Quick question about tyres

[2007GTI]

I had this a few years ago with a dealer, it actually said it in the MK5 handbook, that tyres should be axle matching pairs, possibly still says in current handbook, haven't checked. Dealer didn't care, had a right back and forth with them, VW customer services didn't give sh*t either.

As others have it is it not illegal, but far from ideal, just fight them, they don't come out of the factory like that!

Hello
Picked up my GTI Performance 3 weeks ago, purchased as pre reg (April) with 100 miles on the clock. All has been going well but when cleaning it today I noticed that the rear off side tyre is a Continental PremiumContact 6 and the others are Bridgestone Ponteza S001 - something the dealer never mentioned! All are 225 40 R18  Y92 and I'm assuming that the Bridgestones are the VW fit - if not then I really am worried!

I'm no expert on tyres but from the info on the internet it seems that manufacturers suggest that the tyres on each axle should be  exactly the same, some sites seem to suggest that it's illegal to have different tyres on the same axis but I really don't think the dealer would sell me an illegal car.
So do you think I should be worried? I'm going to contact the dealer to get them to set out that it is legal and also to explain to me why it was done (I've checked the spare and that and the tools show no signs of being used), but I thought it would be helpful to have some advice first.
Thanks for your help.

[ianj37]

Thanks for all your helpful advice. I've checked the manual and it doesn't say anything about tyres from different manufacturers on the same axle, just make sure it's the same size, rating and tread pattern. I've taken some pictures as suggested. Emailed (so I have an audit trail) the dealer and I'll report back what the outcome is.
Thanks, Ian 

[monkeyhanger]

It should be illegal to have 1 grippy and 3 slippy (Bridgestone) tyres, but it's not - just ill advised to do so.

If the Golf manual advised against mixed tyres across an axle then I'd say the dealer should be compelled to follow that guidance. Does it?

[ianj37]

Ok, the dealer has got back to me, apologetic, and is replacing the tyre. No indication why a new tyre was needed but I'll try and find that out when I go in.
This creates another question though! As I said in my initial post I know nothing technical about tyres but a quick google seems to suggest that the Premium Contact 6 gets better reviews than the Ponteza S001 and monkeyhanger's comment seems to back that up, so am I better asking for them to put another Premium Contact 6 on to make a pair (and possibly putting these on the driving wheels rather than having 4 Pontezas?

Monkeyhanger - I've checked again and there is nothing about different brands on the same axle in the handbook they just have to be the same size, rating and tread pattern.
Thanks

[mcmaddy]

Continental and Bridgestone have different tread patterns so it should be two tyres of the same model in theory.

[Guzzle]

This creates another question though! As I said in my initial post I know nothing technical about tyres but a quick google seems to suggest that the Premium Contact 6 gets better reviews than the Ponteza S001 and monkeyhanger's comment seems to back that up, so am I better asking for them to put another Premium Contact 6 on to make a pair (and possibly putting these on the driving wheels rather than having 4 Pontezas?

That depends on which tyres you want to be replacing first. I'd expect the Conti's to give better traction through the driven wheels. But the Bridgestone's will still be ok in the summer months. But when the temperatures begin to drop in the autumn the Bridgestone's will be as hard as granite and if you have them on the rear axle they'll likely last until the end of eternity. Great if you want tyres that last, not so great if your priority is grip.