VW Touareg Tyres

[Dustydog]

Looking for two new rear tyres. Came across this on the Touareg forum. Do you guys agree or is it rubbish please?

You MUST always run the car with 4 IDENTICAL tyres as in same make, same model, same size, same tread pattern and with no more than 2 mm tread depth difference on the same axle and no more than 3 mm tread depth difference between front and rear otherwise you may damage the gearbox.

NEVER mix tyres on a Touareg.

 

[Tuningdrew]

It's good advice. BMW with their chocolate transfer boxes advise no more than 10% difference in tread depth between any tyre. Bit of a bummer when you rip the sidewall out of a half worn tyre and have to replace all four.....

 

[otherclive]

It's good advice. BMW with their chocolate transfer boxes advise no more than 10% difference in tread depth between any tyre. Bit of a bummer when you rip the sidewall out of a half worn tyre and have to replace all four.....

That’s why on my last Forester I converted to a full size spare and purchased a part worn quality tyre with 5 mm on the tread. Therefore it would meet Subaru’s recommendation which is quite stringent. It did save me shelling out for four new tyres when I picked up a non repairable puncture.

Thought that the Touareg Owners Manual would cover the specification. I know proper 4 wd are less tolerant than for example Haldex. My XC70 had a space saver 2 inch diameter less than the OEM wheels but Volvo technical said it wouldn’t cause damage if if went on the rear. My 4wd Superb had a OEM full size spare.

DD might be best contacting VW Technical UK. These things aren’t as tolerant as the old Sorento with the ability to run in 2WD or 4WD

 

[otherclive]

Not too different to my Forester but whilst running identical tyres is probably best there may be times when it’s not possible. Then I would look for a similar tread pattern. IE Goodyear Vectors at similar to Michelin Cross Climate.
But on my old Sorento I fitted two Yokohama AT to the rear and planned to fit them to the front a month or so later. The car came out of the tyre depot and the thrumming was noticeable. So I disconnected 4wd and put it into 2WD until the front tyres were replaced. So I was looking at 5 mm tread difference (3 to 8) and different tread pattern. All other features stayed constant.

 

[RogerL]

The Touareg 4x4 system is full-time using a Torsen gear centre differential so any difference in tyre diameter will cause wear/tear on the centre differential - quite unlike the part-time clutch based system fitted to most "soft-roaders" which will tolerate differences more readily.

The warning on the Touareg forum is perhaps a little exaggerated but it's important to keep tyre diameter differences to a minimum if mechanical longevity is important.

Touaregs have fairly even tyre wear between front & rear so I'd want to know why the rears have worn out but the fronts haven't.

 

[Dustydog]

Roger,
The fronts were replaced 6 months after the rears. Only about 2mm difference today. Think I’ll replace all four🥲🥲🥲

 

[JezzerB]

As above-that's why we rotate our wheels every 12k miles-the different rotation speeds caused by tyre wearing differently can cause the diff to wear prematurely-ignore it at you peril. Expensive!

 

[otherclive]

I cannot rotate mine but at each service they are out front to back and back to the front.