How long do the stock tires last?

[RDD]

I'm 1 yr into a 3yr/45k mile lease. I was wondering if people here generally had to replace their tires at lease end or did they have enough rubber left? If I remember correctly I think we need at least 4/32" tread or Audi charges you for a new tire. If people are reporting routinely having to buy new tires then maybe I'll just buy a second set of wheels and tires now and just put the stock ones back on toward the end of the lease. BTW, anyone think they will notice if I swap out my RS6 wheels on my A4 with my 18" wheels on my A6 C6? I like the look of the 5 spoke wheels better.

[sizquik]

[RDD]

[LunarDDS]

[Bob58]

I replaced my ContiPro-Contact A/S tires after 38,000 miles. All were below 4/32". The ContiPro-Contacts had one of the highest treadwear ratings of any Audi OE tire.

I rotated them religeously, maintained proper alignment, kept them properly inflated and rarely drove aggressively.

I was pleased that they lasted as long,and performed as well, as they did.

[GDawgA4]

and I am a spirited to aggressive driver. I rotated them every 5k miles. By 35k, they were all down to the wear bars.

[Steve Mac]

I have gone 3 seasons on my Blizzaks with 6/32 left and two summers on the contis to 2/32. Average 1k/mo, 5 mo on snow, 7 on contis. That ends up about 14K on the contis, driving gently. The past year I went for high gas mileage and still wore them out way too quickly. I just put on Sumitomo HTR VIII's, so we'll see how those do.

[cstarky15]

I was at 21k when i got a bubble on one of mine! Contipro contact FTW i think they are a 40k mile tire if not 60k

[CITmAn11]

I am very disappointed with the Continental ContiPro Contact tires that came on my 2008 A4 S-Line.
I place a call to Continental customer service today 12/30/08 at 1:45pm Eastern Time; re: ContiPro Contact 235/45 R17 tires DOT AFT2 PXH6 2107. I have had 2 out of 5 tires replaced due to bulges in the sidewall <21K miles. I have 2 on the vehicle that also have the same problem. The customer service rep stated that nothing can be done with the tires that have been replaced because I do not have the defective ones in my possession. Why would I keep defective tires? How would I know that 4 out of 5 of these would develop problems? The rep also argued that this is not a manufacturing defect--however it is completely obvious to me that there is a problem with this product. If it is not a manufacturing defect than it is simply poor quality. The bottom line is that I have a vehicle that came with Continental tires (not my choice) 4/5th of them had the same problem and Continental has no plans of helping. The most the rep offered is that I have the remaining two tires looked at and may be able to get them replaced, but only if they were within 12 months old. This does me no good since the vehicle is all wheel drive. I certainly will not be purchasing any Continental products after this experience.
I am really missing the Pirelli tires that were on my last A4.
These ContiPro's are junk!

[casigh]

I noticed that you are running Sumitomo HTR Z IIIs, and I was wondering if you were using these on the stock split 5-spoke wheels. If so, does this tire have enough of a rim protector to sit flush with the edge of the rim. I'm trying to stay away from the situation in the picture, where the tire doesn't have enough of a rim protector to "cover" the edge of the rim. If you have any pictures, I would be very appreciative.

note: Picture borrowed from another AW member.

Thanks,

-Cameron