Unbelievable Tyre Life !

[Guest richardw]

I have a 2004 C5 VTR Estate 2.0HDi

 

In January last year ( 2007 ) in an effort to get rid of a vibration between 65-70 mph I had 4 new Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres fitted, - the vibration remained.

 

Imagine my horror during a service when they pointed out the fronts are just under 2mm , with the inner 25% on both tyres completely bald !!!!!

 

That's 8,000 miles on two front tyres ?

 

Guys, let me know what your HDi's are doing and on what tyres ?

 

Recomendations please ...................

[myglaren]

I'm usually pretty hard on tyres but that sounds terrible.

I'd suspect the tracking not being adjusted correctly or a fault in the suspension geometry but the symmetry kind of counterindicates that.

 

My tyres are too new to assess. Bought the car in March and while the tyres were OK I have no idea of how long they have been on or the miles they might have done.

Put a new set on in August in preparation for the winter and upcoming MOT. I have no idea what the make could be though, just dropped it off and had the tyres changed, paid and left.

The wheels aren't balanced though as they hadn't the equipment to balance the wheels-without-holes. No vibration problems even at frowned upon speeds.

[henshaw]

I buy the cheapest tyres I can find for my 2.2 HDi. They last much longer than 8k miles, more like 20-30k miles. I think you have a problem. Only inspection will tell whether mechanical fault or driving style is the problem.

[DaveHerns]

I buy the cheapest tyres I can find for my 2.2 HDi. They last much longer than 8k miles, more like 20-30k miles. I think you have a problem. Only inspection will tell whether mechanical fault or driving style is the problem.

I've still got 3 mm left on my front tyres at 24K miles

 

I did get 50K + miles on the fronts of my diesel 406 so maybe I'm a gentle driver

[Johndouglas]

I got my C5 with 5000 miles on the clock and I was concerned at the time that there wasn't much life left in the front tyres. I took it for an alignment check and it was a long way out. They corrected it and 7000 miles later I had some Avons fitted on the front. Now at 32000 they seem to be lasting well.

[iannez]

i use f1's on my Leon and 8000-10000k is all i get out of them but they grip just as good in the wet as they do in the dry. because the inside of your tyres are bald i would say your tracking is out and this will not help that vibration you have. said it loads of times but the brakes and handling on your car are only as good as the tyres fitted to it. i know most people like to drive nice and steady so think there is no need for grippy tyres but it only takes one idiot on a dual carriageway to slam there brakes on in the rain and that is the point in time most people will wish they hadn't skimped on tyres. there is no such thing as a decent budget tyre. there all crap in the wet and even consider some of them dangerous (Camac, Federal, Marshal etc). if you think otherwise jump in a car with Mich's on, go round a wet greasy bend at a nice comfortable speed and then try the same thing in a car with budget's on and see how comfortable it is. my daughter is in the car most of the time with me and my gf uses it for work and there safety means a lot more to me than saving a poxy £60 on 2 new front Tyres. ask your self this. would you drive a car with worn out premium tyres. no!!!!! so why drive a car with decent budget tyres with less grip????. if a child runs out in front of you those extra few meters the car takes to stop could be the difference between life and death for that child. budget tyres are allowed because of the insane stopping distances required in this country that were set in the stone ages and everyone knows that these are no where near what they actually are on a modern day car with decent tyres. imo budget tyres are a danger to you, who ever is in your car and everyone around you!!!!!

 

cut and paste from another site.

 

I saw a tyre test possibly in Auto Express where they compared some of the brand names with budget tyres supplied by unknown/not popular companies. Places like Kwik Fit were selling Debica tyres for £100 for 4 tyres for a Mondeo sized car. The Debicas were appalling in the wet stopping a good 10metres + compared to one of the brand leaders........ And we had Debicas fitted to our runaround so I changed them pronto!

[DaveK]

I've just acquired a C5 Exclusive hdi. January 2005, so it's a late 2004 model. 17,500 miles and all tyres are more than half worn. Maybe the previous owner swapped them around. It's had front pads replaced so maybe driven by a heavy foot. Michelin Primacy tyres which I suppose are the original.

I've only driven 200 miles but it seems a firmer ride than my old Xantias and a bit more road noise than expected.

I'm finding the Telematics and gps navigator systems very confusing. It's supposed to talk and receive spoken instructions but I can't raise any of that. There's some old messages on the phone screen which will speak but the electronic voice is abyssmal-almost unintelligible.

Doesn't seem to have an auxiliary position for the ignition key so it needs to have the engine running whilst I play with the computer displays.With the engine off it goes to economy mode and everything shuts down.

Any advice would be appreciated.

DaveK

[Randombloke]

I'm finding the Telematics and gps navigator systems very confusing. It's supposed to talk and receive spoken instructions but I can't raise any of that. There's some old messages on the phone screen which will speak but the electronic voice is abyssmal-almost unintelligible.

Doesn't seem to have an auxiliary position for the ignition key so it needs to have the engine running whilst I play with the computer displays.With the engine off it goes to economy mode and everything shuts down.

Any advice would be appreciated.

DaveK

 

Make sure that the Navidrive CD is loaded in the unit. It would be worth you telling us if the unit is an RT3 or RT4 one, and also looking to see if you can get a second hand manual either from eBay, or Citroën themselves.

 

Be worth ejecting and reloading the CD to see if that makes any difference, and that the CD is for the right area and not scratched.

[Guest richardw]

Thanks everyone for the replies

[Guest PaulM]

Goodrich, 14000 miles front, 24000+ on the rear. £75 each from Stewartry tyres at Castle Douglas.

 

The tracking is correct and Michelins are no better. I'm fairly happy with this, includes some towing. Wouldn't advise cheaper tyres. 2005 estate, new type (PSA/Ford engine) 2.0 HDI.

 

Paul

[Guest richardw]

Sorted !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Following several visits to the dealer I gave up and went to National Tyres and had Avon ZZ3's fitted.

 

They were aware of the hubless alloys , now drives like a dream with no vibration ! , like a different car

 

BTW try tyreshopper.co.uk - tyres below national prices but still fitted by national - £ 186.00 for two all in

[72dudes]

Sorted !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Following several visits to the dealer I gave up and went to National Tyres and had Avon ZZ3's fitted.

 

They were aware of the hubless alloys , now drives like a dream with no vibration ! , like a different car

 

BTW try tyreshopper.co.uk - tyres below national prices but still fitted by national - £ 186.00 for two all in

 

I looked at all the websites including tyreshopper but the best deal for me was at the local Citroen dealer, Michelin Energy for £69.48 each! Apparently Citroen have a direct account with Michelin so can offer competitive prices. If you find cheaper they will match, too.

 

Had to go back once afterwards to ask them to fine tune the balancing, as I had a minor shimmy at 70ish (and I'm very picky and sensitive about this), and now they're 100%. At the risk of repeating myself from other posts, these hubless alloys are very tricky to balance exactly right, so if anyone has the same problem (and I know many do), persevere and try another tyre outlet.