steven5210

My stock staggered Pirelli P Zeros on my 2018 RS3 just hit 6k miles on them. On my way to the track the day before I hit a pothole on the freeway on the passenger front tire and it sounded kind of bad. I checked on it when I stopped for gas but didn't see any issues luckily. Checked my tires after my 3rd session at the track the next day and all of my tires were still good. Afterwards when I was heading home I got a tire pressure warning as I let out some of the air for the track due to the tires getting hot. I saw a bubble on my passenger front tire sidewall when I was getting gas on my drive home. I'm guessing the pothole damaged my tire. This was my first time going to the track ever and took it pretty easy.

What's the best option for me right now? I was thinking of just getting a set of PS4S but I'm reading a lot of people having issues with the traction sensor. My tires still have a lot of tread left. Should I just replace the front 2 tires with another 2 p zero tires or should I just get a set of PS4S? I just feel like it's kind of a waste since my P zeros still have so much tread left. I was going to just replace the front 2 tires but my friend says it's an AWD car it's better to just replace all 4. I'm planning on probably going to the track again in September.

superswiss

The answer to this is found in the owner's manual. It's generally a bad idea to mix tires on an AWD vehicle. You can confuse the ESP and the Haldex system in case of the RS3 due to different grip and characteristics of different tires. You don't have a center differential, so the size difference isn't as much of an issue, but with the central differential quattro, there can be issues if the tire diameters are not within a certain tolerance.

tigerhonaker

superswiss,

^^^


Terry

steven5210

Thanks @superswiss for dropping some knowledge on me and even the manual screenshot! I ordered the PS4S and will get them installed as soon as they have them in stock.

FlorS3

There was a prior discussion on RS3 tire size diameter differences. Based on calculations using a wheel/tire sizing app, the stock staggered setup on an RS3 have different rolling circumference front to back of about ~1.8%, which would suggest all you have to do is replace the two front tires. I found a thread on a VW site that states haldex systems can handle ~4% difference. See the following thread for more detail.

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/aud...stion-2953530/

steven5210

Thanks, @FlorS3 that's good to know. I'll take a look once I get a chance!

Flying Scotsman

I agree with above but I personally would not change to PS4 on fronts I would go with P Zeros or go PS4 on all four tyres. To further muddy the waters make sure the Pirelli's have the same classification as the originals as Pirelli have multiple choices PZ4 newest design is an RO2,

Pirelli P Zero Pz4 RO2



Older P Zero

FlorS3

Agree with Flying Scotsman & superswiss comments - I would not mix tire design/tread patterns. It does appear that Haldex "Quattro" is more forgiving than Torsen "Quattro" regarding tire circumference differences so replacing just the two front tires with the same brand/model tires would likely be the lowest cost solution.

markginny

I was lucky to buy the tire and wheel care insurance at the dealer and glad did. The fixed two rims within one year and replaced a tire that had a bubble in it. Typically a rip off, but working out so far, in particular in NY where there are tons of potholes!

steven5210

I got the staggered PS4S installed and they're definitely better than the P zeros. The only thing is on certain roads or pavements the road noise is definitely a lot louder than the P Zeros. I only had the traction control issue when the tires were installed but haven't had any issues yet so far. Going to test them out at Laguna Seca soon. Thanks for the help guys!