Guys,

Can anyone help me.

I own an MY01 and have currently done approx 11000 miles. Noticed today that the inside edge of both front tyres was as bald as a coot. The dealer has since stated that the tracking was very slightly out and has adjusted accordingly. Does anybody think I have any comeback on the dealer, or is it just a case of putting my hand in my pocket?
Thanks for any help received.
Darren

 

Similar thing happened on my Puma when it was new 3 years ago. Ford coughed up for two new front tyres. Convince the dealer that the car hasn't been down any potholes or kerbed etc. and the tracking must be wrong from the factory.

By the way, the outside edges of my tyres look more worn than the rest (MY01 WRX) so I'd be intrested to hear how you get on.

Steve

 

11k mine didn't make even 10k

Phil

 

Cheers guys, I am going to the dealer again this morning for another rant. I will let you know how I get on.
P.S. Phil did'nt you get anywhere with your dealer if the tyres were knackered at only 10000.

 

The Evo magazine car did exactly the same. May be worth a rant!!

JZa

 

Must admit didn't even think about it

Must admit also been driving it bloody hard

Phil

 

Just seems to par for the course, my MY01 was set up by Mill Lane Engineering near Basingstoke - reputed to be hotshots.

Car tramlined like **** on the standard Potenza REO11's and when I had it serviced at about 9,500 miles they said all four boots needed replacing!! Their reaction was that's normal for a WRX...

Took it to Kwik Fit (lease car, had to...) and they said all 4 were o.k but about a month later the inside edges were coot like.
(Very dodgy in the wet)

Now have Dunlop Sport 2000's on the front and no bump steer. Thin REO11's on the back mean a bit more fun nailing it out of corners 'til I get them replaced too!!!

 

Darren.
I've done 13000 on 225/40 pirelli p zero rosso on 18 inch wheels. dont like the wet weather handling , but have got even ware. Tyres inflated to 33/34 psi all round, 5mm left at rear above ware indicator and about 2.5 above indicator at the front..just found a nail in the back o/s tyre !!!

Sandman

 

Mine were wearing on the insides and had the tracking done by the garage at 7500 service - I paid. They still wear on the insides. Getting laser geom & new boots at Powerstation next week so hopefully it should then be set up correctly.

 

Just had mine serviced with Lancaster, Sevenoaks (MY00 with 8800 on the clock), both fronts bald as coots on the inside. I didn't want them to put more RE010s on so told them to leave it. They weren't interested after that. I've still got loads of tread on the rears too!

I'm looking to switching to TOYOs, they should cut down on the tramlining. As for the tracking looks as I'll have to dig a little more into the coffers for that too!!

Beakie

 

More on this in Dec's EVO.

Seems IM are tightening up on camber (?) settings - suggesting that rather than use the 3 deg allowed they are set up at zero. (Sorry haven't got the mag with me, so could have used wrong terms).

IM are also suggesting that you ask for tracking to be checked at every service (!). First car I've ever had that needed this. Should be cheaper than new tyres though?

Is there something going on here - Evo thought that something was done to their car to sort the thing out, but garage/IM denied it.

I'm keeping a close eye on my tyres!

 

Got 15,000 out of my last set (most miles on back roads in Aberdeenshire) - rant away !!!!!!

 

Mine lasted 9,500 miles before the inside fronts were bald.

I seems that the standard geometry had too much negative camber. I had mine dialed bad 1.5 degress and my new set of tires are wearing much more evenly.

To be honest, you havent really got a hope of getting subaru UK to pay out: The manufacturers quotes specifications are (in my opinion) too much neg. camber. If the car was supplied with more neg camber than the quoted spec, then you'd have a claim. As it is, you'd have to prove that subaru's quoted figures are unsuitable, which is nigh on impossible. They'd just argue that you cornered too fast.

 

just out of interest i am told tyres have a "memory", so once they start to waer badly even if you correct it they remember and still wear faster than normal.
how much do subaru dealers charge to do tracking cherck?

