replaced ASAP. They also were worn excessively on the inside corners.

Please inspect your tires; get them replaced if needed. Continental is good about warranty; compensation based on tread life.

So today I got brand new tires. The tire store called Continental and I received ~ $72 USD warranty for the tread left on my tires. Yours may vary.

I chose Goodyear Eagle F1 All-Seasons 245/40R-18. It's supposed to snow tomorrow here so I'll report back.

It was a choice (for me, that is) between Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position A960 and the Goodyears. The Bridgestone tires were the most popular and the tire guy said he just put them on his ride. I think that they would have been an excellent choice.

The Eagle F1's had everything I wanted in a tire. (Granted, my baby is never going to see a race track and where I live All-Seasons are the best choice for me.) I still drive my car hard so a safe grip is paramount over anything else. There are few reviews on this tire so I am banking on Goodyear's reputation, my experience with their other tires, and verbal recommendations from people who have driven with the F1s who say they are superior in wet conditions. Time will tell. The side wall is a bit stiffer and the tires were a bear to get mounted on the rims. They gripped like an abalone on the way home (How's that for a visual?).

Again, if you have Contis, get them inspected. They will warranty based on tread wear not mileage (depending where you go.) I went to America's Tire.


John

sgroer

I agree... I've posted several times... the conti tires that come on our cars are seriously, seriously flawed.

All 4 of mine had cracks at 16k and I got them warrantied.

KnappAttack

My old 2.7t never got over 28,000 miles from a set of tires. 25,000 was the norm. Usually by 20,000 they would be shaking pretty bad. I was just thinking that these ContiProContacts were doing damn good. I don't understand why they would be cracked on only the inside for you guys. Thanks for the heads up though. I'll keep an eye on mine closely. If they do go bad it will be Michelins from now on.

thrilla from manila

Need to look at the tires in the mornin. I'm shopping for new tires anyway but not for the stock wheels. New rims just arrived today. courtesy of SDS wheels.

Johnstay

They then emailed back and pointed me to a nearby distributor to have the tires inspected for disposition. It just so happens that the closest tire dealer on the list they sent me was America's Tire, the place where I typically buy my tires.

The tire store guys then called in the tread wear to Continental to see what kind of dollars I could get.

They gave me a break because the inner corners were worn thin and the tire guy declared the tires a loss. There was no alignment issue so I'm stumped at how it was worn that way, but the cracks were bad. I saw them. I ended up getting credit for 5/32" remaining tire tread.

I think you can skip the contact with the manufacturer and just go straight to any distributor who will make the tire credit for you with Continental.

Good luck.

BTW, The Audi dealer was of no help in this matter - they would have preferred to sell me $1,000.00 for new tires. I ended up only $500.00 down (after rebates and credits) for what I think is a better, brand new set of tires.

I drove them for hours today in the rain, pushing them hard. I can feel a big difference. It runs like it's on rails.

John

GoCubsGo

Dealer saw major cracking (29K miles) Dealer charged me $375 for two tires (after the warranty deduction). They said they see this a lot. I wish I could have changed all four out but didn't feel like throwing away two good tires.

dimitristx

tread at 14.5K. That's on the front ones, so I got new ones while keeping the rears (still quite a bit of tread left). The car's a lease (another 18mos), otherwise I would have gotten Pirellis Neros or Michellin Pilots (all-weather).

Tire reports claim that the Conti<b>Sport</b>Contacts are actually pretty good.

R3Wood

I have had no problems on my A6 with ContiProContact 245/40R18 97H XL. In fact, I have 48,000 miles on them and I am replacing them today with (4) new ContiProContact's. This week I had the front bushings and alignment done, so I am excited about new rubber. I also ran ContiProContacts on a 1985 Mercedes 560 SL that I had, 225/55R16 99T XL with no problems. In fact, I was running Pirelli P6000's on the Mercedes, and actually had (3) failures (3 Sep. times).

The G Man

Just how old were your tires when you found the cracks? I had a set of Eagle F1 all season, they are grippy like most Good Year, but the ride was pretty bad due to the side wall.

Kevagonia

cool S8