Tyres

[AlanD]

Naaaaah fook it, blame the tyres

[Teutonic_Tamer]

in laymans terms then, if for eg my new GTI turns up with any dunlop tyres i should ask for them to be replaced with another make eg pirelli or bridgestone, cause the dunlops are sh1te?  has anyone tried this when taking delivery?

There's actually nothing wrong with the Dunlops, their dry handling is superb, the only weakness Which? magazine found was resistance to aquaplaning in a bend where they were average. I would say it's not worth complaining about.

Sorry, but strongly disagree.  Don't forget that Which are just a consumer organisation - they certainly are NOT experts in Automotive issues!

Anyway, Dunlops - where do I start.  They are not very 'grippy' even in the dry - the traction control will be working overtime, and during hard braking, the ABS has to kick in alarmingly early.  In the wet, they are truely shocking - if you have never had an 'involuntary relaxation of the anal sphincter' - then you certainly will with the Dunflops!  Cornering-wise, again, shyte - OK, they do offer reasonable levels of grip in corners, but it is there complete lack of feedback, and complete lack of transition from grip to no grip.  Say you are going round a corner fairly swiftly, and you hit a relatively minor imperfection in the road surface, such as overbanding, cats eye, manhole cover, or whatever - the whole car will leap sideways - but every other tyre quality performance tyre does NOT do this!

Then there is the 'noise issue' - ShyteMaxxes are increadibly noisy compared to say a Michelin.

And finally, the ShyteMaxx have been 'proven' to suffer from a phenomenom called 'static deformation'.  Basically, if you park up your car for a few days or more, the actual tyre deforms where it contacts the road surface - and when you next drive off, it feels like you are driving on 50 pence coins.  OK, this eventually clears after a few miles (when the tyres warm up), but it is not good when it happens.   This is soley caused by a 'weak' tyre carcass, and this also has a more permanent effect when the tyres are wearing low - in terms of lack of stability - the car will twitch and tug on the steering everytime you touch a white line, cats eye, or get caught out by ruts on main roads caused by HGVs.

Seriously shyte tyre - cry if your GTI is delivered with them!  Because they really spoil the GTIs otherwise superb handling! 

[Wurzel]

Which do proper tests though. You dont.

[AlanD]

[matchboy]

i'm gonna try to get them swapped if they turn up with dunlops - they sound shocking!

[hutch924]

i had sp sport maxx on my astra vxr and they were top notch especially when i was going around the nurburgring and they certainly never suffered from static deformation

[Teutonic_Tamer]

you say don't skimp, but surely after paying 27k for a car you can't then go out and buy brand new tyres for it - it should come with tyres that can cope with all situations!

Huh, are you for real?  Twenty seven thousand pounds on a new car - but you then don't think you ought to spend an extra £500 on a decent set of boots!  What if you stuffed your car into a hedge, or lamp post or dry stone wall - simply because your tyres let you down - and then wrote off the car!  Dunlops could quite easily do that - but with more 'suitable' tyres, you would have a massively improved chance of missing said objects.  OK, a change of underwear might be required, but your car would be intact!

And for the record, I have personally ditched shyte tyres on two brand new cars (actually, one was a dealer demo) - with better boots when they were virtually new.  First ocasion was on a Vectra GSI which had Yokohoma AVS S1Z, and the second was on my RS4 with Pirelli P-Zero Rossos.  The Yokos went after less than a 1000 miles, and the Pirellies lasted just 4k miles - and on both cars, the handling was massively improved.

Don't get me wrong, the Dunlops arn't 'dangerous' (like the Yokos and Pirellis were  ), but they are seriously 'inferior' - particularly when Dunlops are marketed as a 'premium' brand tyre.  You could sort of accept shyte handling if you purchased some £30 'Nippon No-Grips' from China, but Dunlop . . .  

But saying all this, if you are one of the few who purchase a GTI just for the 'pose factor' - and never have any intention of using the GTI for what it is made for, then the Dunlops will be perfectly acceptable.

HTH

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Oh no, not a chance, the F1s aren't exactly cheap either but as with most things in this world, you get what you pay for.

Are the Dunlops really that bad? The Conti Sports would be my preferred tyre if I had the choice of them or the Dunlops.

ContiSports are better than Dunlops, but they arn't as good as Mich or GY.  Contis are really best suited to heaver, larger autobhan-stormers, such as Audi A8/S8s, Merc S-Class, or BMW 7 Series - and they are rock-steady at 170mph - but they arn't really the best for a sweet-handling hot hatch.  Contis can also be a touch noisy, and a touch harsh on ride comfort too, though again better than the Dunflops.

[matchboy]

you say don't skimp, but surely after paying 27k for a car you can't then go out and buy brand new tyres for it - it should come with tyres that can cope with all situations!

Huh, are you for real?  Twenty seven thousand pounds on a new car - but you then don't think you ought to spend an extra £500 on a decent set of boots!  What if you stuffed your car into a hedge, or lamp post or dry stone wall - simply because your tyres let you down - and then wrote off the car!  Dunlops could quite easily do that - but with more 'suitable' tyres, you would have a massively improved chance of missing said objects.  OK, a change of underwear might be required, but your car would be intact!

And for the record, I have personally ditched shyte tyres on two brand new cars (actually, one was a dealer demo) - with better boots when they were virtually new.  First ocasion was on a Vectra GSI which had Yokohoma AVS S1Z, and the second was on my RS4 with Pirelli P-Zero Rossos.  The Yokos went after less than a 1000 miles, and the Pirellies lasted just 4k miles - and on both cars, the handling was massively improved.

Don't get me wrong, the Dunlops arn't 'dangerous' (like the Yokos and Pirellis were  ), but they are seriously 'inferior' - particularly when Dunlops are marketed as a 'premium' brand tyre.  You could sort of accept shyte handling if you purchased some £30 'Nippon No-Grips' from China, but Dunlop . . .  

But saying all this, if you are one of the few who purchase a GTI just for the 'pose factor' - and never have any intention of using the GTI for what it is made for, then the Dunlops will be perfectly acceptable.

HTH

A. you missed my point.  what i meant was when you are shelling out that kind of money on a car, you expect the tyres to be the best.  i'm not saying i wouldn't change them, i'm saying that i would expect them to be tip top when i picked the car up.

B. i can actually drive.  i certainly won't end up in a hedge or a lamp post - i'll leave that to chavs in sh!t cars.

C. even though you don't know me and i know you weren't having a go, i'm actually offended by the whole "never have the intention of using the GTI for what it is made for" comment!  i drive hard but safe, and it really winds me up when i see a GTI going at 60mph on the motorway - buy a micra if you want to drive like a pussy.  don't get me wrong, i enjoy the way the car looks and people looking at it, but its certainly not my primary reason for buying it so i can drive round the town centre all day posing.  its meant to be driven, and it certainly will be i can promise you.

[howlingmoon]

Oh no, not a chance, the F1s aren't exactly cheap either but as with most things in this world, you get what you pay for.

Are the Dunlops really that bad? The Conti Sports would be my preferred tyre if I had the choice of them or the Dunlops.

ContiSports are better than Dunlops, but they arn't as good as Mich or GY.  Contis are really best suited to heaver, larger autobhan-stormers, such as Audi A8/S8s, Merc S-Class, or BMW 7 Series - and they are rock-steady at 170mph - but they arn't really the best for a sweet-handling hot hatch.  Contis can also be a touch noisy, and a touch harsh on ride comfort too, though again better than the Dunflops.

I can quite agree with TT... My ContiSports 3 are noisy but am not sure about ride comfort though... Need to drive moar!!