 

I know its a pain but swap the rears to the front every 4,500 miles
i've done this on my own MY01 and have had no problems but kept an eye on them since EVO's problems.

 

Had the geometry set up properly on my MY01 at TSL (got the Eibachs too). The difference in the handling, stability and braking is phenomenal. A lot of this will be down to the alignment (especially the braking and tramlining) and not just the springs so it is certainly worth getting the geometry set up on a proper laser alignment jig.
I have changed from the RE011's to Toyo T1-s's as well this week and the difference is incredible. I've only done 200miles - all on damp roads so they probably still have a bit of bedding in to do but they already have far better grip, are more comfortable and are less effected by the road surface (still had a touch of tramlining left with the RE011's which has now gone)

Cheers
Paul

 

Agree with Paul, just had mine done at Powerstation (after already having had it done at the dealers - the difference is amazing. Get it done somewhere where they know what they are doing and have the proper kit.

I had Toyo's, Prodrive springs and geom done - it's a different car. See here for more details:
http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/thread.asp?threadid=59172

 

I had the bump-steer mod done on my MY99 at Powerstation a couple of weeks ago. Getting a full new set of tyres tomorrow (the fronts are still the original RE040s so tramlining like **** anyway) so I haven't got the full effect yet.

But I can comment on geometry settings. My car wasn't driving nicely prior to the last service so I had the tracking and camber checked - £60+ I think at the main dealer. They gave me the print-out and it was clear that they'd only adjusted the tracking on the front wheels - everything else was 'within tolerance'. So I was surprised by how much Powerstation adjusted - including removing *positive* camber on one of the front wheels. All because IM's tolerances are so wide that you could drive a bus through them - easy life, taking £60 to measure it and then virtually never needing to adjust anything... no wonder they're suggesting it's done at every service!

AFAIK, it's quite hard to knock the tracking/camber out anyway - so get it done properly, e.g. by Powerstation, and hopefully the dodgy wear will go away. Mind you, my fronts have lasted for 27k miles with no dodgy wear, even on crap settings, so maybe that's not it....

 

Nigel H

The reply to the letter in EVO was:

"A Subaru spokesman said "Subaru has bee monitoring customer comments on all aspects of the new Impreza including tyre wear issues. To date, we are not experiencing any significant problems compared with the previous model.

"Obviously, tyre wear is s very subjective matter and depends to a large extent on adhering to the correct pressures and on how enthusiastically the car is driven. Our advice to all owners is to request a full geometry check at every major service. While the impreza handbook mentions a tracking allowance of three degrees, we have advised all our dealers to set the tracking at zero degrees. However, both the camber and caster should also be checked at the same time."


This might be reading between the lines too much but IMHO:

a) "not experiencing 'significant' problems" - there are problems and they aren't admitting that they are significant enough

b) "Obviously, tyre wear is a very subjective matter" and "enthsiastically driven" - true, but you would say that as a blanket kop-out statment.

b) "compared with the previous model" - were there any geometry problems with the previous model?

c) "request full geometry check at every major service" - nice little earner for something that shouldn't need doing and also a way of getting statistical data back on extent of problem

d) thanks for the tracking setup info. but how accurate are the settings and limits for the camber / caster angles as well (I'm no suspension guru)?

just my 2p as I don't fancy shelling out tons of dosh on tyres when I get my my02

Apple

 

I don't get this. OK. I appreciate this is a new model issue but I have the opposite on my 98 turbo 5 door. The thing gets raked on a regular basis. I often provoke that characteristic front end slide when I'm too lazy to slow down into a r/bout but I had Avons fitted 40K (yes thats right 40K) ago and they are still just about legal. I do a lot of motorway miles but nontheless I've had no other car like it. BMW 15k new rears, Xantia (co. car before you all kick off!!) 12k for fronts.

I ran a 4 door which chewed the tyres at 20K. Tramlined like hell. But I think I drive the 5 door even harder.

Swapped front to back on current car after 25K but still holding on strong. Wouldn't choose Avons again. Just wish I could wear the bas***ds out!!!

I have 17" pro-drive alloys for the record. Would this make any difference?