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.

 

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 stillhave 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 differentialswill 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 thetransmission outputto 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 thanto 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 on2WD 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 oneof the most unique andfunctional 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.

 

+1. Really depends on how you drive.

Spirited driving = could be excessive wear on tires

 

I agree with TorsenTaxi. I got Continentals with my 05' A4 and the dealership told me that the average life of these tires is about 35K (obviously depending on the driving style). I would make sure that you constantly rotate your tires. I rotate them every 5K miles for an even wear and tare.

 

I've put 10K on mine so far (the stock S-Line's, ContiSport2, max performance summer), and could probably get another 3-5K if I drove as long as possible, but they would be completely bald then. But I'm frequently squealing going around corners, so I that probably took a lot off.

 

hahaha... wow you really must be squealing around every corner that you take to only get 15k max!!!

 

:P My motto is: if the tires aren't squealing and you don't feel the g-forces, you're doing something wrong!

 

haha... well i wish i could live by your motto as well, but on a college budget there is definitely no space to be shelling out a grand on tires every year

 

Yeah... I'm going to replace them with Sumitomo HTR Z III tires. Ranked better by tirerack, and half the cost.

 

really? ill have to look into those when i get new tires, do you have stock rims or aftermarket ones?