New tires

[AMG EATR]

I need new tires after 20k miles. Is this normal? What tires should I get and where is best place to buy them? I know the stock tires are not the best tires because they are very LOUD at certain speeds for some reason so I would like to know the best overall tires.

[GmbHouse]

20000 miles is actually very good. I have Michelin PS2's and love them. Remember the car requires tires with a heavy load rating, which limits your choices.

[shimmy]

i have 18k miles on mine and the front two Dunlop 9000's are past their effecive life (bald as a coot) but the backs have 2-3000 miles left on them.

Would you say these are the originals or second set in all your experience.

[momo]

I had my original Dunlops for 27k miles until they started to cup and make loud noises. I just bought some Michelin PS2s and they're expensive but great. The car seems be a different car. The tires run well in rain and they are very quiet. I'll let you know how they do as the weather gets colder.

[Aronis]

do to winter tire use, I put about 18,000 miles on my Dunlaps, and they are DEAD, those which were the fronts originally but ended their life on the rear of the car have inside wall failure as well as being bald.

I use winter Pirelli Winter 240's and drive the car on dry roads just about as aggressively as on the 'summer' tires and those winter tires are not a special load rating.

I suspect you can safely use an all season radial tire, get better mileage and have the quiet! The Extreme handling offered by the original equipment tires is great for the track, but in reality for most driving you don't need them.

Mike

[rks838]

Car and Driver just did an overall performance tire test, and Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 won, in my opinion with room to spare. Check it out, it's a great test: http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=10252

[SoCal]

20k miles on the original tires is pretty good.

I'm a big fan of the Michellin PS-2's. I replaced the OEM tires with the PS-2s and have had noticeably better handling especially in dry road conditions (both on the road as a daily driver and on the track). Also a quieter ride, longer wear, more even wear, and slightly better wet handling. By far most of my driving is in summer conditions, so dry handling was the biggest factor for me. I strongly recommend this tire.

The car came originally with Pirelli P Zero Rossos, which I took off after just 7k miles although they still had life in them. One had been replaced almost new after a puncture, a second had a sidewall bulge (the second time that's happened to me with P Zero Rosso tires, though on a different car), and I never really liked the way they handled. They were also a very loud tire.

I've had good luck with Bridgestone Pole Position SO-3's on my sports cars, but I don't know whether they make a fitment for the RS6. If they do, that's also a great tire and maybe a little less expensive.

Make sure you get the extra load tires for these cars, especially if you are going to drive at all aggressively or carry passengers or cargo. When I replaced the original Pirelli tire that was punctured, the tire shop's distributor sent a 95Y instead of 99Y tire. Although the size and speed rating were right, it's not the right tire to use.

Unless you have a local tire guy you love, I recommend Tire Rack for price, product knowledge and selection. They also have pretty good consumer reports on their website if you want to see what other drivers think of a particular tire. Good place to do more research.

Happy driving.

[shimmy]

what is the correct load rating then. My 19inch tyres have currently dunlop 9000's with 96Y. Is that correct.

What exact PS2's is everybody fitting?

[SoCal]

Originally posted by shimmy
what is the correct load rating then. My 19inch tyres have currently dunlop 9000's with 96Y. Is that correct.

What exact PS2's is everybody fitting?

Yes, that is correct. For that tire or the PS2s, a service description of 96Y is fine (96 is the load rating and Y is the speed rating) in your size.

The original equipment tires that Audi put on the cars with the optional 19" wheels (255/35-19 tires) had a 99Y service description and qualified as "extra load" (XL). In the US, we basically had only 18" wheels as stock. The tires for the smaller wheels (size 255/40YR18) had to be 99Y for the XL designation, I believe. I don't know why the recommended load rating would be higher for 18" vs. 19" sizes (more air, but so what, if the amount of load is the same?), but that seems to be the case.

For more details on tire specs generally, you might want to see http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=35.

[SoCal]

Originally posted by SoCal
I don't know why the recommended load rating would be higher for 18" vs. 19" sizes (more air, but so what, if the amount of load is the same?), but that seems to be the case.

Duh....probably the tires in those makes and sizes are available in 95 and 99 load ratings and not in between. 95 too low for XL, so 99 is next up (there being no 96 that size). :vhmmm: I assume that's the reason.

[JAXRS6]

Originally posted by rks838
Car and Driver just did an overall performance tire test, and Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 won, in my opinion with room to spare. Check it out, it's a great test: http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=10252

Just keep in mind that at last check, Goodyear did not make an F1 GS-D3 with a heavy load rating that fits the RS6.

IMO the heavy load rating is recommended by AOA because the RS6...

1. Is a heavy car
2. Has most weight up front (60%)
3. Is very powerful and fast.

When you consider the effects of so much weight suddenly shifting onto one front tire during a turn at high speeds, plus the added load if braking occurs, hopefully it's apparent that the heavy load rating is needed to assure adequate sidewall strength.

My OEM Pirelli 18s had tremendous sidewall strength IMO, as evidenced by the fact one OEM wheel was bent from a pothole -- but the tire was fine. Someone else reported a sidewall bubble, tho, so not all had my good experience. But I like my PS2s better -- all the good qualities of the Pirellis, it seems, plus much quieter.

Somewhere here at rs6.com are photos of a European RS6 Avant after a blowout at high speed. Kind of interesting because although it was scary, loss of control was not an issue.

Still, I'm on the conservative side when it comes to safety, so I would stay away from tires that don't meet the Heavy Load designation. Luke@tirerack.com has been very helpful in making sure I've had the right tires for my :s4addict: and now my :addict:

[SoCal]

Originally posted by JAXRS6
Luke@tirerack.com has been very helpful in making sure I've had the right tires for my :s4addict: and now my :addict:

Yes, Luke has been very helpful to me too for my :addict: .

Seems like we've had similar positive experience switching form Pirelli's to Michelin PS2s. Great tire. Recommended.

[jim kelly]

out here in the wilds of OZ I had same experience with Rossos i.e worn out plus bulge in wall of one at 15,500km.
Replaced with micheys PS2 and very happy with them.
Note though that there are 2 kinds of PS2 one with rim protector bead added and one without.
Bead protector added works okay but will rub in wheel arch - not much and on plastic crap only so no real problem even so.

[gjg]

Originally posted by SoCal

The original equipment tires that Audi put on the cars with the optional 19" wheels (255/35-19 tires) had a 99Y service description and qualified as "extra load" (XL).[/I]

19" stock came with 96Y (mine was Dunlops P9000) and it is so specified in the manual. 18" stock is 99 loading


I don't know why the recommended load rating would be higher for 18" vs. 19" sizes (more air, but so what, if the amount of load is the same?), but that seems to be the case.

I think this was more due to the sidewall height and car weight.

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 has softer sidewall according to some driver, I believe this was discussed here.

And, my stock Dunlops (19") survived for 20k miles

[rks838]

JAXRS6, thanks for the "reminder." I knew not to buy tires without the proper load rating, but wouldn't have guessed it was as important as it really is.