Murfcam

Does anyone have SportContact 6 tires on their S4? I tore the sidewall on the same tire twice in 2.5 weeks! I came from a Cayman S that I religiously used Michelin Super Sports and never had an issue, albeit they were slightly higher profile. The first time I tore the sidewall was on a big pothole. Second time was going over a train track (I think). Audi Plano TX said that there is nothing they can do and Continental won’t warranty that damage. They even said they don’t “carry” that tire or can order that tire that came with the car bought new 6 weeks earlier. Thanks goodness TireRack delivers fast and had them in stock AND covered my tire under their road hazard warranty.

mplsbrian

Considering the rim damage on your last picture (the rim looks gouged as if from contacting something directly, rather than bent as if from bump force on the tire)... are you sure you hit a pothole or did you drive full send into a pit mine?

Sorry to hear about this issue but I don't think it's the tire's fault. It looks like you hit something seriously gnarly. Bummer about the wheel damage, but looks repairable.

njspeedfreak

This is why I elected to go with the 18" wheels on my S5SB. I had the 19" peelers on my previous S4 and had to replace a few tires after an ugly encounter with a pothole. I've never seen that sort of damage though. I usually ended up with a sidewall bubble with no loss of tire pressure, although one time it did cause a full blow out. Did that tear go all the way through the tire and cause it to deflate?

Murfcam

Yeah I actually wish I had gone with 18” wheels but on the other hand, I do like the look of the 19s. Both tires did not lose any air pressure and the tears were only on the outside rubber and actual sidewalls seemed fine. I even drove on it for a couple hundred miles the first time without seeing the tear. Even so, I really think there is a flaw in the durability of the extrernal sidewalls of these tires. They seem to be built very differently then the Michelins.

Spartan-S4

Man..sorry dude..that sucks. You are just running unfortunately the double whammy of 19'+ rims and low profile summer tires & pothole damage. That looks like a good ding on the rim.

You could always just order after market 18" rims and sell those...you could just be looking at just a lot of maintenance/money invested if you run that set-up of 19's and summers.

farmerjones

Keep in mind these tries are a brand new offering.....like you have one of the first cars on the road to offer this tire. Perhaps Continental will make changes in the tire if a large number of failures occur. However, after seeing the type of damage to the wheel I'm not not sure the tire can be held at fault in this scenario...looks like you ran over some pretty crummy stuff. Twice. Bummer. The tire is so new I'm sure there is limited availability. Hopefully you have a better experience going forward. How would you rate their performance? Seriously considering this tire for my next set of replacements on my TT.

njspeedfreak

Oh, so do i. SO DO I. To the point that I kind of regret no going with the 18s and where I'm considering turning my current 18s into winter wheels and buying 19s on Tire Rack. But then I see the damage that you are dealing with and I start to think that maybe I can live with the looks of the 18 after all. I just wish our roads were in better shape so we didn't have to face this dilemma.

I noticed this with the OEM's that came on my 2012 S4 which I think were Conti's. Very prone to sidewall bubbles, and when they wore out and I replaced them with Michelin PSS the problem was greatly reduced. It may have something to do with the shape of the sidewall that allows the Conti's to get pinched under a heavy compression.

dseffren

I've run the same tire for 42k miles on my current B8.5 S4 with not a single hiccup other than nails.