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I purchased four Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV’s for our 22 Q5 earlier this week. I noticed that the outer tread pattern points slightly forward on one side and rearward on the other. I’ve never seen this before in 50 years of driving. The tires handle well but I’m getting some road noise and am wondering if this is the source.
From: Sydney - Australia. Been keeping the Pacific and Indian oceans apart since 1788
The right rear tire is marked "MO" this is OEM for Mercedes Benz. Not that it is of any difference just pointing it out.
Are the others so marked and of around the same date of manufacture?
Can't really compare the tire side markings because the two pictures are of different halves of the markings. Possibly MO is on the lower pic, but it would be right where the tire isn't actually pictured. And maybe the upper pic says OUTSIDE, but it's at the far angle where we can't read it.
That said, it looks exactly like I'd expect of a non-directional tire, at least every one I can remember.
So the shoulder slats are always tilted forward on their right end, same across all four shoulders. When you flip the tire around L <> R, nothing changes.
When you look at the Michelin web site for Pilot Sport SUV in 255/45R20 105 XL, you see there are 5 different variants (part numbers) available.
Three on TireRack:
105Y general, p/n 31053 - 9.5/32, 30.7 lbs, Hungary, $446/tire
105W AO1 (Audi), p/n 31435 - 8.5/32, 28.7 lbs, Mexico, $258/tire
105W MO (Mercedes), p/n 57716 - 9.5/32, 27.3 lbs, Hungary, $444/tire
And two that I assume are legacy variants:
105W Audi, p/n 15799 - 8.5/32, 29.4 lbs,
105W Alfa, p/n 23068 - 9.5/32, 27.3 lbs
Wow, only 20k mile warranty. Would be the first tire whose warranty I actually used up.
No surprise the Audi version is made in Mexico. All Q5 are made there. Even the 2.0 engines for it are made there, versus Hungary for the Germany made A4/A5.
Seems the Mexico factory shorting the tires a 1/32". Audi input to help mpg? (one way "EV" tires help the range is by shortened tread depth)
Audi Recreates Crazy-Looking Speed Record Breaker From 1935
Slideshow: Audi has recreated one of the wildest machines of the pre-war speed-record era, reviving a streamlined V16 racer that originally exceeded 200 mph in 1935.
Does this look right? New tires
