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More Continental tire problems

Mikejt1954

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Charlotte, NC
I generally conquer that the wear pattern here points to a toe issue. The last time I experienced something like this on a McPherson strut car, the culprit ended up being the control arm bushings. At a glance, everything looked fine, the car tracked straight and the static alignment was in spec. Then I pulled the control arms and found the bushings to be very soft and beginning to tear, and the ball joint being rather easy to move. New control arms and ball joints cured it. The squishy bushings and loose ball joints were causing dynamic toe changes and eating the tires. This was on an old Nissan product, but the suspension was very similar and gave the same tire wear you are experiencing. Best of luck to you as you sort this out.
Thank you, but this car has 55k miles and 14k ago when it was aligned the tech looked at all suspension parts at my request and it was solid. I will have the alignment done tomorrow, the toe set to almost zero, and I’ll report the initial findings before any adjustment. Thanks again.
 

Salami

Autocross Champion
Location
North Carolina
Car(s)
MK7.5R
Yes, the damn new tires wore out too fast. They had 14,000 miles on them when one went flat with steel belts protruding, and the appearance of delimitation.
They wore out too fast so they were never rotated? 🤔

On an AWD car like the R, the tires should be rotated every 5-6k miles.
 

Al_in_Philly

Autocross Newbie
Location
Philadelphia USA
I only buy Michelin PS4S and had one tire with that type of damage, only worse. It looks like my alignment on my left-front wheel is a little off, but I never bother with alignments anymore unless there is damage to the suspension. You can buy two of my tires for the cost for alignment and checking the "advanced driving features". I'll assume you're careful about tire pressures. I check mine every couple of weeks and adjust them to the predicted temperatures. Since my car sits in a garage most of the time, I have a thermometer on the wall, so I don't get higher sun-induced starting pressures. I was surprised my tire shredded, but I usually change them out when they get to 4/,32". I let the last ones get down to 3/32, and that's when I had the problem. All I can suggest is, don't go lower than 4/32". These tires are the lowest profile I ever owned, and I noticed even taking turns mildly causes the front tires to roll over and round the edges. I also do not rotate them, since at least for me the tires wear evenly, thanks or no thanks to the mostly full-time AWD. You'll still get the rounded edges once they wear down anyway, and you'll have 4 rounded tires instead of two. A harder tire will probably hold up better, but you'll sacrifice handing and wet weather traction.
Perhaps things aren't quite so sunny in the Sunshine State, as my annual F&R alignment costs me $120. I also rotate them once a year when I switch between my summer and winter rubber. That said, whenever they get realigned, the report always comes back with something a little out of spec. I don't do it for the tire wear, per se, but more for maintaining the precision in the car's handling.
 

hans611

Lost
Location
Miami
Car(s)
'16 Golf R 6MT
Im in FL, worse, Miami, and pay a similar amount (~$140) for alignments at my boutique VAG indy shop, so im not sure what's that about..

OP clearly something is seriously wrong.... you should be rotating more regularly than ~15k mi for sure, but not rotating the tires is not causing that... my money is on a worn suspension bushing, like others said.
 
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kevinkar

Drag Racing Champion
Location
United States
I'm just tossing out a random data point here for my '18 R - I rotated my first set of tires at 9,500 miles and all 4 were wearing evenly with the fronts having the same tread depth as the rears in spite of them carrying more weight. Swapped out the OEM's for Continentals 4,000 miles later and just rotated them at 5,000 with, again, all tires showing the same wear. Car is stock with no mods. I have no idea what my alignment is but I know the car tracks properly and I have no cords showing so far.....
 

aloha_from_bradley

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
I mean, if you look closely, most of the tread still exists on the inner most part of the tire. It's only beyond that, almost past the tread itself where most of the wear is happening. Very odd. The toe measurements on the alignment sheet don't scream this kind of excessive wear. There is something else going on, but usually the alignment readout will indicate if there is an issue somewhere else. Were these tires used?
 
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