Help on Diagnosing Tire Wear

Hello guys

I was doing a brief check on my Golf MK7 1.4 TSI and noticed there's a strange damage/wear sign on it. My tires are the originals yet, 225/45 R17 91W Pirelli P7. I always keep the pressure as recommended by VW (29 PSI at front and rear), I always fill them up once a week while still cold, I do regular alignment, balancing and tire rotation, at each 10k Km. My car (and so the tires) has 38k Km. I get the alignment report every maintenance and it actually never accused the toe or camber being out of the specification... In my mind I do everything correctly. Anyway, the edge of the tire blocks at the outer tire side are like this. Any idea on why they are like this?

Thanks guys!

Tire currently at the rear


Tire currently at the front

What tire brand and type are you running?
What type of road surface do you run on? Paved, any gravel etc?

The surface wear does not look to be an issue.
Either the tread compound is not holding up or you are running on a rough surface and this is damaging the inside location of the shoulder sipes.

Have you driven thru any chemicals? Diesel fuel on the ground at gas station?
Parked in an oily or diesel fuel spilled location?

I do not thinks due to car alignment etc.

Normal when you're cornering spiritedly quite frequently.

What I'm wondering about much more:

1. the circular dimples (on which ground you're parking?)

2. the Pirelli P7 I know looks about this:

All things different in Brasil. They sell either a "P7" and a "P7 Cinturato"
(same tread design as in Europe) in Brasil:


P7:




P7 Cinturato:






But again, the tire on your photo doesn't look like these at all.
Are you certain you have Pirellis?

Did not see tire info to the right on my phone. Sorry.

The round circles are molding vents.
They are molded in, not from road.
If damange from spirited driving the rubber is not holding up well.

Wow, at least I got answers here... I posted the same topic at VW Vortex and a ton of people saw it, but none answered xD

So, I run 99% of the distance on reasonably well paved roads, streets. 50% of the distance is run on the road at higher speeds (no more than 120 Km/h) and the other 50% on avenues (no more than 70 Km/h).

The maximum I can imagine, is the road I take to my girlfriends house, around 240 Km in total. I run there at 120 Km/h the entire distance, and the left lane has a very rough asphalt (the noise is even a little bit annoying), but I don't go on the left lane all the time. As much as I can I go on the right lane because the asphalt is much better in terms of roughness, pretty smooth. But even if this was the problem, my girlfriends car, which goes through this road much more than I do and stays at the left lane all the time, doesn't have this problem on the tires (ok, it's a different tire brand).
Also, all the other cars from my house do the same route as I do and the tires are fine (again, different tire brands).

About the place I park my car, basically it's either a ceramic floor (my house) and a polished concrete (work garage). These are all clean. The wet mark on the tire is only a coincidence, a water spot I passed on my garage which was already drying on the tire. I did not go through any place with clear oil or fuel spill on the floor.

Also, I do spirited drivings very ocasionally, but also nothing absurd.

Based on all this in my opinion this is a tire compound issue, but I'd appreciate any experience or knowledge that makes me think differently.

Thanks!

Think you're ok, no reason to worry. It could be even some kind of deposit.
since it reminds me on what I had on track visits. If so you would be able
to remove those deopsits.

Are yours the Cinturato P7 on 3 of my pictures?

If spirited driving I would think more pronounced on front tires but rears look like they have more wearing. I lean more toward tire compound.
Maybe not a manufacturing issue but compound picked for use in that cost level tire.
You might mention to dealer if OE tire and see what they say.
Might not give you a full refund but milage adjustment.
Sounds like you did a good investigation.

Maybe select different tires next go around.
Glad forum members could help.
You will get an answer here, maybe not the one you want however.

breaking badly said:

Think you're ok, no reason to worry. It could be even some kind of deposit.
since it reminds me on what I had on track visits. If so you would be able
to remove those deopsits.

Are yours the Cinturato P7 on 3 of my pictures?

Click to expand...

Mine are the Cinturato P7 from your pictures. But what do you mean with deposits? Deposits of what? How do I remove these deposits?

Sandman GTI said:

If spirited driving I would think more pronounced on front tires but rears look like they have more wearing. I lean more toward tire compound.
Maybe not a manufacturing issue but compound picked for use in that cost level tire.
You might mention to dealer if OE tire and see what they say.
Might not give you a full refund but milage adjustment.
Sounds like you did a good investigation.

Maybe select different tires next go around.
Glad forum members could help.
You will get an answer here, maybe not the one you want however.

Click to expand...

My first objective is to understand why this is happening and try to increase the lifespan of my tire the most I can. I hope I can get something back from the dealer, even if adjusted to the mileage. What makes me sad is that the tire tread depth is still really good considering the mielage, but I feel I'll lose my tires first to this strange wear, instead of due to the thread depth.

I'll try to get some additional photos from the rest of the rubber band to show you guys

Thanks in advance!

Just an idea, since it reminds me on the deposits of sticky rubber,
that I used to pick up on tracks. I could be bitumen they fill joints
with (of course I don't know Brasilian roads at all). Just wanted to
give you a starting point for research. If so, it'd be easy to remove
e.g. with a piece of wood.
Again, I wouldn't worry too much, just get a different brand when
they're worn. I know Michelin does also 'bake' tires in Brasil. I had
a set of PS2s made there and never had issues with any Michelin.

breaking badly said:

Just an idea, since it reminds me on the deposits of sticky rubber,
that I used to pick up on tracks. I could be bitumen they fill joints
with (of course I don't know Brasilian roads at all). Just wanted to
give you a starting point for research. If so, it'd be easy to remove
e.g. with a piece of wood.
Again, I wouldn't worry too much, just get a different brand when
they're worn. I know Michelin does also 'bake' tires in Brasil. I had
a set of PS2s made there and never had issues with any Michelin.

Click to expand...

Oh, now I got it. It looks like on the photo, but this is actually cracked rubber, not deposits =\

Michelin FTW, best tires I rode on a car. I guess I'll have to make them mine again next tire change.


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I took some additional photos to describe better the situation. Notice again how the edge of the rubber "blocks" are worn and cracked on their own groove. Also, notice the cracking near the tire shoulder and near the first groove the the tire. The cracking is also present at the inner portion of the tire. These are photos from front and rear tires, at left and right position.

normal for any tire driven in the summer time
not affecting performance at all, don't worry

breaking badly said:

normal for any tire driven in the summer time
not affecting performance at all, don't worry

Click to expand...

I'll take your opinion into account. I just find it strange that all other tires on the other 3 cars at my house aren't like this. But I understand tires may have different characteristics.

Thanks


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To me the rubber looks to have issues.
The surface cracking looks a lot like ozone cracking.
Either the rubber is not a great quality, the tires were stored in heat for a while or tires are old. What is the DOT stamp on the tires. The date made. Will have 4 numbers in a circle.
3615. This means tire was cured during the 36th week in 2015.
If tire new then the rubber is not good. If tire made a couple or a few years ago then the tire has some age issue maybe due to storage issues.

Sorry but best bet is to change tires when you want or when they wear out.