Motoring Discussion > Audi A1 - Tyres again Miscellaneous
Thread Author: IJWS14 Replies: 18
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New Mon 20 Jul 15 07:48 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - IJWS14
Daughter's A1 is coming close to needing some new tyres and she asked what she should get.

Her job has changed and she is doing more travelling, more specifically visiting farms so muddy farm tracks and more likely to be caught away from home in inclement weather. The travel will also be further north than we are now with her boss based near Northallerton. She also wants something better on snow than the current Michelin Pilot 3s.

Having looked around the recommended tyre seems to be the Goodyear Vector 4S, The new Michelin allseason was recommended by one review but does not come in her size (205/45R16).

Now being front wheel drive and also considering that I didn't rotate tyres for her would the panel recommend putting two all season on the back (where you are supposed to fit new tyres and running the better two Michelins on the front for another few months?

Actually got one repaired yesterday due to a screw as Kwikfit only had another Pilot Sport and there was no point putting a new one of those on. He did try to sell us an Alpin but don't want full winter tyres for all year.
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New Mon 20 Jul 15 08:35 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - Falkirk Bairn
Michelin Tour HP All Season ???
Then again maybe they do not come in the A1's size...but worth a try!
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New Mon 20 Jul 15 08:35 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - sherlock47
(205/45R16). - does not strike me as the ideal tyre profile for use on either snow or rough tracks.

Do Audi have an alternative suggested wheel size for winter tyre use?
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New Mon 20 Jul 15 10:15 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - Zero
>> Daughter's A1 is coming close to needing some new tyres and she asked what she
>> should get.
>>
>> Her job has changed and she is doing more travelling, more specifically visiting farms so
>> muddy farm tracks and more likely to be caught away from home in inclement weather.
>> The travel will also be further north than we are now with her boss based
>> near Northallerton. She also wants something better on snow than the current Michelin Pilot 3s.

I'd be looking at changing the A1 for something more suitable.
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New Mon 20 Jul 15 11:21 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - WillDeBeest
That's baby and bathwater, surely. Assuming we're not scaling Ben Nevis in this A1, the most it should need is to go down a size in wheels and to get some taller mud-and-snow rated tyres. Although Gromit will be here soon for a cadenza on his Subaru fiddle.
}:---)
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New Mon 20 Jul 15 12:14 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - IJWS14
Yes - baby and bathwater

The last half mile of a 100 mile journey should not dictate the vehicle.

She likes the A1 and can't really afford a Q3 as it would have to be knowing her.

I don't expect her to be in 6" of mud and if that happens the farmer can tow her out but don't want her with tyres that are useless on "wet grass".

Changing wheels seems daft when we can get something that fits the wheels she has.
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New Mon 20 Jul 15 12:25 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - Bill Payer
>> Now being front wheel drive and also considering that I didn't rotate tyres for her
>> would the panel recommend putting two all season on the back (where you are supposed
>> to fit new tyres and running the better two Michelins on the front for another
>> few months?
>>

I did that on my RWD Merc. People said I would die a horribly fiery death but I didn't.

Having said that, not sure I'd mix tyres on my daughters' cars.

The limited size range thing is a pain - the Merc has a staggered set-up and no-one does exactly the right spec in All-Season for both ends so I've now got Vredestein Quatrac 3 on the front and Kumho Solus KH21 on the back. They seem fine in everyday use (mostly motorway driving) and inspire a lot of confidence when very wet, but it hasn't snowed since I got them!

My wife's Honda Jazz runs full winter Michelin Alpin's year round and they seem fine too, although that's mainly a commuting car. I did drive it a bit of snow once and learned you can't continue to drive as if it hasn't been snowing! Again, not really tested though.
They're wearing well, and will certainly outlast the Dunlop SP2030 the car came with, although I reckon they were very soft and didn't give me a moment concern in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 bad winters.
Last edited by: Bill Payer on Mon 20 Jul 15 at 12:27
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New Wed 22 Jul 15 07:40 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - IJWS14
>> Having said that, not sure I'd mix tyres on my daughters' cars.
>>

My gut feeling is to change all even though there is a pair with 10-15k still left in them.

She needs two soon and I don't want it changing ends on her because the tyres differ. She is paying and can afford it, she doesn't seem worried at the thought of a £500 bill, but it will get her another three to four years of motoring if I switch them front to back every year - she probably won't keep the car that long.

Must remember to ask them to put the best of the two good ones in the boot as she doesn't have a spare and it will avoid buying an odd one if she damages a sidewall and they don't stock the all season tyres.
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New Mon 27 Jul 15 03:20 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - Auntie Lockbrakes
Bridgestone Potenzas on my A1. Quiet and grippy over the first 6000 miles. But I don't go off--road...
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New Thu 30 Jul 15 12:54 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - IJWS14
Turns out her local (200 yards from work) independent tyre factor can only source one all season tyre so that is what she is getting.

