volkswagen Workshop Repair Guides

Volkswagen Workshop Service and Repair Manuals

Tyres with uniform wear > < Driving style:
Tyre maintenance
   
Tyre maintenance
Air pressure in the tyre
The weight of the vehicle causes the tyre's contact surface to flatten. During driving, the tyre suffers a forced deformation all around the tread and mesh. In case of low air pressure, the forced deformation is greater, resulting in greater heating and higher road resistance. This causes greater wear and a higher safety risk.
Example: recommended air pressure, depending on load with empty tires
Air pressure (bar)Air pressure (%)Kilometers traveled (%)
2,3100100
1,98085
1,46060
1,04025

Excessive air pressure would cause greater wear in the centre and worsen driving comfort. We recommend following the air pressure indicated by the manufacturer.
  Note
t  The charts presented are not applicable to all situations and must show only the wear behaviour in the front and real axles and in vehicles with front-wheel and four-wheel drive.
t  Depending on use conditions and on the running gear, the kilometers traveled can diverge substantially.
   
Diagram 1:
Track depth in kilometers traveled for vehicles with front-wheel drive and V tires.
P - Track depth
S - Distance traveled
1 - Front axle
2 - Rear axle
  N44-0242
Diagram 2:
Track depth in kilometers traveled for vehicles with four-wheel drive and V tires.
P - Track depth
S - Distance traveled
1 - Front axle
2 - Rear axle
As shown in graphs 1 and 2, the wear of a tyre with new track is, for a certain amount of kilometers traveled, greater than the wear of a tyre with a certain amount of use. After the first 5,000 km no conclusion can be drawn as to total duration, as the wear curve does not unfurl in a linear fashion.
In front-wheel drive vehicles, front tires must transmit not only the steering and driving forces, but also most of the side and braking forces. Due to this demand, tyre wear in the front of front-wheel drive vehicles is much greater than in the rear tires. A uniform wear of all the tires may be obtained by rotating the front and rear tires at regular intervals. Wheel replacement → Chapter.
  N44-0241

Tyres with uniform wear > < Driving style: