To be honest its looks like a standard punture to me, which has been driven on flat and ripped the side wall apart and nothing to do with excessive camber etc. From the pictures it looks like a torn side wall as well, rather than blown one caused from over heating by driving at sustained speed or cornering, camber etc. Also with tyres getting bumped up curbs etc. The misses car has chunks hanging off the side walls where she hits them and its not a problem its what they are designed for. I think this thread is a little OTT to put it midly. I sense some scaremongering going on in the ranks
Pfft! Au contraire. Do not expect the "scenesters" to look up castor. That would be too sensible, they will just go out and buy castors. Just how long will it be till we hear of the ED38 loons rolling on these babies? Even the colour is right for the beige masif.
As previously sated it was a puncture...caused by me not checking the tyres as regularly as I should/usually do, so the edge had been worn due to the camber, and it holed, but thankfully not a blow out. The rest of the damage (as previously stated) was due to drving home on the resultant flat. It`s no coincedence that immediately prior to the deflation the car was driven through several roundabouts, with a determined BMW driver behind. (at the sake of repeating myself; as previously stated...) Not in the slightest...
I now check my tyres all the time since I had a very small puncture on the Volvo that just gave out on the dual carriageway at speed - luckily my tyre held together well at high speeds with no rim damage. No camber here though just a heavy sweedish barge
Interesting the point about whether this is "just a puncture". So I've gone back through the thread, and the above photos to me show a clear sign of the inner edge of the tyre wearing significantly. G-Man's is what he says: a puncture. There is no premature wear on the inner edge. Two different scenarios completely IMO. One is assisted by heat, the other isn't. I recognise it, because my Passat does it, which is essentially the same Mk3 front end design, albeit with top mounts in different places and just a degree and a half of camber. The ever so slight 45 degree angle on the rubber are the wear patterns I recognise. I eventually changed the knackered rear wishbone bushes, and I think its tendency to do this has waned, but I keep an eye on it. I also think that the hard suspension, tendency to bottom out, and occasion flats I hammer out of my G60 rims suggest that innner tyre edge gets a damn good pinching on occasion. Pics of my tyres to follow.
Of course, steering toe'd out will wear the inner edges as well as too much neg camber. Chris's pic shows a far more clear view of the potential for a serious issue. Most of the folks on here are pretty technical chaps that have a clue. However some not so smart folk will possibly only check the outside edge of the tyre and think everything is ok. When in fact it is far from it. As for running excessive neg camber and say it has improved handling on the main roads is nonsense on an excessively lowered car. The suspension geometry has altered far from it's original design parameters. Sometimes a lot of neg camber is run to generate heat in the tyres due to the tyre flexing because the inner an outer edges are effectively different diameters. But this is for competition purposes when the tyres may be getting changed after less than 100 miles.
I would argue that camber (to a point) irrespective of geometry will generate increased lateral grip. Only in the finer tuning of car behaviour does geometry start to come under closer scrutiny. This being an estate car, the latter is never going to happen. Looking at the wear pattern on that tyre, excessive camber can be argued. I will be checking it again at some point. I also feel that the weight of the car involved may have something to do with it. Well over a ton, nudging 1.5 loaded at times. I run the same tyres on an 800-odd kg Mk1 and used to run them on a 950kg/1tonne Mk1 Jetta. Surely that itself suggests that in one application or another, their load rating is not suitable?
Pfft! Worried about improved handling when you are just putting on used tyres that have been run on a different car and the camber and wheel alignment need checking. It will take a good few hundred miles to run in those half used tyres. McStu is using unmatched part worns for FFS.
4 matched w rated tyres and full alignment have transformed my uberbarge into the most grippy beast ever. before it was rampant oversteer at all times, and now i'm shocked at how much speed I can carry and still have nice neutral handling characteristics. it's less fun but easier on my pants. step1 decent tyres step2 make sure the wheels point the right way step3 enjoy it
