Hard riding and noisey GTI 7.5

[monkeyhanger]

My gtd came on contis Matt and they were a good tyre. I'm not saying the Bridgestones are the best tyres far from it but to me it's a total waste of money to bin them at new. I still don't particularly like the PS4s, far too soft on the sidewalls and they make for a spongy bouncy ride unless you get the pressure right. People can come on here and say I'm wrong but that's my opinion.

I think it must've been my Dad's GTD that came on the Dunlops, the Contis are a good tyre too. I just don't see the point in putting up with tyres that are inadequate to exploit any of the performance that car offers. I dislike spending money unnecessarily (and I include car options that I wouldn't use frequently in that assessment). The overall cost of the tyres (and 225/40 R18  have come down significantly over the last 3 years to not much more than £300 a set)  compared to the overall cost of the car.

You can nurse that car on Bridgestones to stay safe at all times, but when you've got 200+ hp at your disposal, why stick with tyres that would only give you the potential to use more than half of it in a dead straight line, on a bone, dry, hot day, 10 miles into your journey (tyres fully warmed up), without even mentioning tramping. It's a change that you can feel every day, and for that reason, i'll swap those tyres out. It's also a matter of safety - a grippier tyre is going to have shorter stopping distances.

The real question is, why the hell do VW fit these compromise tyres to a hot VW? It's got to be down to cost, and i'm pretty confident that it's generally the UK market getting shafted - when you look on French, German, Italian, Spanish ebay sites, you see plenty of people flogging their standard Nogaros, Parkers, Cadiz etc with factory tyres to get something aftermarket, and they all seem to be on Contis, Pirellis or Dunlops when they're listed. Whenever VW send out press cars for review, they're never on Bridgestones. Over on the Polo forum, everyone speccing 18" Brescias for their GTI gets Bridgestone Turanza tyres. When the car was getting rave reviews for handling and driveability at release - all of the press cars were on Michelin PSS - that's no coincidence.

[mcmaddy]

Seat performance Leon's come on continental 6s which felt very good when I test drove the Cupra R ST. Performance Audi's are coming through with Hankook apparently. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[Grahamt]

My gtd came on contis Matt and they were a good tyre. I'm not saying the Bridgestones are the best tyres far from it but to me it's a total waste of money to bin them at new. I still don't particularly like the PS4s, far too soft on the sidewalls and they make for a spongy bouncy ride unless you get the pressure right. People can come on here and say I'm wrong but that's my opinion.

Looks like "your waste of money" is other people's "value for money" 

[Exonian]

We are mostly car enthusiasts on here so it’s far from unusual to buy a car then immediately upgrade components that don’t fit our ideals.
The car isn’t a hardcore hatch out of the factory so has plenty of middle of the road compromises.
Swapping tyres out to something deemed more in line with an owner’s wants is just one of many things that can be “improved“ upon.

I saw a YouTube vid posted on here some time ago with a Clubsport chassis guy saying exactly why they chose Bridgestones for that model as standard and he really rated them.
I can’t remember what he said now and having had three sets of them on different cars I’m no fan of them but don’t hate them either.
My thinking being they probably made good Nürburgring tyres because they would get very hot on track so would work at their best and being made of rhino hide spec rubber they wouldn’t need changing every few laps like softer tyres would.
Maybe VW fit the concrete BS tyres to UK mk7 cars because of all the issues we had back in the mk6 days with factory Dunlop’s developing tyre wall bulges after hitting potholes. It might have been a feedback decision to fit harder tyres that withstood impact better. Probably not and we will never know but it’s a thought...
My 2013 GTI PP came with Conti 2’s and the following three (R, GTD, Ed40) came with BS (all 18” wheels).

Back to the OP, definitely try and drive an R.
I remember thinking my GTI back in 2013 could be a bit crashy on occasion and a bit underdamped very occasionally. I had no such issues with my 2015 R, that was firm but rode very well (from memory!).
Reports from owners I’ve read decently who have traded to 2019 R’s from older R’s have mentioned much noisier exhausts, less refinement (cost cutting) and some have said the suspension is harder or noisier tyres. So it might be out of the frying pan but I’d definitely recommend a long test drive though, they’re incredibly impressive cars with some good deals on in stock cars.

[mcmaddy]

My gtd came on contis Matt and they were a good tyre. I'm not saying the Bridgestones are the best tyres far from it but to me it's a total waste of money to bin them at new. I still don't particularly like the PS4s, far too soft on the sidewalls and they make for a spongy bouncy ride unless you get the pressure right. People can come on here and say I'm wrong but that's my opinion.

Looks like "your waste of money" is other people's "value for money" 

yeah no problem with that what so ever 👍

[Grahamt]

My gtd came on contis Matt and they were a good tyre. I'm not saying the Bridgestones are the best tyres far from it but to me it's a total waste of money to bin them at new. I still don't particularly like the PS4s, far too soft on the sidewalls and they make for a spongy bouncy ride unless you get the pressure right. People can come on here and say I'm wrong but that's my opinion.

Just been for a run out into Wales, on some rough A and B and minor lanes and your comments "I still don't particularly like the PS4s, far too soft on the sidewalls and they make for a spongy bouncy ride unless you get the pressure right."..........are spot on 👍.......the ride is so much better than previous......all down to softer side walls I guess........so I've now got a ride I can live with 🙂. Today was the first time since fitting these tyres that I've done, what has been a regular route for the past 20 years so I almost know every rut , pot hole and collapsed grids and know exactly how my cars behave over them..........happy GTI owner now 🍻.

[Watts]

Great outcome Grahamt, simple and free!

[mcmaddy]

My gtd came on contis Matt and they were a good tyre. I'm not saying the Bridgestones are the best tyres far from it but to me it's a total waste of money to bin them at new. I still don't particularly like the PS4s, far too soft on the sidewalls and they make for a spongy bouncy ride unless you get the pressure right. People can come on here and say I'm wrong but that's my opinion.

Just been for a run out into Wales, on some rough A and B and minor lanes and your comments "I still don't particularly like the PS4s, far too soft on the sidewalls and they make for a spongy bouncy ride unless you get the pressure right."..........are spot on 👍.......the ride is so much better than previous......all down to softer side walls I guess........so I've now got a ride I can live with 🙂. Today was the first time since fitting these tyres that I've done, what has been a regular route for the past 20 years so I almost know every rut , pot hole and collapsed grids and know exactly how my cars behave over them..........happy GTI owner now 🍻.

you like your tyres, good for you 👏👏

[fredgroves]

I'm very happy the OP is happy without spending over 2k on the problem!

They make us tight in Yorkshire!

[Grahamt]

I'm very happy the OP is happy without spending over 2k on the problem!

They make us tight in Yorkshire!

👍👍...born in Harrogate 👍👍