Extreme or Normal Tire Wear?

Will apologize ahead for the long post.Frustrated Engineer...

Bought a 2010 Mk6 GTI in May of 2017 For a Daily Driver. ~30+ miles a day. Stock wheels. Came with 225R40R18 Bridgestone Potenzas (UTQG=480) on it. Changed to General Altimax Arctic 12's for winter after 5206 miles. Potenzas awful in even the hint of winter. Tires fairly evenly worn down to 7.5/32, tho. Lots of spirited driving having fun with "new" car. (Never had a GTI before.)

Fast forward to March, when I replaced tires. Arctics had 3680 miles on them. Approx 8-9/32 on them when I got them (used - I didn't write down the wear.) ($500 with 17" rims. Such a deal) When I took them off - front tires only had 4.5/32 on them. Rears had 7.5/32. Couldn't believe the wear on the fronts. Chalked it up to lots of salt and slushy/soapy winter roads with more 45 degree days than I liked. (I'm in southern Wisconsin.)

Replaced Potenzas with new General G-Max AS-05's (UTQG=500) after a bunch of research. Really nice tires. Handle WAY better than the Potenzas. Especially in snow and icy slush.

After the wear on the winter tires, I began taking more care in my driving; but it is still spirited. I have fun with the car; but I generally don't mash the pedal every time I accelerate, or spin the tires on start off. I also make an effort to maximize my fuel mileage. I get 29-30 mpg every week. Not bad for 40-55mph driving. I play a game with myself to try & get at least 30mpg cumulated as indicated on the dash every time I go out.

However...

I measured the wear after 7580 miles & 7 months on the brand new tires this weekend. 8/32 on the rear, and 4/32 on the fronts. (10/32 new) WTF? That's 3/16 of an inch in 7580 miles on the fronts. Makes NO sense. Works out to only getting 10,100 miles on the fronts down to the 2/32 mark. About 9.5 months or so.

Car tracks in a straight line - hands off the wheel. No vibration at any speed. Tire wear is pretty even across the width of the tire - no cupping or flat spots, either. A bit more wear in the center (I run 40psi); but almost not measurable. Roads around here are pretty bad. City driving. Some potholes, ruff uneven pavement, mostly construction EVERYWHERE.

I am completely stumped. Especially because of the lack of wear on the Potenzas, when I drove a lot more spirited than I do now. My mechanic says it can't be alignment or suspension - must be me. I just can't wrap my head around the issue being my driving, unless I did track days or drag racing. Which I don't. Trying to figure out what to do before I buy new tires. I can't afford to replace tires every 8 months. Never had this happen to any other car I've owned.

Is this normal? Or extreme wear for a stock GTI? Are the Generals just really bad tires for a GTI? I've never owned a GTI before, so I have no comparison.

So any Wise Words of Wisdom?

That seems pretty extreme, I've never been a fan of General Tires. I would put in a warranty claim with them

Do you have alignment spec

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Do you rotate them? I think it has to do with alignment, no way you should be going through tires that fast.

Yeah I'm thinking like toe is out or something

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I'm thinking alignment too. If you have too much toe-in your car will be stable as all get out, but will eat tires. Head to a good alignment shop & see what your numbers are.

Thank you for your replies.
@brobst and @1ashchuckton: No I do not have an alignment spec or results.
@Slowgti08: I haven't rotated them yet. I only had 7580 miles on them.

On alignments - my mechanic tells me that alignment "can't" be the issue here as I have no telltale signs of an issue there. Car is smooth, no pulling, goes straighter than any car I've had. I kinda suspect alignment myself and not sure I completely buy my mechanic's assumption, so I do not know what to think... Never had the alignment checked on this car since I bought it some 16,000 miles ago...

Here's the thing I'm confused about. When to rotate. I always thought (mind you, my driving days go back to 1973) that you rotated tires every 10,000 or once a year. My mechanic is telling me every 5000 with my oil change. Is that the current thinking?

I tend to do it every other oil change, so every 10k, and I can get 25k out of pilot super sports doing that.

Hit tire shop and have them throw it on the rack. Some do free alignment checks. I would suspect that. Especially since its been 16k miles, you want to check at least once a year which is about 12k miles. And rotate about 6k miles.
Usually earlier in my tire life I rotate more frequently and increase distance with tire age. Next one will be right on 6k miles mark.

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I did check over the tires last night. Noticed a lot more wear on the outside edge than the inside. On the radial grooves across the tire, I also noticed the outside edges were rounded slightly, and the inside edges were sharp. Another indicator of toe-in issues, I believe.

I am having the alignment checked Saturday.

For an alignment - I know there is an acceptable range for each measurement. For a stock Mk6 GTI - is there a "sweet spot" for these for a daily driver? Or should I just have them hit the center of all of the ranges?

rotate your tires before the alignment since you have meatier tires on the rear. At least this way you'll be able to visually monitor the wear after the alignment.

Wish I had my spec's with me. Are you able to call the stealership and ask for those values?

The tire shop will pull up the car and find the documented alignment ranges. Most don't ask you for it, they just do it. Unless its a performance shop.

Edit:I found an old sheet of mine


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I rotate my tires every 5,000 miles or so. I'm in agreement rotate the tires front to rear before you have the alignment done. My .02 is on too much toe-in. Let us know what you find out.

OK. So I bought a new GTI today for $67.

Well, OK. Not really; but it seems that way. The alignment came in way off. I'll let the results speak for themselves. Attaching printout I received. Note toe-in.

Steering is a lot lighter. Will be more sure Monday on the neat tight corners by work; but car does not seem to have as much understeer as it had, or at least I'm not fighting it as much...

Driving style [mostly] vindicated. Yay!

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We nailed it. Toes eat tires

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