Bridgestones, whats the problem?

[Exonian]

I fitted Toyo T1 Sports to my new wheels just before Christmas at the recommendation from the tyre place. Driving around today and it felt like I had no grip at all, yes it was very cold and wet...BUT I had no confidence whatsoever 
Gonna get them change as soon as, there goes another £500

I'm actually so dissapointed with them I'm gonna stick my Cadiz with Bridgetones on tomorrow as they are way better, and their still pretty crap, that's how bad the Toyos are lol

What tyres are on your BBS's? You'll probably be able to sell the Toyos on eBay easily enough to recoup most of the cost.
Some tyres just take a few hundred miles to scrub in and some tyres just don't like cold weather at all.

I've spent several years reading nothing but damnation for firstly Dunlops fitted to mk6 GTI's and now Bridgestones fitted to sporty mk7's.
I didn't find the Bridgestones that bad personally.

[kalimon]

At last, someone with a more positive view on the dreaded Bridgestones!
Well not that positive but makes me think that rather than ripping them out straight away, it may be worth trying them for a month or two and making my own mind up.

[CraigW]

There's been a lot of scaremongering on here by a few individuals about these tyres. I never had any issues with them but then I don't tend to gun it off the line every time I see a green light. They are perfectly fine whether it's dry or wet and also very durable, mine lasted 18,000 miles.

[caprigreen]

I have always defended bridgstones as they are fine for my style of driving. I am not saying there are the best, as tyres that wear so well are not going to give you the best grip. The term tombstones is not really fair and has caused alarm to some on here. Personal choice ofcourse as I recognise that people need to feel they have confidence and good grip when driving their pride and joy .
The tombstone tag is justified on some of the Chinese budget tyres, now they are scary. When I bought a used Mk5 fitted with these I had them changed and destroyed.

[JoeGTI]

Agreed.
This "tombstones" nonsense is way over the top.
I ran the bridgestones on my GTI for 25k Kms and apart from a bit of tramping in the wet as they wore towards the limiters (to be expected, to be fair) they were generally fine imo.
I have conti's on the R and to be quite honest I'd be pressed to tell the difference in most normal conditions.

[JoeGTI]

Agreed.
This "tombstones" nonsense is way over the top, perpetrated by a handful on these forums and now accepted as gospel!

I ran the bridgestones on my GTI for 25k Kms and apart from a bit of tramping in the wet as they wore towards the limiters (to be expected, to be fair) they were generally fine imo.
I have conti's on the R and to be quite honest I'd be pressed to tell the difference in most normal conditions.

[monkeyhanger]

Agreed.
This "tombstones" nonsense is way over the top, perpetrated by a handful on these forums and now accepted as gospel!

I ran the bridgestones on my GTI for 25k Kms and apart from a bit of tramping in the wet as they wore towards the limiters (to be expected, to be fair) they were generally fine imo.
I have conti's on the R and to be quite honest I'd be pressed to tell the difference in most normal conditions.

I had tramping with Bridgestones on my GTD from day one, and had some access to my Dad's GTD which never tramped at all, I haven't heard of anyone else without Bridgestones reporting copious tramping either, but plenty with have done so. After having a string of "performance diesel" Golfs/Sciroccos, only one other came on Bridgestones from the factory, a MK5 GT Sport TDI170, and that tramped like a pissed off bull at slightly damp roundabouts too. Their dry performance really deteriorates below 12C - most Summer tyres' performance noticeably deteriorates below 4C.

I'm no traffic light dueller, but I do expect  tramping not to occur at the slightest bit of damp at 40% throttle trying to exploit a gap on a busy roundabout that a 65PS Toyota Aygo can take advantage of easily enough because it will just go. In the Summer, grip on the move for the Bridgestones was adequate, but once the temp drops below 12C the tyres really harden up in a way that a premium tyre shouldn't.

