Monza wheels - tyres with rim protection?

[Monza]

Hello All

I'm sure I read somewhere that you can get tyres with some built in rim protection (5,000 miles so far, so lucky with my Monza IIs, but how long will my luck hold?).

Anyone any steers on this subject?

Thanks

[wantmygti]

Toyo Proxes T1R's were good for me but have not put them on the Golf. They have protection built into them.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

All 18" boots should have rim protection as a default.  They won't actually save your alloys though, as I found out on the first week of ownership  :embarassed: 

[Cass]

I have Dunlop Sport Maxx's fitted as standard on my 18" Monza II's and they have effective rim protection - I can personally vouch for this as I have a experienced a couple of slight (low speed ) brushes with the kerbs. They are noisy however on all but the smoothest of road surfaces but appear to be wearing well and give good grip in both wet and dry conditions. My previous car (Porsche Boxster) had Pirelli P Zero Rosso's fitted from new and they were also very good, both for rim protection and overall grip/wear.

Cass   

[Teutonic_Tamer]

I have Dunlop Sport Maxx's fitted as standard on my 18" Monza II's and they have effective rim protection - I can personally vouch for this as I have a experienced a couple of slight (low speed ) brushes with the kerbs. They are noisy however on all but the smoothest of road surfaces but appear to be wearing well and give good grip in both wet and dry conditions.

Ohh, you surprise me with your praises of the Dunlops.  I too have them, and I actually find them utterly awful.  They are quite frankly lethal in the wet, aquaplaning, and generally suffering with traction, braking and tracking.  In the wet or dry, they are very nervous when cornering, giving very little feedback before breaking away without any obvious reason or provocation.  I complained quite emphaticacally to the supplying dealer, who ultimately confirmed they (and VW UK) had received complaints from other users, and that VW AG had stopped using them.  The only fitment now for the GTI & R32 should be either Conti SportContact2 or Michelin Pilot Sport PS2.

How many miles have you done on them, and what tread depth is remaining, and do you rotate your wheels, if you don't mind me asking?

My previous car (Porsche Boxster) had Pirelli P Zero Rosso's fitted from new and they were also very good, both for rim protection and overall grip/wear.

OK, sounds good - my RS4 will probably come with these as standard - though I wait with bated breath, as I know things about Pirelli tyres that would have most people confining them to the skip!

Rgds

[Creepy Coupe]

My car's shod with Conti Sport Contact2 , so I can't really compare with anything, and too be fair they have been ok IMHO, however having run with PS2's in two previouse motors, I'm thinking that's going to be my choice come reboot time, I found them so quiet on most serfaces. with good wear and grip levels. But expensive.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

My car's shod with Conti Sport Contact2 , so I can't really compare with anything, and too be fair they have been ok IMHO.

I think "OK" is spot-on to describe the CSC2s.  They are a good proficient dependable tyre, rock solid at three-figure Autobahn speeds, fairly competent in the twisties wet or dry, and no really scary attributes.  Perhaps one slight weak point is their tendency to aquaplane when the tread is around 3mm - slightly worse than the PS2, but a million times better than the Dunlop SportMaxx.

however having run with PS2's in two previouse motors, I'm thinking that's going to be my choice come reboot time, I found them so quiet on most serfaces. with good wear and grip levels. But expensive.

Wise move.    BTW, do you swap front to rears to even the wear and replace 4 in one hit, or do you just let the fronts wear out and replace only 2, but more frequently?  BTW2, how many miles have your Contis done?

If anyone does find the Mich PS2s just too expensive, look up the ballpark price on mytres or blackcircles, then spend a couple of hours on the fone haggling prices down.  Obviously, you WILL (   ) be replacing them in at least pairs (on the same axle), so haggling a discount and playing one tyre fitter off against the other should reap an acceptable price.  The last time my S4 needed new boots, I was initially quoted £220 a corner, and after a few fonecalls, got them down to £120ish a corner - that is quite a few tanks of V-Power!

If anyone really cannot afford the extra £15-20 a corner over other makes, buy the Michelins, and run your motor on normal 95 unleaded for a couple of tanks! 

[Creepy Coupe]

BTW, do you swap front to rears to even the wear and replace 4 in one hit, or do you just let the fronts wear out and replace only 2, but more frequently?  BTW2, how many miles have your Contis done?

I do intend to swap front to rears any time soon, cars done 7400 miles, I had a service last week, and they reported the fronts to have 4mm tread left. so a good time to swap. Having mixed PS2's with RE040 on my BMW I can conclude tram lining increase to a near unbearable amount, so this time I hope to change all four.

Although PS2's are pricey, I found they wear better tan average.

[Cass]

TT,

Only done just under 3000 miles on the Dunlop Sport Maxx since my car was supplied new with them last September. Haven't had any adverse incidents with them to date other than being very noisy after about running them in (200- 300 miles). Surprised to hear that VW is still using them if there was any safety or performance issue - I'll give my local dealer a call to see if they have had any similar complaints. Haven't got a tread depth gauge to hand but they are still (obviously) meaty, given the low mileage. I would describe my driving style as sympathetic towards the car, careful in the corners (slow in, fast out)and give it some welly when the GLF signs appear  

I do rotate my tyres on FWD vehicles although I haven't needed to do this on my last 2 cars (Audi TT quattro - 4WD and Porsche Boxster - RWD). As far as I can recall, my Audi was shod with Michelins and the Pirelli's came with a new set of alloys when I bought the Boxster from an OPC.

Cass

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Surprised to hear that VW is still using them if there was any safety or performance issue

I think you may have misread my post  .  There is certainly no "official" safety issue with the tyres, and the dealer initially gave me the spiel that VW wouldn't fit crap tyres (since proved wrong, as I look out on my Polo courtesy car wearing Matadors!).

My main concern was the very noticeable lower standard of performance from the tyre, when directly comparing it to identical specced cars, but with different boots, namely the Conti SportContact2.  I explained to them that the GTI was marketed on it's allround high performance, including the superb handling, and this was proved to prospective purchasers from the early fleet of demonstrators.  After threatening to take the matter to VW UK, and contacting TopGear, they gave in, saying there had been complaints from others regarding the "lesser" performance from the Dunlops, that the factory (Wolfsburg) were no longer fitting them, but because they deemed it NOT to be a safety issue, they wouldn't actually change my tyres!

My (well the Wifes actually) was supplied new last September too, it was built sometime around July 06, which probably explains why we are on the same boots.  When we went to collect the car new, I did notice the lack of Contis or Michelin with some trepidation, but on closer examination, noticed they wern't Jap-lops (the Japanese Dunlops, yes the rice munchers actually own Dunlop!), but were actually made in Germany!

- I'll give my local dealer a call to see if they have had any similar complaints. Haven't got a tread depth gauge to hand but they are still (obviously) meaty, given the low mileage. I would describe my driving style as sympathetic towards the car, careful in the corners (slow in, fast out)and give it some welly when the GLF signs appear  

Ahh, IAM??, RoSPA??

*GLF*  ?

I do rotate my tyres on FWD vehicles although I haven't needed to do this on my last 2 cars (Audi TT quattro - 4WD and Porsche Boxster - RWD). As far as I can recall, my Audi was shod with Michelins and the Pirelli's came with a new set of alloys when I bought the Boxster from an OPC.

I tend to leave mine as they are.  When the fronts wear (on front wheel drives), I only have two boots to find the dosh for.  The new ones go back onto the front axle, where I scrub them in for a couple of hundred miles (also checking they were balanced properly), after that, they get moved to the back.

Rgds