Replacment tyres for GTD / GTI

[Sootchucker]

Hi all, whilst my current tyres are quite some time off needing replacing, I was curious as to what to replace my tyres with when the time comes so was browsing around and having a look at the ratings for various units and was wondering what peoples options were.

Like many on here, my GTD was delivered with Bridgestone's Potenza S001 tyres, which whilst not total crap, seem to be wearing quite quickly and have limited traction in the wet. To be fair, in the dry they are not too bad and reasonably quiet, but certainly not the best tyre I've ever had. I know a lot of people swear by Michelin Pilot Sport, but as I said, I went onto black circle's website and had a look at the ratings for various tyres, and to be honest, the Goodyear efficient-grip performance seems to come out best ?

Here's what I found.

Bridgestone Potenza S001    Fuel efficiency - E, Wet Grip- B (), Noise - 72db, Price £94.32

Michelin Pilot Sport 3    Fuel efficiency - E, Wet Grip - A, Noise 71db, Price - £116.17

Continental Sport Contact 5     Fuel efficiency F, Wet Grip A , Noise 72db, Price £102.79

Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance - Fuel efficiency B, Wet Grip A, Noise 69db - Price £96.42

Pirelli P7 Cinturato     Fuel efficiency C, Wet Grip B , Noise - 71db, Price £100.69

(note - prices are indicative only from Black circles website as of 24/4/14 - delivered price only)

What do other people think, anyone have any dealings with these Goodyear tyres ?

[MaccaGTD]

I have had the goodyears as replacements at 13800 and now on 20k, just had a service and they reported 4.5mm on front both sides at the 3no measuring points. The backs are on 5mm all round and still continental 3.

I initially reported in another thread that the goodyears appeared to tramp more in wet but that seemed to dissipate to almost nothing and tbf i cant fault them especially in the dry, always more cautious in wet anyway.

They are very comparable to the Continental 3 probably slightly better in the wet if pushing it round corners, mileage looks to be about the same out of both.

[Mohsin]

I've never seen them really mentioned around here, but on my CTR I had Vredestein Ultrac Sessentas on and they must be one of the best sets of tyres I have had. Think you can pick them up at less than 80 quid a corner so are very cheap for their performance.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b758s134p111412/Vredestein_Tyres_Car_Vredestein_Ultrac_Sessanta_-_225_40_R18_92Y_XL_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_F_Wet_Grip%3A_C_NoiseClass%3A_1_Noise%3A_67dB

I've read people with some serious performance cars with these on...if you do a quick google it'll come up with quite a few good things..

[ffrank]

I agree with Mohsin, had them on my 2.2 civic and definitely going to put them on my gtd when the time comes!

[monkeyhanger]

Not sure whether I was lucky to get good tyres with the 2 Sciroccos I had (3 different brands of tyres used between the 2 cars) , or whether there was something in the chassis set up that eliminated tramping, either coincidentally or through design. Seems more than a coincidence that MK5 170TDI tramps a lot, switch to Scirocco (140 and 170 TDI), and neither tramps wet or dry, even with nigh on full throttle take-off from a standing start, my mates MK6 GTD tramps a lot and now my MK7 does again. Scirocco has had the widest tyres, but only just (235s vs 225s on the MK7 GTD), or could it be the standard inclusion of DCC (do MK7s with DCC option tramp less?). My 170TDI Scirocco had Pirelli P7s and they’re only a B for wet grip and I had no tramping, yet a GTD with Bridgestone (also rated B) has loads of tramping.

Looking at my tyre wear as it is right now, about to hit 7k miles, I reckon I’ll do about 12-13k miles on the Bridgestone fronts. Likely October change, just in time for the Winter weather.

Is wet grip rating subjective? I wonder what the test criteria is.  Can a tyre have sh!te initial grip for pulling away from a standing start and still get a good rating for wet grip because they won’t slip once up to a decent speed on a wet road? How big is the gap between grades? Is a B that just missed A status massively better than a tyre that just scraped into B status above C status?

I have found that my Bridgestones are worse for tramping on a barely damp road than a properly wet/water lying road.

Going off previous personal experience, I would be looking at Michelin PS3s, not only for the tyre, but also for the fact that Costco would be fitting mine and they’re got good up to date equipment so that wheel damaged caused by the tyre fitting is far less likely through them than some backstreet tyre place with monkeys prising your tyres off with jemmy bars, scratching or even denting the wheel rim.

Catch the Michelins on a fuel card promotion and they can be amongst the cheapest fitted top tier tyres. Costco can fit for £120 a corner all in, and sometimes you’ll get a £30 or £40 fuelcard promo for a pair of 18” tyres, making them as little as £100 each fully fitted/new valve/balanced etc.

[monkeyhanger]

The more I think of tramping in terms of 3 generations of Golf (OK, 2 – 5 and 6 are pretty much the same, save for manufacturing efficiencies) which all tramp, vs the MK3 Scirocco which doesn’t, I am thinking that the tramping is down to the car itself and not the tyre choices. I am hoping though that a better tyre choice will cut down the tramping if not eradicate it.

[Mr Savage]

I still stand by the Hogoodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2's.

[Sootchucker]

It's weird isn't it how different brands of tyre seem to suit different cars (and to a certain extent different people).

My MK5 Golf that I traded in in Jan 2011 for my Scirocco ran two sets of Goodyear F1 Asymmetrical's and they were fantastic. I swore when I got the Scirocco, that what ever tyre it came with, when they needed replacing, it would be the Goodyear's again. The Scirocco actually came with Pirelli P7 Self sealers, and they were bloody brilliant. Great grip wet or dry, quiet and lasted until I part exchanged the car for the GTD 2½ years later and 22k miles (still with 3mm on them). Yet I know others hated them, go figure ?

For the next tyre, basically what I want is better wet grip. As Monkeyhanger says, the GTD tramps like a bastard in the wet on the Bridgestones, although in the dry generally they are not too bad. If they are a little quieter or slightly better on fuel then great, but despite the ratings, I really don't think in the real world I'd notice much difference on these two points between premium tyre brands no matter what the ratings say.

[ffrank]

The tramping/wet performance is the reason I am planning on vreds in the future. On the civic (which was pretty torquey) the wet performance was like driving on dry roads, seriously impresive! Worth a read up on. I replaced them with pilot sports and I wasn't impressed.

If they perform as well on the gtd they could be great, at 80 quid a pop too...

[monkeyhanger]

The tramping/wet performance is the reason I am planning on vreds in the future. The civic (which was pretty torquey) the wet performance was like driving on dry roads, seriously impresive! Worth a read up on. I replaced them with pilot sports and I wasn't impressed.

If they perform as well on the gtd they could be great, at 80 quid a pop too...

Civic torquey? They are renowned for lacking torque, hence you have to rev the nuts off them to get any performance. 193Nm at 5300 revs. Compare that to what the GTD is trying to put down at 1900rpm, and it's a chalk and cheese comparison.