159 / Brera / Spider tyre wear issues - VIP - Revised Information

[GTLeigh]

Originally Posted by alfarmus

I'm stunned!

I did over twenty-four thousand miles on my first set and they were still (just) legal when I changed them last month!

Its got to be the setup from the factory ? what tyres were they Pirelli or Bridgestone?

[alfarmus]

Originally Posted by GTLeigh

Its got to be the setup from the factory ? what tyres were they Pirelli or Bridgestone?

They were Bridgestones, the new set are P Zero Neros - slightly lower road noise.

[GTLeigh]

Originally Posted by alfarmus

They were Bridgestones, the new set are P Zero Neros - slightly lower road noise.

Mine are Bridgestones too, it has to be the settings I'd have to drive like a nutter to demolish tyres in 7800 miles.

[Cannavar]

Well my latest set have not done 100miles (yes thats not a typo 100!) and they are clearly starting to wear on the inside edge.

But its clearly my fault isn't it Alfa!!!

[dpat]

Originally Posted by Cannavar

Well my latest set have not done 100miles (yes thats not a typo 100!) and they are clearly starting to wear on the inside edge.

But its clearly my fault isn't it Alfa!!!

that is ridiculous. Cannavar your 159 Ti seems to be one of the worst reported tyre user (abuser) on here.

[Paul J]

Just done over 10K, and mine are looking okay for a couple more thousand. Did have the tracking adjusted at 4.5k, and the last 2K with higher tyre pressures.

[Cannavar]

I know...its been checked by ARUK twice too. They didn't tell me the outcome...just left the dealer to explain there is nothing wrong, with an embarassed look on his face.

[David C]

According to AutoData, the std front tracking settings are:
Brera 2mm +/- 0.5mm, so big difference between the extremes of 1.5mm & 2.5mm.

159 2mm +/- 0.8mm, so even more extreme at between 1.2mm & 2.8mm.
1.2mm toe-out will wear ok, 2.8mm toe-out will wear very quickly.

There is a big tolerance at the back too.


If it was my car I would have taken it to a good tracking place and had it set to the minimum a long time ago.

I know you will have to pay to get the tracking set properly, but surely that is better than wiping the tyres out in such a short time.

[Mediaman]

Originally Posted by David C

According to AutoData, the std front tracking settings are:
Brera 2mm +/- 0.5mm, so big difference between the extremes of 1.5mm & 2.5mm.

159 2mm +/- 0.8mm, so even more extreme at between 1.2mm & 2.8mm.
1.2mm toe-out will wear ok, 2.8mm toe-out will wear very quickly.

<snip>.

That's odd - I have what I am told is the most recent Alfa Service News on Brera wheel angles in front of me (which I sent to SR with the idea he might publish it for the rest of you) and the toe settings are much smaller than AutoData says. It varies with rim size: 16 is -0.45, 17 is -0.50 and 18 is -0.55 all +/-0.5 mm.

At my 18,000 mile service I was advised that my right side tyres had worn edges (I've been swapping them back to front to even up the wear) and that I should get my alignment checked, which is whem I thought 'if I'm going to pay someone to f*@k about with my settings I might as well find out what they should be first'.

I found these people: www.AlignMyCar.co.uk and, at 20,000 miles, went to one of their agents (Autocity, who were brilliant) for new tyres and full alignment. Toe was a little out on the right, both front and rear but particularly rear. The Hunter alignment machine had specs for the Brera in it already which come in the form of software updates. Although they express toe in terms of degrees and minutes, when I cross-checked, their figures agreed with the Alfa sheet I had.

I could have maybe got another 3,000 miles out of my first set without going to the extremes seen elsewhere in this tread. Hopefully I can get even more out of the new set - and before anyone says it, I haven't nursed my first set, I do enjoy driving in a fairly 'spirited' style.

Cheers,

[Squadrone Rosso]

Hi mediaman. I didn't actually receive the pdf sorry. Please could you re send? TVM, Simon.

[David C]

Originally Posted by Mediaman

That's odd - I have what I am told is the most recent Alfa Service News on Brera wheel angles in front of me (which I sent to SR with the idea he might publish it for the rest of you) and the toe settings are much smaller than AutoData says. It varies with rim size: 16 is -0.45, 17 is -0.50 and 18 is -0.55 all +/-0.5 mm.

I don't have the latest AutoData, and your later info is even closer to parallel so will reduce/eliminate inside edge wear.

As I said before, Alfa did exactly the same with the 156. Started with far too much toe-out then reduced it to zero.

[Squadrone Rosso]

There's a Pirelli Performance Centre near me & a place that uses Hunter equipment listed in the link provided by mediaman. When I get new front tyres, I'll ensure that everything gets set up exactly properly. Just looking at my manual, the 4x2 and 4x4 Ti variants have different settings to the rest of the range due to the 20mm lowers suspension and the 19" rims.

