Continental Tire Question
06-06-2014, 07:10 AM
#11
AudiWorld Super User
Similarly, I ran Michelin A/S+'s and PS2's w/ no issues on W12...
in the W12 optional 20" factory sizing to be specific. Currently have the Dunlop SportMaxx's back on, which I have run twice before. Given they are 20's (on mine anyway), have to be careful to try to avoid the obvious potholes, but I have only had one modest broken sidewall/bubble across a bunch of sets now, which was on a Dunlop. No unusual balance issues either; on most tire sets I usually do one new balance around midlife.
Next set will be AS3's once the Dunlops go. All the comparison type tests I have seen have been quite positive on them, even as against more dedicated summer performance tires. I would rather have somewhat better wear than the dedicated summers. It also gives me (limited) ability to deal with the occasional Sierra very early or late snow without having to worry about having the winter set on as much, especially since the Q5 is now getting more of the snow duty.
Next set will be AS3's once the Dunlops go. All the comparison type tests I have seen have been quite positive on them, even as against more dedicated summer performance tires. I would rather have somewhat better wear than the dedicated summers. It also gives me (limited) ability to deal with the occasional Sierra very early or late snow without having to worry about having the winter set on as much, especially since the Q5 is now getting more of the snow duty.
Last edited by MP4.2+6.0; 06-06-2014 at 07:16 AM.
06-06-2014, 11:44 AM
#12
AudiWorld Member
I had Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport 285/30R-20 tires on my S8, and am now using Continental ExtremeContact DW 275/35ZR-20 which I’m very happy with.
They are quiet and the comparatively softer sidewall gives a better ride.
Initially I thought the car had naturally sloppy handling, but that was fixed by replacing the two worn right front upper inner control arm bushings.
Also, the tires were unable to be balanced to get rid of a speed dependent vibration.
That was solved by reshaping all four wheels that had gone out of round due to pothole impacts, along with road force balancing.
They are quiet and the comparatively softer sidewall gives a better ride.
Initially I thought the car had naturally sloppy handling, but that was fixed by replacing the two worn right front upper inner control arm bushings.
Also, the tires were unable to be balanced to get rid of a speed dependent vibration.
That was solved by reshaping all four wheels that had gone out of round due to pothole impacts, along with road force balancing.
06-06-2014, 01:01 PM
#13
I put the Michelin AS3's on my S8 and really liked them. The handling was not much different than the summer tires I had prior and the ride was smooth and quiet.
I plan to put the same tire on my 2011 A8 once the continentals wear out.
I plan to put the same tire on my 2011 A8 once the continentals wear out.
06-06-2014, 01:07 PM
#14
AudiWorld Super User
I had 4 Michelin Pilot Sport AS/3 at $1400.00 installed on my W12 and the vehicle shook all over in the feel of the ride, so I took her up to about 45 and it still was horrible, I turned around and went back to the shop, they rebalanced them with their "$20,000.00" road force balancing machine, it still had a small wobble felling that was not there just prior to these new installs, well about 6 mile or so down the road all was fine, until the next morning the wobble was like the wheels were falling off, then about 5-7 miles down the road at speeds between 35-50 mph all smoothed out, so I again go back to the shop and they check balancing again and had to rebalanced, [WHY?] so I head out on the road and all feels good and within a mile of leaving the shop I hit a somewhat small pothole which put a huge bubble in the sidewall, now mine you this was not a gapping crater, it was small, I have hit some unavoidable potholes with the Pirelli's that were just removed and never had this happen, so they order a tire and charge me $68.00 towards it, only to have it happen again in very short time, this time it cost me $272.00, I only received a $80.00 credit from Michelin, why for the life of me I don't know, as there were only about 600 miles on them, now to make matters worse, every morning in the cold [below 50 ish degrees] the tires would wobble for the first 5-8 miles of my ride depending on speed, I called Michelin and went back to the shop and was informed that "this is the nature of the tire", even though these are "All Season", so now it gets worse, and I was told "should have parked it for the winter", as now I have a third with bubbles and the forth one actually punctured threw the inside sidewall, I was and still am very agitated with Michelin and my tire guy who I have used since 1972 with our family's [mom, dad, brothers, and sister] Auto Sales locations, I was so upset that I took my brand new Pirelli spare and put it on and drove my tire guy through a pothole not once but three times, and not one mark on the Pirelli, he was dumbfounded, but I was PO....
