Tire wear on outside edge (one side)
04-17-2018, 10:59 AM
#31
I had 4 sets of tires on our previous 2012 Q7. Each lasted about 35000 miles. I always ran full load air pressures 44 frt 49 rear. It sounds like a lot but these vehicles are heavy. Tires always wore evenly across the tread and I actually prefer the crisper ride and handling at these pressures. That Q7 was on 20 inch wheels. Tires were Pirelli P Zero and Continental DWS. Two sets of each. All all season. I never had that vehicle aligned. There was never any reason to do so. Our new to us 2015 is on 19 inch wheels. I expect they will do even better.
04-18-2018, 04:04 AM
#32
AudiWorld Member
I had 4 sets of tires on our previous 2012 Q7. Each lasted about 35000 miles. I always ran full load air pressures 44 frt 49 rear. It sounds like a lot but these vehicles are heavy. Tires always wore evenly across the tread and I actually prefer the crisper ride and handling at these pressures. That Q7 was on 20 inch wheels. Tires were Pirelli P Zero and Continental DWS. Two sets of each. All all season. I never had that vehicle aligned. There was never any reason to do so. Our new to us 2015 is on 19 inch wheels. I expect they will do even better.
04-19-2018, 02:19 PM
#33
AudiWorld Junior Member
So re: the different tire inflation pressures, I thought the following was interesting. Based on a door-jamb screenshot of a late model Q7 in Germany, Audi AG in Germany seems to recommend significantly higher pressures that those recommeded by Audi for North America. For example:
Germany: 1/2 passenger/luggage load "sportier" ride: 38 Front, 38 Rear
1/2 passenger/luggage load "comfort" ride: 33 Front, 33 Rear
Full passenger/luggage load: 38 Front, 41 Rear
These seem to be significantly lower than what the U.S recommendation is (1/2 load 32/32; full load 32/35). I wonder if thats one of the reasons we are seeing some of the issues re: premature tire wear??? Also, these are all significantly lower than the recommended pressures from our generation 2 Touareg - which is a bit heavier granted - but they recommend 39/46 for the 19" options. I wonder if some of the difference can be explained by the generally poorer road conditions here vs. Germany......
Germany: 1/2 passenger/luggage load "sportier" ride: 38 Front, 38 Rear
1/2 passenger/luggage load "comfort" ride: 33 Front, 33 Rear
Full passenger/luggage load: 38 Front, 41 Rear
These seem to be significantly lower than what the U.S recommendation is (1/2 load 32/32; full load 32/35). I wonder if thats one of the reasons we are seeing some of the issues re: premature tire wear??? Also, these are all significantly lower than the recommended pressures from our generation 2 Touareg - which is a bit heavier granted - but they recommend 39/46 for the 19" options. I wonder if some of the difference can be explained by the generally poorer road conditions here vs. Germany......
04-19-2018, 03:26 PM
#34
AudiWorld Super User
So re: the different tire inflation pressures, I thought the following was interesting. Based on a door-jamb screenshot of a late model Q7 in Germany, Audi AG in Germany seems to recommend significantly higher pressures that those recommeded by Audi for North America. For example:
Germany: 1/2 passenger/luggage load "sportier" ride: 38 Front, 38 Rear
1/2 passenger/luggage load "comfort" ride: 33 Front, 33 Rear
Full passenger/luggage load: 38 Front, 41 Rear
These seem to be significantly lower than what the U.S recommendation is (1/2 load 32/32; full load 32/35). I wonder if thats one of the reasons we are seeing some of the issues re: premature tire wear??? Also, these are all significantly lower than the recommended pressures from our generation 2 Touareg - which is a bit heavier granted - but they recommend 39/46 for the 19" options. I wonder if some of the difference can be explained by the generally poorer road conditions here vs. Germany......
Germany: 1/2 passenger/luggage load "sportier" ride: 38 Front, 38 Rear
1/2 passenger/luggage load "comfort" ride: 33 Front, 33 Rear
Full passenger/luggage load: 38 Front, 41 Rear
These seem to be significantly lower than what the U.S recommendation is (1/2 load 32/32; full load 32/35). I wonder if thats one of the reasons we are seeing some of the issues re: premature tire wear??? Also, these are all significantly lower than the recommended pressures from our generation 2 Touareg - which is a bit heavier granted - but they recommend 39/46 for the 19" options. I wonder if some of the difference can be explained by the generally poorer road conditions here vs. Germany......
