Does anyone else find the traction on the front rather poor in wet and cold conditions with the 245 e-hybrid models? I have the original bridgestone tyres still on there and after about 6k miles from new, they have a good 4 mil+ left of tread. I'm getting tyre spin coming out of junctions nearly every time unless I creep out and am extremely light on the accelerator. Am thinking perhaps when I change tyres, I get a different make? As far as I can tell, what was put on the car as standard are rubbish when it comes to winter conditions....
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Front tyre traction
- Thread starter sam290989
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You are using summer tires in the cold weather on a FWD car with 245 bhp. Your tire becomes very hard in cold weather and it's going to wheel spin.
For winter period I am using all season tires (Michelin CrossClimate 2) but I don't live in the UK.
For winter period I am using all season tires (Michelin CrossClimate 2) but I don't live in the UK.
Not driving a Formentor, but experienced the same with Bridgestone summer tires, even in wet summer conditions. Fast wearing, and low lateral grip when cornering (Bridgestone Potenza). For summer conditions, I found the perfect balance between wear and sportiness in the Continental Premium Contact 6. There's a Premium Contact 7 available now, and should be at least as good. For winter conditions I'm on the Continental AllSeasonContact. Since we hardly ever reach deep negative temperatures combined with loads of snow, I figure that's more than enough. Good traction in cold wet conditions, nice lateral grip.
My Cupra Leon 300 has no wheel spinning with the latest Bridgestone tyres that it came with, and are massively better than the ones on my 2014 280 Leon Cupra were.
Mine is the 204hp e-hybrid and I had similar problems with the grip-loss, especially when trying to start a bit faster. The first reason was surely the poor tyre quality from factory - they fitted Continental Eco Contact, which is a LRR, which also means quite poor grip.
Before the cold season arrived I replaced those with Michelin Cross Climate 2. The grip is clearly better than the previous tyres, but still there will be some wheel spin if I try to push it when starting from standstill.
I think the main explanation is found in the power-torque diagram of this hybrid system. The car tries to start moving from rest with more than 300 Nm available - which will obviously lead to wheel spin, unless managed by the car electronics. And by the look of the graph bellow, plus the way our wheels spin while taking off, I would say that the torque is NOT well managed (by that I mean diminished at low speed) by the electronics of the car.
I've seen the same behavior also reported by other users of the same hybrid system on different cars, such as VW Tiguan, Skoda Octavia - in some cases with UHP tyres.
Before the cold season arrived I replaced those with Michelin Cross Climate 2. The grip is clearly better than the previous tyres, but still there will be some wheel spin if I try to push it when starting from standstill.
I think the main explanation is found in the power-torque diagram of this hybrid system. The car tries to start moving from rest with more than 300 Nm available - which will obviously lead to wheel spin, unless managed by the car electronics. And by the look of the graph bellow, plus the way our wheels spin while taking off, I would say that the torque is NOT well managed (by that I mean diminished at low speed) by the electronics of the car.
I've seen the same behavior also reported by other users of the same hybrid system on different cars, such as VW Tiguan, Skoda Octavia - in some cases with UHP tyres.
245 phev here as well, t005 too. I get start and slow turn wheel spin at very low speeds as well.
24k miles, 3mm+ depth... I am clearly not using the car for what it was made for ( but I do intend to change tyres in Jan, not sure what to )
24k miles, 3mm+ depth... I am clearly not using the car for what it was made for ( but I do intend to change tyres in Jan, not sure what to )
This was very noticeable as well in the Audi Q3 PHEV we test-drove earlier this year. Massive wheel spin from standstill, and it was on grade A winter tyres in cold dry conditions. PHEV setups with FWD only are a strange thing if you ask me. We went for the BMW X1 xDrive25e in the end.
I do agree some Bridgestone models in the past were not the best, however their latest offerings are such an improvement as the tyre tests prove...
I can’t comment on recent improvements, but I’ve no complaints about the Bridgestones on my Formentor.
I do most of my driving on A and B roads, and I don’t hang about. I even had a bit of fun with a 3 Series Tourer following me the other day on patchy wet roads and he was clearly struggling on some of the faster bends, whereas I felt completely safe and planted.
I agree to a point, but I don't entirely trust in them - they don't talk to me.
(Un)Fortunately the dealer insisted on putting a set of oe Bridgestones along with a new set of pads for the Brembos at 14k before I collected the car.
As much as I would dearly love to ditch the Bridgestones for a full set of Michelins, I just can't justify the 'expense' when there is so much tread left and the difference in grip at winter temperatures (sub 10degC) is imho negligible, when things warm up however is when the Michelins really do start to communicate.
For reference I am talking about the Michelin Pilot Super Sports and the 4S model that replaced them - admittedly I've yet to try the 5S model.
200+ horsepower on the front wheels, you should expect at some point wheel spinning, doesnt really matter what tire as long it is of a known brand, mostly road condition and weather (mist in the morning is worse than rain) are the reason. Bridgestone is a good brand, my OE Turanzas on my 310 VZ and after 35000 km still behave great, no spinning, well its also 4wd, but yes, the eco tires tend to spinn more than sporty oriented ones as their compound is to last longer. And yes , there are differences between Michelins/Bridgestones/Continentals etc but what may be good for my car may not be good for yours, i.e, different weights, different settings, diferent suspensions, different heights, different traction assistance systems, different driving habits, etc. So, we can compare tires when we use the same car under exactly the same conditions/parameters but it is difficult vwhen we use different cars under different conditions/parameters. In other words, what can be great for me and my car may easily be junk for somebody else. I was always a Michelin guy but have to admit that the Turanzas on my VZ are so far great, so when time comes to be replaced I will really have a puzzle to solve.
Had a Mk7 Golf R and now a Formentor 310, the Golf R was from 2015 but had better traction in all weathers. I find the Formentor actually wheel spins before the rears help out, the Golf R system would kick the rears in a lot quicker. It's not a biggie, doesn't detract from the fun. Had two diff tyre brands and driven it since spring.
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