Bottom line I will not be buying Michelin's again, unless they prove themselves in product and Customer Service.
Johnny J J
Bottom line I will not be buying Michelin's again, unless they prove themselves in product and Customer Service.
Johnny J J
06-07-2014, 10:00 AM
#15
Banned
Hello Thomas,
Yes I called Michelin directly about five times now, and I am always told I must have the shop call, yet the shop tells me I must call, and now come to find out from Michelin that the shop had lost it's account as a authorized dealer about 4 years ago when he bought the shop from his boss of many years, also one of the tires has a shift in it from left to right as was seen when on the balancer, yet the wheel was true, as I had him put just the wheel on the balancer, I wonder where he gets the Michelin's if he has no account, Michelin stated that they do not deal with him, also could they be Blem's, if there still is such a thing, I remember years ago I got a bad set from them and "Blem" was stamped into the inner sidewall.
Bottom line is he's saying go fight with Michelin as he is done with my car, and with that I am done with his outfit, which is sad as I have used that same shop for 35 years personally, and my parents some years before me, of the five cars I have right now four have full sets from him, the fifth came with factory new, my parents, two cars, my sister, one car, my brothers, three cars and one truck, my son, two cars, we all go to him with many and I mean many customers I have sent his way, so I am really shocked at his actions, and now Michelin is saying that I purchased the tires from a un-authorized seller.
Sorry everyone for the rant.
Johnny J J
Yes I called Michelin directly about five times now, and I am always told I must have the shop call, yet the shop tells me I must call, and now come to find out from Michelin that the shop had lost it's account as a authorized dealer about 4 years ago when he bought the shop from his boss of many years, also one of the tires has a shift in it from left to right as was seen when on the balancer, yet the wheel was true, as I had him put just the wheel on the balancer, I wonder where he gets the Michelin's if he has no account, Michelin stated that they do not deal with him, also could they be Blem's, if there still is such a thing, I remember years ago I got a bad set from them and "Blem" was stamped into the inner sidewall.
Bottom line is he's saying go fight with Michelin as he is done with my car, and with that I am done with his outfit, which is sad as I have used that same shop for 35 years personally, and my parents some years before me, of the five cars I have right now four have full sets from him, the fifth came with factory new, my parents, two cars, my sister, one car, my brothers, three cars and one truck, my son, two cars, we all go to him with many and I mean many customers I have sent his way, so I am really shocked at his actions, and now Michelin is saying that I purchased the tires from a un-authorized seller.
Sorry everyone for the rant.
Johnny J J
Dam John, that sounds like a rough deal. Sorry to hear about that. I've sold numerous sets of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3 and have never had a ride disturbance issue. Hope the tires might have been a bad batch. Have you called Michelin directly or has the tire shop been calling them. Usually the customer has a lot more clout.
06-07-2014, 11:52 AM
#16
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As a former car dealer I was unable to get Michelin to warranty a defect with their product. Every time I contacted Michelin for my customers or myself I was basically told they they only produce perfect tires and if there are any issues it was a problem with the vehicle the tires were mounted on or the end user did something to cause it. I believe on the whole Michelin makes good tires but I can not bring myself to purchase a Michelin product after dealing with their customer service.
Back on topic. I had a set of Extreme Contact DW tires on my last car. Very quiet with good handling. There was a bit of delay on turn in due to the soft side walls. My sister has a set of Extreme Contact DWS on her car and is very pleased with them.
Back on topic. I had a set of Extreme Contact DW tires on my last car. Very quiet with good handling. There was a bit of delay on turn in due to the soft side walls. My sister has a set of Extreme Contact DWS on her car and is very pleased with them.
06-07-2014, 06:55 PM
#17
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Ok, so I got the Michelin Pilot Sport AS/3's. Mostly because I had a road trip planned for today and couldn't get Conti's or Nitto's in time, partially because the positive online reviews. So far the ride quality has been smooth and quiet. Haven't had them through their paces, but will likely try out wet traction tomorrow. Side note: these tires have a very ugly profile, maybe they'll grow on me...