When there are far better tyres at the same price point (retail) and a Bridgestone shod GTD doesn't have a cat in hell's chance of doing the stated 0-62 in 7.5 seconds because of the tramping (even in the dry in the Summer with more than 60% throttle) then the tyres really aren't fit for the purpose. You don't have to be driving like an idiot for them to misbehave, and when you wouldn't need to rein it in on other rubber at the same pricepoint there's something amiss with the choice of tyres, not the way the car's being driven.

Pretty much any other tyre in the same price range as a BS S001/RE050 will outdo it on wet grip and lower temp dry grip.

The change from RE050A to PSS has transformed my car in the current conditions, and officially they're not even scrubbed in yet. I doubt the difference would have been quite so profound when changing from Dunlop SP01, Conti 5, Pirelli P7, Michelin PS3.

[CraigW]

It's this tombstones nonsense which almost implies that the bridgestones are inherently dangerous which is just not the case. For day to day driving there is absolutely nothing wrong with them

[monkeyhanger]

It's this tombstones nonsense which almost implies that the bridgestones are inherently dangerous which is just not the case. For day to day driving there is absolutely nothing wrong with them

They're inherently dangerous when driving on them in the way you would if you had almost any of the other equivalent tyres from Pirelli, Continental, Dunlop, Michelin etc in the slightest bit of damp or in lower temperatures that are no so low as to make winter tyres a recommended option).

The tramping thing for me is what is really dangerous - on some busy roundabouts you do have to be quick off the mark to exploit a gap. You give it 40% throttle, the nose gets out into the line of traffic that would be heading your way on the roundabout and your BS shod GTD just sits there stamping it's feet. Tramping after giving it 80%+ throttle is fair dos, but not 40%, you shouldn't need to be driving your GTD like it has 50PS to avoid tramping.  Maybe it's less of an issue on a GTI with a little less torque low down, but on a GTD it is a real issue.

[Exonian]

The GTI is lower geared which acts as a torque multiplier, the MK7 GTI is very torquey and performs as well at low to medium revs as some modified earlier GTI's Ive had. The R doesn't pull away from a GTI until you're over 4000rpm which is pretty academic in most road conditions unless you're drag racing from the lights in which case the GTI just won't grip that well no matter what tyres it has. Been there, owned both and tried most things!
The R is a great car and I do love mine but I think so many people are now blinkered towards the R as it's such an accomplished performer they lose sight of exactly how good the GTI PP is. Aside from pulling away very abruptly with both wheels facing exactly forward which the PP diff can do nothing about the PP GTI handles amazingly well. Yes it's well down on power on paper but at normal road speeds there ain't a lot in it and to be honest (I've done a good few miles in GTD's now as a friend of mine regularly has one as a pool car from work) the GTD can be wound up pretty quickly and plenty quick enough for public roads.

My personal view after running the R on Bridgestones or the first 1800 miles or so is that they are no worse than the Conti 2's on my GTI or the Conti 3's I've been running on 19" wheels I've been using on both my mk7's (and mk6).

If I had a choice of tyres from the factory then I'd probably be happier with Conti's but I didn't find that as soon as I pulled off the drive the R swapped ends and pirouetted down the road like some people make out on here (you're not the worst MH, just one of the most consistent!).
I had the use of a private road that was newly 'built' (made? laid?) a few months ago. It's now a public road but at the time it was still private property and closed to the public. It is now a 30mph limit road with building work going on either side of it but I'd had the nod to use it privately whilst it was waiting to be signed off. It has some nasty 90 degree bends and a sharp roundabout and gave the Bridgestones absolutely no issues at speeds somewhat a little above the now mandatory 30!
Ok the temp was above 12 I think but it wasn't the height of summer and I've taken the bend at the top of Telegraph Hill on the A380 (for those of you who have towed your caravans to Torbay) quite quickly in low temperatures and that bend can get 'a bit' hairy if you're unfamiliar with it on crap tyres.