<SPOILER!> ECOTY 2016 - GTI Clubsport S

[andrewparker]

All car reviews are subjective and what pleases someone will annoy someone else. If anyone actually buys a car after reading any review from a magazine or thinks that just because a mag says this that and the other then they are either stupid, deluded or an idiot. All magazines are on shelves for is to sell copies to make money. 

Also anyone who believes the car they buy is the exact same as the cars sent for reviews is a fool.

Bet VW has never sent a performance Golf out on Bridgestones for review. 

I know you're joking... but they have. Pretty much every review/long term report of the R was of a car running on Bridgestone tyres.

[Daz Auto]

I know you're joking... but they have. Pretty much every review/long term report of the R was of a car running on Bridgestone tyres.

I think he is serious. Just shows how good the car is - that it performs so well on mediocre tyres. Most people notice a big improvement when they change the OEM Bridgestones. I'm concerned that the next Golf I order will come on Bridgestones.

[Daz Auto]

I happened to do a search for anti-tramping and found an old post on this forum. These are monkyhanger's thoughts on Bridgestone tyres...

Fit new tyres - you shouldn't have to drive like you bought an UP!, just because VW fitted sh!te tyres.

 

[volkswizard]

Bet VW has never sent a performance Golf out on Bridgestones for review. 

Can we be more specific?

RE050A is a great tyre with Porsche approval. Had them on my R and on my 997 before that, no complaints.

Are you on about the S001 fitted as standard to 18" wheels?

[monkeyhanger]

^Nope, Had 18" S001 on my GTD and it was tramptastic with lots of tyre noise. Then I got my R on 19" wheels (RE050A) and although no initial traction issues due to the haldex, the grip going slowly around roundabouts in very mild winter weather (9C ambient temp, morning dew, not wet) was poor, the ride was poor as the compound is rock hard too. Switched to Michelin PSS after 6k miles and the diffrrence is night and day in all conditions grip. Bridgestones sat in my shed to go back on when I sell the car.

[volkswizard]

^Nope, Had 18" S001 on my GTD and it was tramptastic with lots of tyre noise. Then I got my R on 19" wheels (RE050A) and although no initial traction issues due to the haldex, the grip going slowly around roundabouts in very mild winter weather (9C ambient temp, morning dew, not wet) was poor, the ride was poor as the compound is rock hard too. Switched to Michelin PSS after 6k miles and the diffrrence is night and day in all conditions grip. Bridgestones sat in my shed to go back on when I sell the car.

235 35 19 91Y XL prices from Mytyres.com
£184 for PPS vs £140 for RE050A

Not really going for the same market with that price difference and the bean counters at VW will never spend the extra.

Durable tyres could be more important for VW than ultimate grip especially now tyre maintenance is included frequently with finance deals (and if you crash because of low grip tyres, VW will either sell you a new car, or sell you very profitable repair parts, either way they win!).

[dubber36]

Car manufactures pay nowhere near retail price for tyres. A friend who works in R+D at Honda told me that they pay around £20 for a 18" tyre, so there won't be a £40 difference like there is between the Bridgestone and Michelin examples.

Tyre manufactures sell at little over cost to the car manufactures. It's the aftermarket where they make there money.

[mcmaddy]

Which makes VWs decision to stick S001s on gti's and gtds even worse!

[Jackie Treehorn]

Can we have 1 thread without bridgestone tyres coming up.    I have never read a forum with this much fuss over 1 damn tyre.

I would much rather talk about how a Mclaren is sh!te compared to a VW Golf CSS 

[monkeyhanger]

^Nope, Had 18" S001 on my GTD and it was tramptastic with lots of tyre noise. Then I got my R on 19" wheels (RE050A) and although no initial traction issues due to the haldex, the grip going slowly around roundabouts in very mild winter weather (9C ambient temp, morning dew, not wet) was poor, the ride was poor as the compound is rock hard too. Switched to Michelin PSS after 6k miles and the diffrrence is night and day in all conditions grip. Bridgestones sat in my shed to go back on when I sell the car.

235 35 19 91Y XL prices from Mytyres.com
£184 for PPS vs £140 for RE050A

Not really going for the same market with that price difference and the bean counters at VW will never spend the extra.

Durable tyres could be more important for VW than ultimate grip especially now tyre maintenance is included frequently with finance deals (and if you crash because of low grip tyres, VW will either sell you a new car, or sell you very profitable repair parts, either way they win!).

Ford allow you to specify the tyres you want from a limited range on the lowly Transit van - surely VW could do something similar and make a bit of money out of their customers at the same time. I'd rather have paid VW an extra £100 for them to have fitted PSS than have to pay £600 for 4 and have a £500 set of Bridgestones sat in my shed.

Some people here lavish a lot of money on their performance Golf initially (kit and options) and frequently, that's not me - if not for my strongly perceived ugliness of the Cadiz wheel design i'd have happily stuck with 18" wheels and saved £900 as I am of the opinion that options are dead money and generally not worth the money lost over a 2 or 3 year term of ownership.

You can imagine then that I wouldn't have spent £600 on new tyres without a second thought if the Bridgestones weren't so poor at their job (grip) on the R. The Haldex flatters the tyres on initial traction, but that can't save poor grip. As they are hard as nails, my Bridgestones have hardly any wear on them.

Considering how much better my R is on both grip and ride comfort on PSS, it's a huge shame that VW didn't consider better rubber at the time. Recent owners are often seeing factory orders come through on better tyres.