bauhaus312

I spend most of my time on the B6 A4 board, but I come to you guys with a question from my father who drives a 2003 180hp FWD TT. He's having the cupping problem -- I searched the archives and found out about the cupped tire issue.

Now, he needs new tires... His aren't worn out, but he can't take the noise much more.

What he wants: not to have to mess with tires. Is it better to go cheap and replace the tires more often? Or should he spend the $ and get good tires? Is there a consensus on whether or not to rotate? Is there a tire that handles this problem better that another? He's not an aggresive driver and we live in oklahoma and rarely see snow.

Thanks in advance guys!

TTagz

I don't see uneven tire wear even without rotating. good tires are worth the money.

bauhaus312

Twice. It seems to be well documented in the archives that the rear tires have quite a bit of chamber -- leading to better handling, but shopped rear tires.

ArTT Vandelay

but i run -2.5 in the rear and have very few wear issues. i am quattro though. Is it the rears that are wearing abnormally? or the fronts? what tire pressure does he run? low pressure can cause cupping. i run about 38lbs in my street tires. cupping sounds more like a toe issue than camber. i mean, did the shop down the street do the alignment or did the audi dealer, or did a performance shop? do you have the specs of the last alignment?

as far as tires go, I buy $100 tires. I drive 25k miles a year, and dropping $900+ on Michelins yearly isn't my idea of a good time. I use BFG's now, and am really happy with them, I tried Yoko AVS ES100's and they lasted well, but were soooooo noisy. Kumho I've had good luck with as well and I may try their new spx or whatever it is next time around. If the TT is a weekend car that he really wants to get the max in the handling department, get good tires. a bad alignment will eat good tires just as quick as bad ones...

TTschwing

and really hasn't been an issue here. You can get shims to correct if not in spec. Performance set-up here (Quattro) is -1.5 to -1.8. No abnormal wear or issues at that number.

That damn Dan

and I wouldnt need new tires right now if my F1s hadnt done exactly what you are talking about.

These are/were the rears...18X10 rims running 255/35/18 GY Eagle F1 DSG3s.

At 25,000 miles they still have at least half the treadlife left on the outboard halves of the tires but the inboard halves are badly cupped and make so much noise I cant stand to drive the car.

I've been considering just having them swapped onto the opposite rims and running the other half off before I buy new ones.....................I said "considering" ;-)

Again, I took it in for an alignment because I thought it had to be way too negative and it came back that they were almost on the money where they had been set last year.

Dan

bauhaus312

So, I take it to mean there is not a good solution? You have a pretty high post count, which I assume mean you hang out here quite often.

His car is the same way, been aligned twice -- within spec. The tires growl horribly at anything over 45 mph.

Are there some cheap decent tires out there, since it sounds like he just need to get a new set once a year and not rotate them?

jhoeppel

Any possibility all-seasons might be more resistant to cupping than hi-perf summers?

bauhaus312

We don't get much, if any, snow. He's has all seasons now... Could summers be worse?!? Would higher pressure help?

TTschwing

and what brand? High performance tires rarely get to 20K without getting noisy regardless of whether they have tread left or not..