You'll be fine at the US spec too. I set mine at 35. I dont want too soft, or too jarring a ride
04-27-2018, 09:52 AM
#35
AudiWorld Member
I am going to my dealer on Wednesday - to remove my Q7's winter wheels/tires set and put on the OEM wheels/tires with run-flats on (run-flats have ~5800 miles on them - used them till October). The front Blizzak winter tires outer edges exhibit more wear than inner edges - with quite a noticeable difference. The rear tires seem to be worn evenly and less than the front ones. Spoke with my SA on a phone before appointment. He is no-BS good guy. He's still figuring out Q7 tires wear intricacies himself. According to his experience, most Q7 seems to be having more tire wear on the right side (???) and on outer tire edges. Surprisingly MKII Q7 rarely makes more than 20K-25K miles on OE run-flats vs. pre-2015 Q7 making ~30K miles on a set. I've also learned from my SA that if a vehicle has less than 12K miles on odometer, wheel alignment can be done on Audi's dime as it is covered by warranty. I'd definitely want him to check alignment (I normally do wheel alignments every 15K-20K anyway...). We'll see if there is any correlation between alignment numbers and tires outer edge wear.
Swapped my winter Blizzaks set with stock Goodyear run-flats on Monday (was rescheduled from previous week's Wednesday as we were hammered with a snow/ice storm last week).
The winter tires made almost 6K miles since last October. Rears were in perfectly even wear condition and the tread wear was a bit under 2/32". Identical wear was on the inner edges of front tires, but on the outside edges they were worn by almost 2/32" more than on the inner edges.
My stock RF Goodyear all-seasons also made made 6K miles - before last October. The wear is even on all four corners and across each tire and is a bit less than 1/32". Once they were back on the Q7, a free wheel alignment was performed. Only rear right toe was slightly off recommended value.
My SA told me that my OE set is doing better than most other Q7s. His observation is that the excessive wear on outside edges is quite common (wheel alignment is within specs), more than that, this oddity seems to be more pronounced on the right side of the Q7s (?). His theory is that in Europe people drive Bundesautobahn-s with speeds way above what is allowed here. At high speeds car pressed closer to the road surface, thus the need for more positive camber. Not sure this theory is accurate, but it sounds plausible.
04-27-2018, 10:30 AM
#36
AudiWorld Member
The irony is that my 2012 Q7 TDI also wore out the outside edge of the passenger-side tires, front worse than rear, out of proportion to the remainder of the tires as well. I went as far as finding a decent non-directional tire to run, so I could rotate across the car as well as front-back. I traded the TDI as part of dieselgate and was hoping the '18 Q7 would be nicer to tires. Had always been told the older Q7 was hard on tires "because it was so heavy." The new version is lighter, but alas uneven tire wear is still an issue. 
04-27-2018, 03:12 PM
#37
Most of the outside edge wear on front tires happens at very low speeds when turning sharply. Have someone turn the wheel all the way and drive slowly while you watch. You’ll see the outer tire rol over onto that edge. It will help to keep air pressure on the high side. We run our fronts at the full rated 44 psi. And they last very well.
04-27-2018, 03:17 PM
#39
AudiWorld Super User
The irony is that my 2012 Q7 TDI also wore out the outside edge of the passenger-side tires, front worse than rear, out of proportion to the remainder of the tires as well. I went as far as finding a decent non-directional tire to run, so I could rotate across the car as well as front-back. I traded the TDI as part of dieselgate and was hoping the '18 Q7 would be nicer to tires. Had always been told the older Q7 was hard on tires "because it was so heavy." The new version is lighter, but alas uneven tire wear is still an issue.
04-27-2018, 07:15 PM
#40
AudiWorld Member
Most of the outside edge wear on front tires happens at very low speeds when turning sharply. Have someone turn the wheel all the way and drive slowly while you watch. You’ll see the outer tire rol over onto that edge. It will help to keep air pressure on the high side. We run our fronts at the full rated 44 psi. And they last very well.