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One too NEW tyre...

4K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  NewLester de Rocin 
#1 ·
I took an injury to one of the tyres, and the specialist (a bunch of people I respect) replaced the ONE tyre for me under warranty. Identical Continental ProContact that comes with the car from factory.

That's great, but it's also not "great". This new tyre is mounted on the front of my RWD XE. The other three tyres already have 20K miles wear on them. I don't need a measuring tool---you can actually feel with your finger how superbly deep the tread is on the new Conti ProC compared with any of the remaining three Conti ProC's.

I'm used to the XE feel and ride by now, and I can tell the car just isn't quite… something. In a simple street corner turn, instead of holding super flat in spooky break-no-sweat way the XE responds, my car now lists a bit in a corner turn, in the more normal way any typical car from Fords to Hyundais would. And on a simple straight cruise, the ride feels VERY SLIGHTLY… granular, like travelling over a very fine peat stone roadway.

NOT my imagination, because I've tried it under several different driving conditions over two weeks, and the difference is still detectable.
NOT anything that interferes with control or handling at the steering wheel… so I'm not worried about safety.

But those of you with XE's and other performance cars in the past: Is this slight 20K treadwear imbalance on the steering-tyres putting a challenge on my car's electronic control, wheel monitoring, suspension accuracy, or the like? Am I LIKELY giving the car's electronic stability control a headache that over time could become a permanent downgrade in the car's butter-smooth handling?
(If yes, I will replace the tyres in the next month, instead of the next year as planned).
 
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#2 ·
I know various cars have to have equal tread depths else problems can be caused to their drive systems and I believe most notably four wheel drive units. I suspect if you can detect a marked difference then the 20k wear probably provides a different rolling resistance/diameter to the new tyre. I guess a simple test would be to re-locate the new tyre to the other end of the car and see what effect that yields or of course fit a new tyre on the same axle. Don't forget a new tyre will take somewhile to fully scrub in so if it's early days you might like to wait a while before making a judgement.
Continental provide some information on the matter on this link albeit perhaps not as conclusive as you might wish given they appear to advocate equal tread depths per axle:
https://www.continental-tires.com/car/technology/tire-knowledge/tirelexicon-3-0/tirelexikon-3-4
 
#3 ·
Tyres should always be replaced as an axle (both sides) especially if the mileage of the originals is significant. If you replaced the other side front the probability would be better handling and the car returning to how it felt
 
#4 ·
Yep.
20,000 miles is pretty good mileage for a tyre so I would change both especially as they are on the same axle and are doing the steering thing.
 
#5 ·
Have you checked the tyre pressures? Different tyre pressures can give you a similar problem and it may be the new tyre has a much higher pressure than the remainder and would tend to make you feel the road surface more. However, I would still consider changing the old tyre as previously suggested, as 20.000 miles is a good life for a tyre.
 
G
#6 ·
Funnily enough, as many may have read, this week I damaged a tyre. On inspection it also showed cracking insided the tread that was left. I am one of those who at 3mm ditch tyres or at 5 years. That made me decide to renew both fronts as an axle set. I was offered a set of rears (different width on the R Sport) for a bargain price so I have them awaiting fitting tomorrow. The dates on the old tyres show that they were made in 2014 so would have been replaced next April anyway just before the MOT. Tyres become harder with age and that is what causes minute cracks to appear. The fact that your Continentals are aging and becoming harder probably is causing the feel of the car to be wrong since the fitting of just one new one on an axle set, along with the tread depth difference. The new tyre will have sipes that will have worn away on the older tyres and the tread patter alters slightly as it is designed to with wear. That too make influence the feel of the car. The XE chassis and suspension set up is very good and these nuances may be noticable with tyre wear being different on one axle set. Tyres are a strange item on cars as some makes can be horrendous on the same car compared with others. For example I fitted Dunlop Sport Maxx to my Rover and it was easy to have the back end slide on a bend at speed. I later fitted Barum ( made now by Continental) at the next change and had no back end slide ever. I chose Barum because I raced on them many years back and they were very reliable tyres.
 
#7 ·
I had exactly the same issue with a 17" Continental - a puncture in one of the back tyres. It had done 21000 miles and the tyre dealer replaced one. When I enquired about just changing the one tyre, they assured me it wouldn't be a problem. In reality I could feel the difference, in particular around corners and I paid to have the other tyre changed.
 
#8 ·
:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: Whaaa! Sob and sob :( . …and Whaaaa :cry: :cry: some more. I suspected all along that the advice would be to amend the single-tyre. I was just foolishly hoping against hope that I wouldn't have to spend money changing out tyres so far ahead of my plans.

You've given me a clear consensus here. I'll have to do some tyre swapping this winter. Staying with this slight imbalance is going to cause me to slip SOMEWHERE on a foul weather drive---I've never been able to depend on luck to see me safely through challenges, when it comes to driving my cars.

Thank you all for the advice. When Saudi Arabia and Turkey's issue become unsolvable, I'll tell them to come to this website. Jaguar owners can find the answers to ANY problem! ;)
 
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