[steve sanders]

Hi,interested to here so many other 159/brera owners have tyre wear problems.I have a 2.4 Brera, front tyres replased at 16000 miles, car now don 30000 and need to be changed, rears still ok.

[Squadrone Rosso]

That's good Steve

The problem appears to be how the cars are set up in the factory

[nomad]

Originally Posted by steve sanders

Hi,interested to here so many other 159/brera owners have tyre wear problems.I have a 2.4 Brera, front tyres replased at 16000 miles, car now don 30000 and need to be changed, rears still ok.

Originally Posted by Squadrone Rosso

That's good Steve

What He Said (A diesel too - I get about 10k out of mine )

[Alfa 4eva]

I phoned Alfa UK today and they have given me a case number and say they are phoning me back in the next couple of days my Spider hasn't done 5000 miles yet and the inside edges are clearly wearing before the rest of the tyre id estimate another 1000 miles and they will be illegal had the same problem with my ti but didn't notice it till i part exchanged it was hoping the Spider wouldn't have the same problems

[Alfashark]

I replaced the fronts on my 2.4 (18") at 13,000 miles. The insides were badly worn, but there was good tread on the remainder of the tyre. I had a loan 1.9 jdtm yesterday and the inside edges were worn on the fronts. The car had only 6000 miles on the clock.
Overall I am very disappointed with this aspect of the 159. Replacement tyres are very expensive and not a cost I budgeted for.
As a comparison my other half has an Audi A3 2.0 TDI (170) on 17" Rims. I know it is a lighter car but we drive it a lot harder than the Alfa (It is a company car). We replaced the fronts at 34,000. The rears have done 45,000 and still have got a lot of life left in them.
I wonder whether Alfa actually test there cars before they market them to the public. You would have thought that in the majority of organisations that someone would have noticed that there test cars were destroying front tyres every 6000 miles and redesigned the product.
On another point I have now had the inlet manifold replaced at Alfa expense. I was advised that over 9 hours work was required to change this item and that it is a common fault will all 06 and 56 registered 2.4's. It must be costing Alfa a fortune.

[alfaredthegreat]

I noticed that on full-lock, when on the concrete surface in a multistory carpark, the fronts make a horrendous scrubbing noise. As if skidding sideways over the ridged surface...

Mine is the AWD 3.2.

I wonder if there is a problem with either (a) the differential or (b) the alignment when turning... but I am not sufficiently techie to diagnose this myself.

[alfarmus]

Originally Posted by alfaredthegreat

I noticed that on full-lock, when on the concrete surface in a multistory carpark, the fronts make a horrendous scrubbing noise. As if skidding sideways over the ridged surface...

All front-driven wheeled cars will do this, and the Q4 is still 40% front driven! You should try the spiral up ramp to the Harlequin car park in Watford on a Saturday afternoon, it sounds like a banshee convention!

[gtvscott]

Originally Posted by alfaredthegreat

I noticed that on full-lock, when on the concrete surface in a multistory carpark, the fronts make a horrendous scrubbing noise. As if skidding sideways over the ridged surface...

Mine is the AWD 3.2.

I wonder if there is a problem with either (a) the differential or (b) the alignment when turning... but I am not sufficiently techie to diagnose this myself.

Have noticed this recently on the Spider - an awful noise when full lock is on!!!!

[Bill_Green]

Getting my fronts changed next week after 25,000. They’re 18” Pzero Neros and although they’re are right on the limit, the wear is pretty much uniform. The first set only managed 18,000 and also showed uniform wear.

[Squadrone Rosso]

I get the noise when exiting my drive on full lock. Sounds really bad

[alfarmus]

Originally Posted by Squadrone Rosso

I get the noise when exiting my drive on full lock. Sounds really bad

Is it only on absolute full lock or is the noise progressive? What happens if you back the wheel off just very slightly from full lock?

[Squadrone Rosso]

Only on absolute lock. Like a shriek. The slipping across the drive is unique to my 159 and I put it down to the massive tyres

[revuptv]

1.9 JTDm 2007 Angel re-map. On Original 18" for 2500miles. Switched to Hancook Sport K104 on 19" Ti rims. 100% loading on the tyre (Bridgies are 85%) and stunning handling in wet and under braking. (Lets face it one out of every three days in the UK is wet and handing in the wet is more important than the dry) Had Bridgies on other makes of performance car and they do wear out very quickly. So far these Hancook tyres are only 100 quid a corner (off the web from a firm in Workington), give amazing grip and have done 17,500 miles. At it's 12 month service the mechanic took the following measurements - inside front nearside edge was 3 mm down with tyre overall 3.5 mm wear. Outside front 2mm on inside edge with 3.5mm wear overall. Rears only 2mm down. I do NOT hang about and do push the car so am very satisfied with the tyres now. I think reading the posts that one of the common factors throughout are the soft Bridgstones that come with the car and the larger the rim the less the problem seems to be.