Bridgestone Tyres

[Geomets]

I remember some Pirellis Zero-something were advertised as the tyre which were chosen from Ferraris and Lamborghini. I bet they were fine on these cars which had crazy horsepower and some weight over some specific axles which were doing a specific thing each. In ordinary cars they were wooden circles. The same applied to Bridge Stones, though not wooden but Stones from Bridges (the old tech ones). My opinion from feeling the same car with many tyres tested. Michelins and Dunlops for me, as they have the best parts of steering feel-braking performance (dry and wet in my country's anti-anti-slippery tarmac)-refinement. Tyre wear? Doesn't bother me at all if I'm safe.

[virtual camper]

I read this thread and checked with my VW dealer, as my car (GTD) is due in Feb 2015 for March collection.
I was told I will be getting the standard Bridgestone S001 tyres, so I sent them a link to another thread on here about how bad they apparently are and this was VW's headoffice reply:-

‘The tires that Volkswagen chooses on the GTD all fulfill the high quality approach from Volkswagen – and all this in many dimensions, such as dynamics, comfort, acceleration. There are tires available that are especially designed for traction on wet - but they then perform worse in the other dimensions.
In any case the standard 18 inch Bridgestone has been tested and passed the demanding Volkswagen tests. ‘
In regards to the forum and customer complaints, we have checked all records and we have only ever had 1 customer raise this with us in all the years we have used Bridgestone’,

[fredgroves]

I'd go back and ask them what the stats are for the same vehicles delivered across Europe...

Its quite clear that the UK market is *supposed* to get Bridgestones and that other markets get other things and sometimes UK vehicles get some of the others depending on availability.

Is the Bridgestone just the best for the UK?

[monkeyhanger]

I complained to VW Germany, who told me to go and bother VW UK as I wasn't a domestic customer. So I forwarded my letter of complaint to VW UK who told me they can't take one complaint any further, but more complaints would force them to consider them. Whenever you see anyone selling new or nearly new GTI/GTD/R wheels on eBay.de, they never seem to have Bridgestone rubber on them, usually Continental. We're definitely getting given the sh!te here in the UK.

[charv94]

If you google the tyres, and look through peoples comments and then the reviews you do get a very mixed bag.

In 2011 autocar slammed it in there tyre test. If you then go and read comments from real users on normal tyre buying websites they love them. The interest to me is if my gti turns up on them, is it really going to be dangerous? are they really as bad as some users say. I've got no interest in tuning it up so with standard car, no diff. am i going to suffer massively with the tyres? and is it something that i change immediately and try and sell the bridgestones?

Ultimately it does worry me a bit with people on the other thread calling them death traps etc

[Sootchucker]

My very personal humble opinion on having a GTD for 16 months with the Bridgestone S001's fitted is this. Dangerous - no of course they are not, imagine the law suits that would pertain from one of Europe's biggest car manufacturer's supplying cars with dangerous tyres.

Are they any good - this is very subjective. In the colder wetter conditions I've found them far to easy to wheel spin  from pull away meaning you have to feather the throttle in these conditions to get decent traction off the line. To be honest, (with my age), I'm not the sort to go hooning it around on two wheels on a roundabout at silly speed in the wet in any car on any tyre, so I can't truly speak of their ultimate grip at the limit - but from my experience, I would expect them to understeer quite badly.

In the warmer summer months, I've found them to be perfectly acceptable with great grip. Ideal then for Italy or Spain where the temperatures are higher all year - not so good for good old blighty weather.

Are there better tyres, I'm absolutely 100% convinced that there are. Michelin, Goodyear, Dunlop etc. all seem to get very good write ups on here and in the press.

So my conclusion is, whilst I stand by the fact that are in no way dangerous, I for one, will not choose them again when the time comes to replace them. For very similar money (and in some cases less), a better set of rubber can be had which will no doubt do more justice to the brilliant MQB chassis that the MK7 is built in. The Bridgestone's are just average at everything and not really very good at anything, and also seem to be noisier than most - which is a real shame.

[charv94]

Are there better tyres, I'm absolutely 100% convinced that there are. Michelin, Goodyear, Dunlop etc. all seem to get very good write ups on here and in the press.

So my conclusion is, whilst I stand by the fact that are in no way dangerous, I for one, will not choose them again when the time comes to replace them. For very similar money (and in some cases less), a better set of rubber can be had which will no doubt do more justice to the brilliant MQB chassis that the MK7 is built in. The Bridgestone's are just average at everything and not really very good at anything, and also seem to be noisier than most - which is a real shame.

This gives me just the answer i want. what i draw from it is yes they are good enough. They are good enough not to want to change immediately, they will suffice for summer (yes being 21 I'm going to be a yob some of the time, its what we do!! ) but when they come up for needing changing, go elsewhere.

[ffrank]

I was lucky and got Continental Sport 3's on my GTD. I had zero tramping for the first 7,000 miles or so - in summer months, and I can now get some tramping on the go if pulling away too quick in 1st.

This could be down to wear as on checking tyre pressure yesterday I was a bit alarmed to see how low the tread was getting on the fronts. 2mm tops and possibly close to legal in the middle, and I've only done 9,000 miles - so the wear is not good at all on these.

I'll check them properly tomorrow, but time to go look at tyre prices...

[fredgroves]

How do car manufacturers choose the tyres they supply?

Is it because they want the best performance.... no.

Is it because they want the best wearing tyre for maximum consumer value.... no.

Is it because they want to reduce emissions, noise or help you brake in the wet or go round a dry roundabout at speed.... no.

Is it because some manufacturer offers them a good bulk price.... of course!

[ffrank]

Found an excellent price on some Vred Sessanta's, £76.70 delivered!

I've said how great I think these tyres are before on here, so will see how they fare on the GTD. Will probably get them fitted at ATS this week.