2019 Q7 Tire chunking and sluffing of tread

[David Miles]

Tires that came new on my 2019 Audi Q7 Premium Plus

18” 255/60 Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season AO (W-Speed Rated) Made in Germany tires made for Audi.

These are the original tires that came on the Q7 when purchased on November 29, 2019.

Took the car in for a recall of Deformation Element and 20,000 oil change. I complained about the serious issue with both of the front tires as previously described. The rear tires were like new and had no rubber loss like the front tires. The actual mileage on the car at the time of service was 19,583.

The service advisor blamed the roads I drive on and driving during summer high temperatures. He also talked about the Technical Service Advisory. I was informed that I would have to pay for the replacement tires and alignment. I was over a millage stated in the TSB. Thank but no thank you.

My local tire shop guy looked at the 2 front tires and was surprised at the damage. The tread wear bars showed uniform ware across the tire with chunks and slivers of rubber pealing off the tire. The actual tread wear on the front looked tires about the same as the rear. Mike commented he had seen tires worn like this only once before and it was a truck being used at a Rock Quarry. I told him I did not want to use the same tire as a replacement and he agreed. He recommended replacing all four tires with 225/60R 18XL 112V Continental Crosscontact LX Sport. These tires are Extra Load instead of Standard Load of the Audi AO tires.

[David Miles]

Correction Replacement Tires 255/60R 18XL 112V Continental Crosscontact LX Sport.

[sanman23]

I'll skip the Conti Crosscontact as those are the OE 20" option.
I have a similar issue as well. 2019 Q7 premium plus with the 20" tires.
Took it to the dealer for a humming noise, they replaced the left front wheel bearing under warranty, which i noticed but the humming noise was still there after i drove off.
I'm mechanic myself and just took the liberty to look over the car myself, thinking the car is under warranty i didnt want to bother wasting the time and money to do anything myself.
checked and found all the tires started pitting and was getting a humming noise which sounds like a worn wheel bearing at highway speeds.
my car had just about 9k miles in december when i first noticed the humming sound and now it has 14k.
i'm not sure its the roads you drive on that will that will cause this but more of a suspension thing. i do have the air suspension as well.

[David Miles]

The 255/60R 18XL 112V Continental Crosscontact LX Sport tires are not made for Audi. They do not have the Audi AO stamp on the tire. They are also not run flats. Time will tell.

[David Miles]

Update : Absolutely no tire chunking or pitting of any kind at 10 k miles. The Goodyear OEM tires were the problem. Crazy…….. Audi has been putting the these crappy Goodyear tires on the Q7 since 2017 with owners complaining of unusual tire wear with the oem goodyear tires. Go figure….!

- - - Updated - - -

Update : Absolutely no tire chunking or pitting of any kind at 10 k miles. The Goodyear OEM tires were the problem. Crazy…….. Audi has been putting the these crappy Goodyear tires on the Q7 since 2017 with owners complaining of unusual tire wear with the oem goodyear tires. Go figure….!

[imj0257]

Do you happen to have pics of your old tires that were abnormally wearing?

I also have this problem on my '18 Q7.. also Goodyear Eagle Sport tires which are the same set I got the vehicle with 2.5 years ago. The tread all tires is fine, but the 2 front tires are slowly shedding rubber and the tires have little chunks missing. I first noticed when I saw little pieces of rubber collecting in my garage where the 2 front tires are always parked.




I am bringing my car in for it's yearly oil change in a couple months so I am going to go to Discount Tire beforehand and get a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S and then to the dealership for the oil change and an alignment.

[David Miles]

Update on unusual front tire wear on my 2019 Audi Q7. Dealership blames problem on the road surfaces and aggressive driving.

I was feed the same line by the Audi Dealership rep. Never talked to Goodyear Tire rep. I have been down this road before with a 2004 350Z. I will list my details below my details.
I did not rotate the tires.
11,000 thousand miles I noticed the tire chunking.
About 19,800 went to the dealer for a oil change and recall repair Told dealer rep. of the issue and got the same story you were told the same story.( im driving on the same roads as i have for all my cars for the last 50 years)
The front tires were a mess and the rear tires looked like new. There was no sign at all of rubber chunking or pealing off.
My Q7 has 18" 255/60 tires and there are not many choices out there that will fit.
Purchased four new Continental Crosscontact LX Sport 255/60R18 112V XL tires. UTQG: 480AA. (Made for J Jaguar, LR Land Rover)
No issues at all with 10,000 miles and just rotated tires at my tire shop i have used for years.
My opinion as to why the Q7 has this issue with the front tires is occurring.

The car is heavy.
The tires on the front due to the heavy weight and stress put on the tires turning back and forth caused more wear on the front tires
Tire design and tread compounds are not created for durability The compounds used are too soft.
May also be due as well to suspension design although the replacement tires have not shown this to be a factor.

My experience shows its the AO design of the Goodyear Eagle Sport Tire. As i said in a previous post Tire picked and designed for handling and stopping distances.

Concerning the question of safety that is hard to answer., Goodyear and Audi know that ! they have both been down this read before! I personally believed the front tires were unsafe at 19,800 miles ! For me alone to argue this is a safety problem would be a waste of time based on how other issues only were resolved through class action suits. So I changed all four tires with a better designed tire. The replacement tires are Extra Load designed to handle the heavy load vehicles like the Q7.

Why its hard to declare a tire is a safety problem

Tires are a expendable items on your car such as brake parts.
Have the tires caused the driver to lose control of the car?
Did they cause a accident?
Did you rotate your tires frequently enough?.
The time it would take to argue with Goodyear and Audi pointing fingers at each other. Endless filing complaints. I did file a complaint with NHTSA and more people should.
Not that many Q7 with these tires to raise any concerns with Government agencies or Lawyers to consider action against the two parties. Look at how long it took to prove Audi had excessive oil burning issue with some engines. Again tires are expendable and when you cant get Audi or Goodyear to own up to the problem.................You would never buy the same tires that came new on your car with this issue. That is why I purchased 4 new tires. Problem solved for both parties at my expense.

I hope this information is helpful to others.


.PS Its important to understand The Goodyear Eagle Sport tire that Audi uses is made using the rubber compound as specified by Audi. If you look at the sidewall of the tire you will see the AO designation it is made to Audi specifications. Hence not all Goodyear Eagle Sport tires are equal in compounds used. This is true for all tires. Be sure to check when buying replacement tires to see if they were manufactured for a car maker or designed by the tire maker. My Continental Crosscontact LX Sport 255/60R18 112V XL tires. UTQG: 480AA. (Made for J Jaguar, LR Land Rover) were manufactured based on J/JR specification. Luckily for me it is proving to be a very acceptable compound formula.

[David Miles]

Update......

The 255/60R 18XL 112V Continental Crosscontact LX Sport tires now have just under 30,000 miles on them and have performed flawlessly. There was never a problem with my front end alignment. I did not have an alignment performed. I only replaced all four tires with the 255/60R 18XL 112V Continental Crosscontact LX Sport tires. The issue has proven to be with the OEM Goodyear Eagle Sport tires Audi puts on its new cars.