Two of new tires on car (Eagle RS-A) slowly losing pressure over time; what's going o

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M

mshan

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2004
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I had 4 new Eagle RS-A tires put on my 1999 Audi A4 at end of October of last year.

I took a trip up to Washington in middle of December and checked tire pressure and right rear tire was about 15 psi and front right tire about 20 psi (tires didn't look flat on visual inspection). Didn't see any nails, refilled them to 32 psi cold and observed them with visual inspection, pressing on tire, and using basic pressure gauge.

Those two tires seems to drift down in air pressure, rear faster than front, back into low 20 psi range cold over course of 2 - 3 weeks. Other tires hold pressure fine. Previous tire on right rear rim also seemed to lose slight pressure over time, but much less drastic and over much more extended period of time.

I am going to have it evaluated at shop when I get state inspection soon, but wondering what others think problem is, so I can do some more google research now.

There were some complaints about RS-A tires via google search, but they seems to be from 2007 and before.

Tires were put on by a reputable independent garage and valve stems were changed at same time.
 
M

mshan

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2004
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All 4 valve stems were replaced with tires.

Is Good Year Eagle RS-A tire a good, reliable, well manufactured tire, or does it have problems like some old google searches indicate?

Also, does fact that both tires on right side of car have same problem, while tires on driver's side are fine, indicate anything?
 
LTC8K6

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,576
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Losing air pressure is most likely one of the things already mentioned. It's often hard to see a nail in the tread. Even new valves can fail or not be tightened properly. You could have slightly bent rims that won't seal at the bead, but I don't think that's likely.

On thing you can do, is to listen carefully when you unscrew the cap. If the valve is leaking, you may hear air pressure release from the cap just as you unscrew it.
 
halik

halik

Lifer
Oct 10, 2000
25,696
1
81
beads leaking, need to have them resealed. Discount tire does it for free.
 
J

JCH13

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2010
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I'd bet on the bead leaking, especially on what I assume are 12 year old aluminum alloy wheels.
 
M

mshan

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2004
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I was getting an oil change at the independent garage that services Audi that I always use and they pointed out that two of my tires were worn and maybe had another 1000 miles on them.

I decided to get all 4 tires changed.

He originally had a set of Dunlop SP8000 in stock, but they were $150 installed each and I wanted something cheaper.

He told me all tires should wear out around 30000, that Quattro makes that worse because each tire is fighting the other, and I said I wanted something with more durability and he found me the Eagle RS-A, IIRC ended up being $120 installed each.

I used to have Zieux ZE-512 on car and Eagle RS-A seemed slightly noisier, less road feel, and in general just seemed to feel like a really hard tire.

Didn't know anything about the Eagle RS-A because wasn't expecting to replace all tires, but looking back maybe should have just bought the Dunlop SP8000 he originally mentioned (though not sure if I still wouldn't have had same problem with two leaking tires).
 
Last edited:
alkemyst

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
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mshan said:
All 4 valve stems were replaced with tires.

Is Good Year Eagle RS-A tire a good, reliable, well manufactured tire, or does it have problems like some old google searches indicate?

Also, does fact that both tires on right side of car have same problem, while tires on driver's side are fine, indicate anything?
Click to expand...

RS-A's are a fine tire. Could have been a defect or something with installation.

Have you taken it back?
 
M

mshan

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2004
7,868
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Had them installed at an independent garage that services Audi up in NY where my parents live.

I am going to take the car in locally early next week.
 
thescreensavers

thescreensavers

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2005
9,916
2
81
LTC8K6 said:
I don't recall any problems in the rain with RS-A tires. Wet traction is rated pretty good.

http://www.goodyeartires.com/tire/eagle-rs-a/
Click to expand...

See below

Howard said:
Probably is a defect somewhere, but...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+RS-A#

(Surveys)
Click to expand...

Yep, if you look at the review people gave it poor ratings for wet traction. ( forget snow)

I had these tires on my car when I picked it up. It had 7/32nds of tread and I drove it down to 2/32nd and let me tell you the last bit was scary.

I had my tires inflated to 35psi and I would slide all over the place in the rain. I almost spun out making a u-turn with VDC on, and I hardly was giving it any gas.

Also if the highway was wet and I was in 4th gear and gave it half throttle my rear end would kick out and VDC would kick in. I was once in a traffic line on the highway at an exit and forgot I had to go to the other exit, so there was a pretty big opening( 10 car lengths at least) and I gave it 75% throttle, that was a mistake as I went no where.

I also had ABS kick in many times under moderate braking.

When I told people about this they were all like "your a RWD noob" blah blah

I later found out 40psi is a sweet spot for these tires as it greatly improved braking in the wet, but it was still very poor.

I got new tires (Conti DWS) and let me tell you its day and night. I floored it on a right turn at night with no one around and it was pouring. VDC kicked in once and no drama. I did a launch other then some initial slipping it was solid. I gained so much more confidence with the new tires.

I will never recommend RSAs to anyone.
 
V

Viperoni

Lifer
Jan 4, 2000
11,084
1
71
Agreed the RSA's are not a good tire. Not causing the leaking though.

I would definitely lean towards it being the bead being dirty.
 
LTC8K6

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,576
126
I wonder if they changed the compound? I had RS-A's quite a while ago, so that could be the case.
 
Y

ys

Senior member
Oct 10, 1999
757
0
0
To check for valve stem leak, just spray soapy water on it and look for bubbles.
 
M

mshan

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2004
7,868
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71
It ended being a leak around two of the new valve stems (just like tire bead leak mentioned above, just in this case apparently rust had built up around old valve stems and created leak when they were all replaced).

Thanks for the input, everyone!
 
ElFenix

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,405
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my (oem) RS-As were not so good in the wet when worn down (wore out after 30K miles), but they were still a heck of a lot better than the firestones that were oem on my sentra
 
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