Dunlop SP Sport A/S.
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New Thu 30 Jul 15 13:44 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - Dog
S'good: www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Dunlop/SP-Sport-01-AS.htm
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New Fri 31 Jul 15 09:23 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - Fenlander
Not quite that good Dog when you look into them. I guess your daughter has them now IJW but if not I'd think again.

We decided to put all weathers (with the winter symbol) on Mrs F's car a few years back. She needed to be totally reliable at work in all conditions and her car was already good in snow (light front wheel drive) so the all weathers seemed they'd make it even better. I praised them many times for having reasonable summer performance and good wear rates.... and the car was great in snow... for three days a year.

Then one day about 18mths back on a wet slip road and at a reasonable distance from the car in front a third car did something stupid and both Mrs F and the car in front did an emergency stop. To her horror Mrs F saw her separation distance from the car in front being eaten away despite her foot to the floor and ABS kicking in.... she hit it needing probably one more car length to stop.

That bump has massively impacted on her premiums... cost her a large excess and still affects her premium this year. This changed our previous opinion on all weathers and we now look for a normal tyre with a good wet performance... which in the UK is probably the most frequent difficult road condition by far.

If you look at those Dunlop SP AS tyres they have a bottom (E) rating for wet road grip... mixing it with the cheapest Chinese ditchfinders.... in tests this can mean several extra car lengths to stop from speed in the wet.

I've just found my 18yr old daughter a first car. It has a set of totally legal tyres but KwikFit's own cheapest budget model. Today we're off to Halfords for a new set and I've chosen normal tyres with the highest wet road rating (A)... Dunlop BluResponse. They are also quiet and have a low rolling resistance.

If it gives her even half a car length shorter stop on a wet town road... or lessens the chance of a slide on a soaking wet roundabout... it could make the difference between a claim and not.

Just my take on it...

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New Fri 31 Jul 15 10:01 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - Dog
These are what I have on the Forester, Fl. I keep them on all year. I'd recommend them & buy them again:

www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Vredestein/Wintrac-Xtreme.htm
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New Sat 1 Aug 15 07:13 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - sherlock47
That tyre review site brings up some interesting info.

Surprising - how some premium brands (which constitute a large % of miles driven) have lowish wet grip figures. Winter tyres seem to sacrifice wet performance - presumably for better snow performance.

Not surprisning - how many chinese ditch finders end up at the bottom of the overall classification table.
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New Sat 1 Aug 15 08:09 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - Duncan
>> That tyre review site brings up some interesting info.

If I have read it correctly, it is based upon individuals opinions of tyres, rather than scientific testing. I would prefer to have a lot of people in white coats holding clipboards testing tyres rather than Joe and Mary Gruntfuttock's opinion, thank you.
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New Fri 31 Jul 15 12:58 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - IJWS14
She has been driving for 14 years, and passed her test 13 years ago, without a ticket or a claim so must be a reasonably cautious driver (Last three cars 1.4T A1, Fiesta Zetec S and 1.4 Corsa Exclusiv).

I had seen the reviews hence my preference for the Goodyear but there aren't many about. Once spent hours on the phone looking for a Michelin for an Audi A2 (odd size) only to be told (when I challenged the fourth or fifth guy who told me he could get on for tomorrow) that the only ones in the country were at an Audi dealer in Sheffield. Just because they are on the list doesn't mean you can get them. Short of spending hours on the phone and being disappointed these are the only ones she can get and there is a small split in one of the exiting tyres and two are close to illegal so they need changing, she does not want more summer tyres as they are next to useless in the snow.

The user reviews are better than the label indicates and she won't go for summer/winter as she has nowhere to store them. Advised her to take car for the first 500 miles and get used to them as they won't be as good as the current Michelins in the dry but should be better when the conditions change.

They are actually 215/45R16.
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New Fri 31 Jul 15 20:58 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - Avant
Interesting - on that tyre review site linked above the Kleber Quadraxer tyres that I have found excellent have better wet grip (87 %) than quite a lot of the premium brands.

Kleber is listed there as an economy brand - I'd have said mid-range.
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New Fri 31 Jul 15 22:32 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - Dog
The Kleber Quadraxers are rated C for wet braking performance, which is quite good compared to the aforementioned Dunlop SP AS tyres which are rated E, as are my Vredestein winter tyres.
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New Sat 28 Nov 15 17:30 
 Audi A1 - Tyres again - IJWS14
Not been back for a while but after a few months of use, some :-) in the rain, she is delighted with them. says they are loads better than the Michelins they replaced.

I have one Michelin in a bin liner in the garage.
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