Tire Lifetime

Alright so I have a 2006 A4 with these wheels http://www.motorpoint.com.au/car_images/audi_a4_1.jpg
and we just replaced the front tires at 20k miles. This seems like a veryy short amount of time. The back tires they are telling us we need to replace immediately and they won't pass inspection now at 25k miles. Is something wrong here or are all these tires like this?


Edit: Mainly just..how many miles do you all get out of your tires

Hmmm..I have those same exact wheels with the original Continental all-season tires. My car has over 22k miles and the tires still have lots of treads left, probably another 15k miles at the least. Are all 4 tires wearing out equally?

The front ones were balled at 20k and the back at 25k 

I still have the Conti's that came with the car when I bought new. Going strong for 43,500 miles, and I am still using them! However there is significant wear. Meaning they are drivable, but the fronts are basically bald. I am not going to replace becuase my lease is up at the end of april!

Hmm the only question i'm really wondering now..How many miles do you get out of your tires?

Should be alot more than 20-25! LOL! Like I said, I have over 43K, and they are still drivable. It depends how you drive. Make sure they are rebalanced and rotated when you get your tune-ups at the stealer. If you go to Continental.com or online, I bet you could find more specifics.

I only got 23k out of mine.

I'll be lucky to get 20k out of mine.  My wife drives like someone shot her in the a$$.

quote:

ORIGINAL: incrementalg

I'll be lucky to get 20k out of mine.  My wife drives like someone shot her in the a$$.

So she drives slow?

Tire life is shorter with quattro, I fall into the 35-40k miles and they're shot.  The down side of more traction is more tire wear.  Rotate them every time you change the oil, maintain tire pressures.  When you get the new tires, get a good 4 wheel alignment, close to the middle of the tolerances.  Audi's seem to like toe in, more so than rear wheel drives, getting nervous near zero degrees.  But more toe equals more tire wear.  And if the theoretical axles aren't parallel, then you have four wheels all going in different directions, each having power applied to it.  Car will still feel stable, but it is constantly scrubbing the tires fighting against each other to go straight.  20k might be a little low, but driving style has a huge bearing on the matter also.

I find this remarkable. I have over 200,000 miles on two 3/4 ton, four wheel drive, diesel powered [read: heavy front end] trucks. I consistently get 55,000 to 60,000 miles from mud and snow tires run primarily on pavement [and some gravel]. when I take them off they are still quite safe, and nowhere near bald. The size is 255/85-16. Cooper is the brand, nothing exotic, run at 55-60 psi.

So why should a light, little car do so poorly? Tires on these cars should last 50,000 miles easily.

quote:

I have over 200,000 miles on two 3/4 ton, four wheel drive, diesel powered [read: heavy front end] trucks.

 
1) LT light truck or truck tire rubber compound is very different than passenger car rubber compound.  Heat is the primary tire killer, so truck tires actually have some natural rubber in them, while car tires are almost pure synthetic rubber.  Truck tires are inflated to higher pressures to minimize flex and reduce the heat generated.  Compare the max load ratings on the two types of tires.  I don't think you would like truck compound on a quattro, less grip.
 
2) Most 3/4 ton trucks still have a transfer case and locking hubs (or auto locking hubs).  Not on a quattro, all four wheels are driven all the time, two at a minimum.  There are conditions of low / split coefficient of traction where the open front and rear axle differentials will allow only one wheel to spin up (ESP off), but at least one front wheel and one rear are getting power. There are no electronics involved in transfering power from the transmission output to the wheels, hard gearing distributes the torque (TORque SENsing) to the wheels that can support the power.  ESP will apply a brake to control a wheel spinning up, but that isn't managing driveline power, it's compensating after the fact.  That is ESP transfers the excess power directly to heat, rather than to proportion power to the four corners.  If you remove the front or rear driveshaft on a truck, you can still make it move.  But if you remove a driveshaft from a quattro, she no go.  I don't think that your truck tire milage would improve if you left the front hubs and transfer case in 4WD all the time.
 
If all you want is milage, there are 80k - 100k tires on the market that should go 55k - 60k on a quattro, but they won't grip as well.  When you consider that tires are a wear item, we just wear them a bit faster than others.  In the 1950's people were living with a 10k mile tire life on 2WD cars, that today would see the 60k that you refer to.
 
Audi is one of only a handfull of manufacturers that use a Torsen center differential.  Most use a viscous coupling, or electronic clutches, both of which are speed sensing systems.  The quattro system will re-distribute (bias) torque instantly, preventing the situation that would be required to engage a speed sensing system from occurring in the first place.  The upside is that our cars will find traction in situations where others are just spinning, but we will experience more tire wear because the tire is doing more work. We have one of the most unique and functional drivetrains on the road, for more information check the website.  http://www.torsen.com/products/products.htm
 
If you start with slightly increased tire wear by design, then compound it with an alignment issue and/or driving style, tire life will not be so good.  IMO the tradeoff between life and traction benefit with a quattro is acceptable with a 40k mile tire life.  While 20k - 25k would have me looking for something to correct.

quote:

ORIGINAL: TorsenTaxi

Tire life is shorter with quattro, I fall into the 35-40k miles and they're shot.  The down side of more traction is more tire wear.  Rotate them every time you change the oil, maintain tire pressures.  When you get the new tires, get a good 4 wheel alignment, close to the middle of the tolerances.  Audi's seem to like toe in, more so than rear wheel drives, getting nervous near zero degrees.  But more toe equals more tire wear.  And if the theoretical axles aren't parallel, then you have four wheels all going in different directions, each having power applied to it.  Car will still feel stable, but it is constantly scrubbing the tires fighting against each other to go straight.  20k might be a little low, but driving style has a huge bearing on the matter also.

 
+1. Really depends on how you drive.
 
Spirited driving = could be excessive wear on tires