Tyres, talk to me

MassiveJim

MassiveJim

MassiveJim

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22 Feb 2014
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I have a skoda octavia VRS 2.0 petrol on 19" wheels mapped to around 400 ft/lb of torque and 320ish bhp

I usually do around 6000 miles per year and unsurprisingly it is eating the front tyres, I am getting about a year out of them (maybe even a bit less)
I have fitted Pilot sport 4s since I had it.
The rears have been on 2 years at this point and still have plenty of tread left.

Are there any other options worth considering or should I just suck it up ?

also to add it wheelspins easily in anything other than dry conditions, when pulling out of junctions etc.
I assume I can't improve grip and gain durability ?
 
You should be seeing a lot more than 6,000 miles out of a set of PS4s. Tyre Review says expected mileage of roughly 24,000. Even spirited driving lowers to perhaps 12,000-15,000 miles.

Is your alignment and tracking OK. Do you check the pressure often?
 
There's no magic tyres that perform well as sports tyres but also last a long time. It's a trade off you have to decide on. If you want a tyre that lasts longer you'll generally sacrifice all our grip.

These days on my road going car I just put Michelin Primacy on it.
 
Mine wasn't mapped but I got waaaaayyy more than 6k out of a set of PS4S on my 245.

Are they actually wearing across the full tread or are the inside edges going earlier? Altered alignment might help if it's the latter.

If it's genuine wear across the whole tyre, then it sounds like you probably just need to chill out a bit with the loud pedal :p

In terms of lack of grip, wheelspin etc. - you aren't going to get much more grip than something like a PS4S (the Conti SC7 is probably one of the better alternatives currently) on a road car without sacrificing a bit of longevity but you may be able to mitigate some of the less pleasant side effects of it on the MQB platform (wheel hop) with something like this - https://racingline.shop/product/racingline-lower-engine-mount-twin-dogbone-insert
 
as you can imagine only doing 6k miles a year I don't go very far. its mostly town driving, so there isn't much chance to "open 'er up"
I do obviously put my foot down sometimes, what would be the point remapping it otherwise but i'm in my 40s i'm not driving like I was when I was 21.

alignment is always checked when they are fitted, and its always slightly out but not by much.
tyre wear is relatively even, but definitely slightly more worn on the inside (probably 1mm difference at a guess)

12k miles on the rears so far with plenty of tread left btw.

looks like i'll just have to live with it, but I wanted to ask the masses before i spank another £350 on some new tyres this year.
 
I cannot have any complaint about my Pilot Sport 5’s on my 428i. 22k miles since Feb 2023 and still going strong. MOT next month so we will see, but then I’m pretty gentle with the throttle most of the time.
 
What I would say from previous vRS ownership is that 400lb-ft (540NM) strikes me as a lot of torque from that engine configuration - I know custom maps can deliver a bit more than off the shelf offerings but I recall 370ft-lb / 500NM generally being considered 'high torque' - is it possible the torque curve of your map is a bit peaky low end and so is chewing through tyres a bit quicker than otherwise expected due to a torque 'spike'?
 
My Model 3 (RWD) had PS4’s on it and that had plenty of tread left on both the fronts and rears when I sold it with >20k miles. It was not exactly slow either at 5.6 to 60.

I hate to join the pile on but it sounds like a skill issue.
 
MassiveJim said:
no same size, they could be rotated but I don't see the point, I'll just wear a full set of tyres out quicker that way.
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yes but not quite, you wear the tyres down evenly, so you swap all 4 at the same time

MassiveJim said:
I didn't think I drove it particularly hard (most of the time)
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considering you've worn the tyres out in 1/4 the expected mileage then i think your view on a hard right foot is very different from the average! :cry:
 
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Michelins are known for lasting a while so either alignment/camber issues or throttle input issues.
I know I drive like an idiot so my tyres wear quickly. Surely you must too? :p
 
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I had quite a bit of tread left on PS4s on a GT86 when I sold that and I used to slide it on roundabouts and T junctions :D

Alignment, or a worn bush or something causing excessive wear. Did they wear evenly? Including any "ovaling". Have you lowered the car? Because that will change the geometry.

Also some remaps are just not very good.
 
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Thread title maybe why they need replacing so frequently, his tyres are talking to him due to the squeal they make when pulling away. :D
 
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