So I drove my 2002 Audi TT Quattro Coupe to work this morning (about 16 miles) without any issues. On my drive home, I started noticing about 2/3 the way that my steering was pulling to the left. My first thought was that I had a low tire caused by a nail or something. I get home, see the tire is pretty much entirely flat, and proceed to try and air it up. As I air it up, I can hear the air rushing out. I felt around the tire and found what felt like a significant hole towards the inside of the tire, so then I remove the wheel. The pictures below show what I found.

In one area, at the edge of the tread, there is a section that looks like it was shaved flat, down past the cords of the tire. There is a dimple towards the middle of this area and that is where the hole is. There is a similar, but less significant flat spot nearly 180 degrees around and in the same area.

I know irregular flat spots can be caused by skidding or by bad shocks, but I have never skid in this car and this doesn't look like the irregular wear that I experienced in my last TT which had bad shocks. I'm no expert, but this doesn't seem like something that has slowly evolved over a long period of time. Whatever caused it, I feel like I would have noticed it while driving. So, any guesses what could have caused this? Thanks in advance!

-Dalton

 

Just a side note, if you zoom in on the third picture, it almost looks like a tire plug. That may have been what caused the tire to finally deflate, but doesn't really explain the large worn area.

 

My 2004 roadster had the same problem, a hole rubbed through to the cords in just one spot on a rear wheel. The car had been pulling to the side and acting skittish, as well as making wheel noise. The rims I had on were aftermarket installed by the previous owner, and the mechanic said they were too wide for the car. The wheels were badly out of alignment and that one had been rubbing on a strut or something for quite a while. I changed the wheels out for some original 6 spoke rims, put new tires on, and had an alignment done and now it drives sweet and straight again.