Micro cracking on Tyres?

[baka]

Yup, pretty much. 

[davo245]

Hey guys, looking for a bit of advice. When my GTI had it's 1st MOT back in May this year, whilst it passed and had no official advisories, the tester did make a comment that 3 of the 4 tyres were showing signs of cracking on the outer tread blocks, and he said if it got any worse, it could be an MOT failure next year. Now to be honest, I sort of forgot, but when I was cleaning the car the other day, remembered and had a good look, and sure enough 3 tyres display some quite heavy cracking.

The tyres are all the factory original Pirelli P-Zero's (225x35x19) and all all date stamped 01/18 (car was built in April 18, and 1st registered in May 18). Now I know they are over 3 years old, and have 20k miles on them, and most folk I'm sure would just say replace them, but the trouble is all 3 affected tyres still have nearly 5mm on them (lowest has 4.5mm) so no where near worn out yet and still give decent grip. The reason why 3 have gone and not 4, is that the nearside front tyre was replaced early 2019 following a puncture so that has a different build date. Despite this tyre having done over 13,000 miles itself, it's displaying no cracking at all.

Do you guys think this is a manufacturing defect or just the way the car's geometry is set up (although wouldn't explain why the new tyre isn't affected) ? BTW, it's literally just the outer tread block. The remaining 75% of the tread is perfect and none of the 3 main tread grooves display and signs of cracking around the circumference of the tyre ? I'm fairly certain it's not damage due to chemicals as my tyre shine is water based and I don't cover the inside tread block - just the walls. What do you guys think ?

Pictures below:

Thread bump on this.

I have a MK8 Gti with the factory Hankook Ventus evo's on 28k ( swopped front to rear) .

They have started to look like this photo too. Not to worried as have some new Michelins ready to go on but just wondering if anyone else  has had this issue or any ideas what may cause this??

[symonh2000]

I have had this issue on Goodyears and Dunlops recently, the goodyears were only 18 months old when they started showing signs of cracks down the middle of the main water channels (largely shielded from UV light)

I am told it is down to modern rubber compounds and a lot of high performance tyres suffer from it.

The Pzero on our GTI seem fine though and they are 4 years old.

[davo245]

I have had this issue on Goodyears and Dunlops recently, the goodyears were only 18 months old when they started showing signs of cracks down the middle of the main water channels (largely shielded from UV light)

I am told it is down to modern rubber compounds and a lot of high performance tyres suffer from it.

The Pzero on our GTI seem fine though and they are 4 years old.

Wonder if it could be caused by certain wheel or tyre cleaning products or tyre dressings?

[joe6]

I have had this issue on Goodyears and Dunlops recently, the goodyears were only 18 months old when they started showing signs of cracks down the middle of the main water channels (largely shielded from UV light)

I am told it is down to modern rubber compounds and a lot of high performance tyres suffer from it.

The Pzero on our GTI seem fine though and they are 4 years old.

The tyre fitter I use says that he sees more Goodyear and Dunlop tyres develop sawtooth issues than other manufacturers. Just started to develop on my mk6 with Dunlops fitted.

[symonh2000]

I have had this issue on Goodyears and Dunlops recently, the goodyears were only 18 months old when they started showing signs of cracks down the middle of the main water channels (largely shielded from UV light)

I am told it is down to modern rubber compounds and a lot of high performance tyres suffer from it.

The Pzero on our GTI seem fine though and they are 4 years old.

Wonder if it could be caused by certain wheel or tyre cleaning products or tyre dressings?

Not sure, those things are not normally used on the tread areas.

[davo245]

I have had this issue on Goodyears and Dunlops recently, the goodyears were only 18 months old when they started showing signs of cracks down the middle of the main water channels (largely shielded from UV light)

I am told it is down to modern rubber compounds and a lot of high performance tyres suffer from it.

The Pzero on our GTI seem fine though and they are 4 years old.

Wonder if it could be caused by certain wheel or tyre cleaning products or tyre dressings?

Not sure, those things are not normally used on the tread areas.

Just mean the shoulder youcan see on pics where dressing has possibly been used.

Would this fail an MOT.?

[Al1040]

AFAIK At this time, unless you can see through to the carcass it is not considered to be an MoT failure

[karlos]

FWIW I'm having one of my rear Michelin PS4 replaced on Monday. Despite it still having over 3mm tread it's nearly 7 years old, has micro cracks, a sawtooth pattern on the inner shoulder and it's getting noisy like a worn wheel bearing. Not taking a chance as I'm doing a continental road trip next month.

I should really swap the tyres between front and back once a year to even out the wear.

[Gulfstream11]

I have had this issue on Goodyears and Dunlops recently, the goodyears were only 18 months old when they started showing signs of cracks down the middle of the main water channels (largely shielded from UV light)

I am told it is down to modern rubber compounds and a lot of high performance tyres suffer from it.

The Pzero on our GTI seem fine though and they are 4 years old.

Wonder if it could be caused by certain wheel or tyre cleaning products or tyre dressings?

Happened to me way back. I incorrectly mixed a cleaning product I used for the wheels. Tyres ended up scrap. I still use it, correctly mixed and no issues since. Tyres were Goodyear Assy's.