Continental Tires seem to drift

Does anybody else feel that the steering accuracy of the OEM Continentals are not the best at high speeds?

Instead of going in a perfectly straight line, like riding on rails, it seems to drift a bit, sometimes left and sometimes right.

I noticed a similar effect with my SportWagen TDI, also wearing Continentals, albeit a different model. However, after I had the SportWagen tires rotated, the problem went away. I think I might ask the dealer to do the same at my 30 day checkup.

My wife's Sportwagen was re-shod with Michelin Premier's a few months back. And, they are quite good. Quiet. Accurate. Grippy. LRR.
I might switch to those when Costco puts them on sale again, and sell the Contis while they are almost new.

My eGolf came with the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 "Plus" so I can't comment on whether that is normal behavior for the OEM Conti's. However, I had Conti's as OEM tires on my 2006 Audi A3, and they did not behave at all like the ones on your eGolf or your SportWagen (before rotation). They "rode on rails" like you said. My only complaint about the VAG OEM Conti's is that they wore out ridiculously quickly.

I am not noticing the problems with the Ecopias that came with my eGolf, nor the OEM Ecopias that came with the Leaf or the Costco replacements. If you are thinking of getting new tires you may want to consider these. The Leaf OEM Ecopias are notorious for their quick tread wear and their relative fragility, but the retail replacements seem to be much better.

Bridgestone has replaced the original Ecopia 422 with Ecopia 422 PLUS. And, they are supposed to be quite a bit better.
I am considering them, as well, as they are on sale at Costco currently.

The Conti ProContacts on my e-Golf are just not happening for me. It's not just the drift. They are also pretty noisy, which is extra noticeable in such an otherwise quiet car. Between the lack of engine noise, and the battery acting as insulation from road noise, the tire noise really gets on my nerves.

The particular Continentals on your A3 may have been a different model than the ProContacts on my e-Golf. (I can't remember which model was on my Sportwagen.)

If I could find a set of Jetta Hybrid wheels, I'd just upgrade both the wheels and tires. They are much better looking, and still have low wind resistance required for a hybrid. Combined with a good LRR tire, and I shouldn't see much diff in MPGe. A poster over in VWVortex did exactly that, and saw no diff.

The ones that come with it are only good for dry good pavement, My next ones will be Goodyear EfficientGrip Perf. FP as recommended by car safety testers on the german forum http://www.goingelectric.de/forum/e-golf-allgemeines/sicherheitstraining-mit-dem-e-golf-omg-t11176-20.html which seems to not have a detrimental effect on energy consumption but notacibly better grip in wet or uneven pavement situations.

The closest I see to that Goodyear on TireRacjk is: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Efficient+Grip+RunOnFlat&partnum=055WR6EGROF. If that's the one, I'll pass on it.

I'll probably just go for the Michelin Premier A/S. They are quiet as pillows made from marshmallows on my wife's Sportwagen. They steer straight and true. No squealing or spinning taking off from stoplights like the Contis did on my previous Sportwagen.

I will just have to hope they are LRR enough not to adversely affect MPGe.

I ended up putting Bridgestone Ecopia 422plus on the car a few days ago.
They do seem better ay highway speeds. (75-85mph) None of the weird drift I was experiencing. (Almost like being blown about in the wind.
But, I can't really tell if they are quieter. They still make noise on rough and scored surfaces.
Noticeable tire noise may just be a side effect of the quietness of the eGolf, itself.

Unfortunately, just like the Contis they replace, I get some spin and squeal when accelerating from a stop.
That is very disappointing. (The Contis on my previous Sportwagen TDI would spin/squeal from stop, as well.)
I guess there's a downside to high torque motors, too!

If I'm still not liking them more after a few weeks, I'll see if Costco will exchange them for a set of the Michelin Premiers.

I would be curious to hear if you notice better coasting with the Ecopia tires. Or if you see an uptick in the typical range you get.

I'm not a very eco-conscious EV driver, sad to say.
I really haven't figured out how to squeeze the most from a KW.
So far, my attempts at conservation have been limited to using B on the streets, and D on the freeway.
I take off from red lights full throttle, and usually hit the 87mph limiter on the freeway.
I have been averaging about 3.7 with the original ContiProContacts.