06-08-2014, 06:08 PM
#18
06-08-2014, 08:08 PM
#19
AudiWorld Super User
Hello Thomas,
Yes I called Michelin directly about five times now, and I am always told I must have the shop call, yet the shop tells me I must call, and now come to find out from Michelin that the shop had lost it's account as a authorized dealer about 4 years ago when he bought the shop from his boss of many years, also one of the tires has a shift in it from left to right as was seen when on the balancer, yet the wheel was true, as I had him put just the wheel on the balancer, I wonder where he gets the Michelin's if he has no account, Michelin stated that they do not deal with him, also could they be Blem's, if there still is such a thing, I remember years ago I got a bad set from them and "Blem" was stamped into the inner sidewall.
Bottom line is he's saying go fight with Michelin as he is done with my car, and with that I am done with his outfit, which is sad as I have used that same shop for 35 years personally, and my parents some years before me, of the five cars I have right now four have full sets from him, the fifth came with factory new, my parents, two cars, my sister, one car, my brothers, three cars and one truck, my son, two cars, we all go to him with many and I mean many customers I have sent his way, so I am really shocked at his actions, and now Michelin is saying that I purchased the tires from a un-authorized seller.
Sorry everyone for the rant. :
Johnny J J
Yes I called Michelin directly about five times now, and I am always told I must have the shop call, yet the shop tells me I must call, and now come to find out from Michelin that the shop had lost it's account as a authorized dealer about 4 years ago when he bought the shop from his boss of many years, also one of the tires has a shift in it from left to right as was seen when on the balancer, yet the wheel was true, as I had him put just the wheel on the balancer, I wonder where he gets the Michelin's if he has no account, Michelin stated that they do not deal with him, also could they be Blem's, if there still is such a thing, I remember years ago I got a bad set from them and "Blem" was stamped into the inner sidewall.
Bottom line is he's saying go fight with Michelin as he is done with my car, and with that I am done with his outfit, which is sad as I have used that same shop for 35 years personally, and my parents some years before me, of the five cars I have right now four have full sets from him, the fifth came with factory new, my parents, two cars, my sister, one car, my brothers, three cars and one truck, my son, two cars, we all go to him with many and I mean many customers I have sent his way, so I am really shocked at his actions, and now Michelin is saying that I purchased the tires from a un-authorized seller.
Sorry everyone for the rant. :
Johnny J J
Typically Michelin blems are quite rare, and if they were, the sidewalls would be stamped so. I'm sorry to hear you have had these issue with your tires and your dealer. Michelin can be a little arrogant but it really depends on the rep you happen to get.
I actually put a set on my sister's E350 with sport suspension and hopefully they will do a good job for her. She really likes the improved traction and ride compared to the Contipro Contacts.
Did the shop not have some sort of town hazard coverage?
06-09-2014, 10:57 AM
#20
Banned
With bubbles this big you would think the rim would be destroyed.
Here are some pictures of just two of the damaged A/S 3's.
Notice that there is not one mark on the wheels.
Thomas, no they would not sell "Road Hazard" with this set this time, but I have in previous purchases with him, maybe it has to do with him not being an authorized Michelin dealer anymore and the fact that I buy other brands from him, what gets me is he has Michelin signs, Michelin Man cardboard cutouts, Michelin tires on display, maybe I am wrong, but I feel if someone does not have an authorized account, they should not have items on display to look like one who is.
Crisis3, I feel as I hijacked your thread, I hope not.
Johnny J J
Notice that there is not one mark on the wheels.
Thomas, no they would not sell "Road Hazard" with this set this time, but I have in previous purchases with him, maybe it has to do with him not being an authorized Michelin dealer anymore and the fact that I buy other brands from him, what gets me is he has Michelin signs, Michelin Man cardboard cutouts, Michelin tires on display, maybe I am wrong, but I feel if someone does not have an authorized account, they should not have items on display to look like one who is.
Crisis3, I feel as I hijacked your thread, I hope not.
Johnny J J
Last edited by JohnnyJ A6Q; 06-09-2014 at 11:04 AM.