BeanCounter

I was wondering if anyone has replaced their original tires yet because they have worn out. I am coming up on 13,000 miles and my Continental (Contacts) still have a decent (probably half of new) amount of tread but the road noise from them is getting increasingly louder. Do these tires only last 20,000 miles or so? Any recommendations on replacement tires? Michelin/Pirelli/Other? On a different note, how long should I expect the brakes to last? They still work well but since I spend half my time cleaning my wheels from brake dust I assume they are not going to last that long. My commute is about half highway/half city. Thanks in advance for any help.........

Jeff

ima55r2

My tire noise usually comes from cupping which can’t be fixed on the tires unless they are shaved and who wants to do that?. An alignment will fix the cause and tire rotations will even the wear.

Your pad wear is dependent on your style of driving, brake dust is typical. The brakes have a wear sensor that will light up in the gauge cluster when pad wear is getting down to replacement.

toothdr

as mushy as these brake are they will probably last a long time

StevethePilot

Jefe,

I got about 23,000 miles out of my original Michelins, and replaced them with the TOY version of the Michelins (more of a cross terrain tire than a performance tire). I didn't really notice more road noise or anything like that until I replaced them, but the difference wasn't huge.

I like them so far.

As for brakes, I know whether my foot's on the pedal or not by the volume of the squeal.

STP

BeanCounter

Thank you sir. I was hoping for a lot more than 20,000 miles out of my tires but I guess that is what I am going to get. Have you replaced either your front or rear brakes yet?

StevethePilot

Well, the Michis it came with are performance tires (such as they are) so they won't last really long, which is one reason I went with the cross terrains.

I have not replaced brakes yet. But seriously, they squeal. It's not bad, no worse than just about any other Mercedes I pull up next to at a light, but it is there indeed. However, braking action is still not bad. It's getting slightly harder to brake, which means that at 28K+ miles I'm probably getting close to brakes.

STP

blittle

My previous experience with Continental Contacts on my Touareg was not very good. At about 16,000 they were well worn. On the GL, I immediately pulled the Contis. off and put on Yokohama Geolanders because I needed better winter and mud traction.