A5 Wheel Spin/Full Lock Clunking Noise SOLVED!!

[camdog2006]

Before I start, I have an A5 Black edition 1.8 TFSI Multi-tronic FWD 2015 and before this I had the same but the S-line version 2012 so my experience comes from both these cars having the same problem. However I have read across different forums of other A5 specs with the same problem.

Problem 1 being excessive wheel spin/jump whenever accelerating and I'm not talking Fast & Furious accelerating, I'm talking pulling into a roundabout, leaving a set of lights, exiting a junction and basically most normal driving scenarios that require a little pull to get going. Spoke to the Audi garage about it and they said that the torque for the 1.8 is too much for the type of car or some BS so it's "Normal" 

Problem 2 is either reversing or going forwards in full lock the car makes a horrible clunking sound as if the wheel is catching on the trim or jerking about the place, not a nice sound on your £40k car though! Dealer again said this is "Normal" for A5's 

The solution, amazingly was the tyres.... I bought both my cars brand spanking new on order so they came with tyres fitted at the factory "Pirelli's" 255/35 R19 96Y.
All four tyres needed replacing so I opted for a good British tyre that was actually cheaper than the big names "Avon ZZ5" with the exact same tyre specs... problem solved! Absolutely no clunking (I've tested it a LOT) and wheel spin...whats that?? I can now actually experience a bit of the power the car has to offer when accelerating without skidding all over the place and looking like a tool!

I dont know what kind of deal Audi has with Pirelli and I'm no expert but its as f the tyres are wrong type for the car?? Either that or "Avon" tyres are far superior, hopefully someone with a bit of knowledge will be able to clarify this.

So there you go, having this problem... change the tyres!!! Preferably to "Avon"!!

[FrenchAvant]

Are you using the same tyre pressures as with the Pirellis?

[Trevor]

Hi Paul...welcome to the Forum

Interesting conclusion to what must have been a really annoying (understatement!) problem.

I have only ever experienced this before with cars that have been horrendously out of alignment on the front wheels where the tyres tend to drag and buck when on a hard lock and the power being applied.

As FrenchAvant has stated, tyre pressures also could account for it in some respects, so worth seeing what the pressures are set to now and that may answer that question.

Thanks for the feedback and letting us know so that we can enter it into our knowledgebase in case others experience this fault in the future.

Cheers  Trevor

[camdog2006]

Hi Guys,

Just to let you know, the tyre pressures now are the same as before on the old tyres, exactly what it states on the inside door panel the pressures should be.

I thought the alignment could be the problem as you say Trevor but no wheel alignment was done (to my knowledge) when the new tyres were put on and the problem was still solved so definitely a strange one but Im just glad its fixed :)

Thanks!

[Uncle Peeps]

Hi interesting post. I have this same problem with my Audi A5, purchased in December 2015.

I assumed the wheel spin was down to me or the power of the car being high but the clunking was a worry.

The clunking only happens in cold weather (sub 10 degrees) and is particularly bad below 5 degrees. The Audi tech guy came out to me in Dec 2015 and agreed it was annoying but said the car was basically fine. It kept doing it so I took it to the Audi garage and they couldn't find anything wrong - that was February 15. I tried ignoring it for a year and it went away once summer arrived

Now a year later the weather is cold and it's back. The Audi garage are looking at it all I know is they have ordered a part. Doubt it will be a set of new tyres though so I'll see what happens and post again then. 

[Trevor]

Hi Panos...welcome to the Forum

Please keep us informed of how this proceeds as it would be great to find a common cause, especially if it is only tyres that are the cause

Cheers  Trevor

[Uncle Peeps]

Hi all, my Audi dealer has confirmed to me that this is an issue with the tyres. I was sceptical at first but they met me early morning with a technician and the manager of the dealership and we tested it thoroughly, doing turns in the cold and looking at it from the outside too. They concluded that the tyres make that noise when cold and on hard lock left or right, forward or reverse and it's  a characteristic of the tyres and not a fault.It's been up on the hoist and the tyres rotated front and rear with no difference. I've had the car 15 months now and no problems otherwise so I'm going to stop worrying aboiut it and try and get some  Avon ZZs when the time comes. 

Thanks guys

Panos

[Martin Smith]

Hello Guys, I am new to the group joining to find the answer to the clunking sound I am finding on my A5 and you have given me the answer. This is my second A5 2016 3.0 TDI quattro shod with Pirellis as supplied by Audi.  Previously I had a 2011 3TDI Quattro with Michelins no problems at all. 

Recently the clunking started at low speed turning on full lock.  I also noticed that the front Pirellis are showing a lot of wear (at 20,000 miles) on the outer shoulders.  So learning from your experiences I will get a pair of Michelins for the front now with the rears in another 10000 hopefully.

Thanks

Martin

[Steve Q]

14 hours ago, Martin Smith said:

Hello Guys, I am new to the group joining to find the answer to the clunking sound I am finding on my A5 and you have given me the answer. This is my second A5 2016 3.0 TDI quattro shod with Pirellis as supplied by Audi.  Previously I had a 2011 3TDI Quattro with Michelins no problems at all. 

Recently the clunking started at low speed turning on full lock.  I also noticed that the front Pirellis are showing a lot of wear (at 20,000 miles) on the outer shoulders.  So learning from your experiences I will get a pair of Michelins for the front now with the rears in another 10000 hopefully.

Thanks

Martin

Glad this thread has proved useful to you Martin 🙂

cheers

Steve

[simon chandler]

My 2014 A6 Avant 2WD does the same.  It has standard factory fit Pirrelli 255/35/20's.  It's tyre scrub when on full lock.  Always has.  Only notice it low speed when parking.  I just assumed it was a consequence of the largest factory fit wheel size.  I

[Uncle Peeps]

It's definitely the tires, as I can confirmed from experience this winter. I changed the tires last summer to AVONs and they have been fine, no noise even in the coldest winter weather recently.

 

I normally try and get better brands so it's good to know Michelin are fine too, from reading the other posts.

 

Thanks all

Panos