So far, I've been doing worse with the Ecopia Plus!!! (It's only been two days, though.)
They are supposed to specifically be a high-mileage LRR tire.
The ProContact isn't, afaik. (The PureContact, otoh, is.)

garypen said:

Unfortunately, just like the Contis they replace, I get some spin and squeal when accelerating from a stop.
That is very disappointing. (The Contis on my previous Sportwagen TDI would spin/squeal from stop, as well.)

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There's a solution: don't press the accelerator pedal so hard :lol:

Seriously, I have yet to "chirp" my tires, even during our recent rainstorm. Are you driving with traction control turned off?

RonDawg said:

There's a solution: don't press the accelerator pedal so hard :lol:

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Is there another way to press it?

RonDawg said:

Seriously, I have yet to "chirp" my tires, even during our recent rainstorm. Are you driving with traction control turned off?

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It's doubtful. But, I'll check. I do notice the traction light come on occasionally when I peel out of a driveway, which involves rapid acceleration AND turning, simultaneously.

There is the "not so hard" setting on the accelerator :lol:

RonDawg said:

There is the "not so hard" setting on the accelerator :lol:

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I had it removed.

garypen said:

RonDawg said:

There is the "not so hard" setting on the accelerator :lol:

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I had it removed.

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Common sense would tell you to get it reinstalled, to solve all your problems, which sounds to me like user error. Zee Germans don't make zees kinds of mistakes. :mrgreen:

Alternately, although no fun, there is a button in your lower console, for Eco Mode, and Eco Plus mode. Might fix your burnout problems associated with your heavy foot.

To the OP, did you have the alignment checked? Did the drifting happen on all types of road surfaces?

NeilBlanchard said:

To the OP, did you have the alignment checked? Did the drifting happen on all types of road surfaces?

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It only happened at highway speeds. Changing the tires fixed it.

Okay, another possibility might be that the tires were mounted so they rotated "backward" on one side of the car? I am just surprised that nobody else, including myself have noticed this.

NeilBlanchard said:

Okay, another possibility might be that the tires were mounted so they rotated "backward" on one side of the car? I am just surprised that nobody else, including myself have noticed this.

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I had a similar issue with ProContacts on my Sportwagen TDI. (which I seem to have traded in at just the right time.) They're decent tires. Not terrible by any means. Just not great.

I'm pretty happy with the Bridgestone Ecopia 422Plus. They are much quieter than the Contis on most surfaces. And, I feel more in control at max speed.
My Mkwh seems to have settled in to about what I was getting before, ~3.7. So, they aren't especially Eco compared to the ProContact. I wonder if the PureContact has better fuel economy? It's a moot point, though, as I'm not changing again anytime soon.

Considering my short commute, I probably shouldn't have worried about LRR so much, and gotten something more focused on comfort and performance.

NeilBlanchard said:

Okay, another possibility might be that the tires were mounted so they rotated "backward" on one side of the car? I am just surprised that nobody else, including myself have noticed this.

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Hmm, I noticed this in mine, and my wife independently mentioned it to me about hers - you have to really pay attention when driving at highway speeds to make sure you stay in your lane. This is with the stock Contis. It's a marked difference from our other cars (allroad and S4) which are rock-steady on the highway.

dublectric said:

NeilBlanchard said:

Okay, another possibility might be that the tires were mounted so they rotated "backward" on one side of the car? I am just surprised that nobody else, including myself have noticed this.

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Hmm, I noticed this in mine, and my wife independently mentioned it to me about hers - you have to really pay attention when driving at highway speeds to make sure you stay in your lane.

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Ditto

OP, if you don't want those conti's, I am in So Cal. I don't go much over 60-65mph on the freeway so it shouldn't be a problem, unless those Conti's were not properly load rated for a 3400 # battery powered piggy weighted E-Golf. I drive old and slow, get my Senior Discount $0.69 cup of coffee at McDonalds, and I'm proud to ask for my senior discount on every purchase, I earned it... Come to think of it, I forgot to ask Volkswagen for it on my e-Golf purchase. Damn, getting old and forgetful sucks! :ugeek: :mrgreen: