GTi Tyres (again)

[Penarth Blues]

Evening you lovely people

Just seeing if anyone has changed their Bridgestone Potenza S001's for a different tyre, and whether it has improved the grip under acceleration?

I've had a search through the forum and can't find any alternative tyres which really seem to have improved this part of the car for anyone. I'd quite like to be able to use the power off the line a little better...

[Don7601]

I went for Toyo T1R. Big improvement in dry grip but when it's wet then I doubt there's any tyre gonna give decent traction in 1st or 2nd.

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[Penarth Blues]

I went for Toyo T1R. Big improvement in dry grip but when it's wet then I doubt there's any tyre gonna give decent traction in 1st or 2nd.

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Cheers Don. Any other observations on the Toyo e.g. handling, noise and wear?

[JoeMarano]

I would personally stay away from them. They could hardly reign in the power in my old Saxo let alone a car with 236lb/ft!

I'm having to change mine soon and I'm sticking with the Potenzas! Only other tyre I would go for are the pilot supersports but not sure if they do a 40 profile.

[Don7601]

I went for Toyo T1R. Big improvement in dry grip but when it's wet then I doubt there's any tyre gonna give decent traction in 1st or 2nd.

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Cheers Don. Any other observations on the Toyo e.g. handling, noise and wear?

The bridgestones were changed at 12k miles and had around 2mm left. It's now on 17k and there's around 5mm tread left - so wear rates seem comparable. They're not noisy either.

I've worked in tyre trade for 15yrs buying and selling so I'm familiar with tyres but have no allegiance to a particular make.

At the price point (£66) they represent decent value versus the big boys at another £30 or so on top.

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[Penarth Blues]

Thank you both for taking the time to respond - even if your recommendations are at complete odds with each other

I've got 4mm on the fronts at present after 16,700 miles, so have another few thou to go before having to make the change. I'll have a further look into the Toyo's before making the call, but I would like something with a bit more grip if possible than the current Potenza's

[Dink]

i've got goodyear eagle f1 gsd3 on the front of mine and i have to say i loved them on my old polo but not on this car

i've only done 11.5k and it won't long before there cooked aswell

[JoeMarano]

I'm only going off previous experience with Toyo's for the price they aren't bad I guess but I'd rather pay the premium to be honest but that's just me.

For more grip than the Potenzas (which I'm unsure why you need more if it's just road use) you need to look at something like PS4s if they are in our size, Cup2's or possibly Supersports. All are a lot more expensive.

What makes you think you need more grip as on the road I've barely breached the limits of grip if I'm honest. The only time you are likely to do that is at 2nd gear type corners and corner exits in low gears and only something like an LSD is going to help with that.

I've been driving 10 years, driven commercial vehicles and done numerous track days and trust me the Potenzas are a very good tyre for the price.

[Penarth Blues]

I'm only going off previous experience with Toyo's for the price they aren't bad I guess but I'd rather pay the premium to be honest but that's just me.

For more grip than the Potenzas (which I'm unsure why you need more if it's just road use) you need to look at something like PS4s if they are in our size, Cup2's or possibly Supersports. All are a lot more expensive.

What makes you think you need more grip as on the road I've barely breached the limits of grip if I'm honest. The only time you are likely to do that is at 2nd gear type corners and corner exits in low gears and only something like an LSD is going to help with that.

I've been driving 10 years, driven commercial vehicles and done numerous track days and trust me the Potenzas are a very good tyre for the price.

I'm not sure why you are not getting the same problem as me, but I find it too easy to spin the front wheels from rest when trying to pull off a bit more quickly, to the extent that I am very conscious of it not trying to get off the line quickly as it just looks embarrassing. Probably just a crap driver

[JoeMarano]

It's fwd mate pretty much every powerful front driver is going to be like that. I personally don't really launch my car at all as there's no need and thrashing it from rest is just going to wear your mounts and so on a lot faster. I enjoy the bends and the torque much more.

[JoeMarano]

It will also do it much more if the wheels aren't straight when setting off from rest. I'm very much dialled in and used to the car actually so I know its quirks and limitations quite well. I will never knock anyone for wanting better tyres though. Most important part of the car in many ways.

[pipsyp]

Hi Joe,

Follow your YouTube channel, nice to see someone likes their GTI as much as I do!

I bought my May 2015 3 door back around Christmas time, really on a whim as fancied something small but fun for work. It had 29k on the clock but was nigh on immaculate, loads of spec (convenience, parking, winter and sports select packs, Climatronic and Discover Nav) and frankly it didnt cost me a great deal. Best VAG car ive had so far and had a few.

Ive had two Mk7 GTD's prior as company cars and whilst the Polo isnt quite as "sorted" its far far more fun to drive. The GTD is v impressive but its chassis is so composed and handles so well its almost boring..whereas the Polo is that bit more sketchy (in a good way) and will bite you if you get it wrong. A poor driver could get in a GTD and drive it quickly and would flatter their driving, not the case with the Polo. Its almost too much power in a small car but I personally love it.

As to tyres....Im pretty fussy too. Ive had a Mk6 GT TDi and the Mk7 GTD shod with Bridgestone Potenzas and have to say Ive never been all that fussed with them. Wet weather grip always seemed a bit of an issue and they always wore quite badly from experience.

After being directed towards Hankook tyres by my best mate who is a v experienced modern/classic car and race mechanic I havent looked back. Swapped my Potenzas on the Polo for a set of Ventus V12 Evo2's and its transformed the car. Thing will still light up, guess with all that power and torque its unavoidable but grip levels are better wet and dry and I think its slightly quieter too.

Best thing is that they are notably cheaper than any of the competition and they are fitted OEM now to many VW's, Audis and BM's which is reassuring.

Id suggest giving them a go.

[JoeMarano]

Thanks mate! Tyres are a still a weird area and it seems a lot of it is personal choice.

I've got a lot of experience with the car on these tyres having done some track days in the dry and wet and traction for me isn't too much of an issue as I know quite well how the car reacts in the wet and dry. For me the Potenzas are great especially considering they have done me 17k miles. I'll have a look into those Hankool tyres though and have a read up on what people have said about them.

I like the Potenzas but I'm open to anything that performs well for less!

[pipsyp]

Thanks mate! Tyres are a still a weird area and it seems a lot of it is personal choice.

I've got a lot of experience with the car on these tyres having done some track days in the dry and wet and traction for me isn't too much of an issue as I know quite well how the car reacts in the wet and dry. For me the Potenzas are great especially considering they have done me 17k miles. I'll have a look into those Hankool tyres though and have a read up on what people have said about them.

I like the Potenzas but I'm open to anything that performs well for less!

Tyres are definitely quite a personal thing for sure. Dont get me wrong, Potenzas are a good tyre and far from the worst Ive experienced but I think you end up paying a premium for the Bridgestone brand when there are other similar and cheaper priced tyres which probably to perfom a bit better, but its all in the eye of the beholder.

Worst tyres Ive had in recent times are Dunlop Sport Maxx RT's....had these on a Mk3 Skoda Octavia and could barely get 12k out of a set....all the while the sidewalls cracked and that was on two sets of fronts and the rears went the same way......I ended up sticking a full set of Hankooks on that and again vast improvement.

Probably my favourite tyres of the moment are the Eagle F1 Assy 2's (3's are out now and probably better still) and Michelin PS3's....brilliant tyre but pricey. I'd have liked some PS Cups or Supersports for the GTI but they dont do them in the correct profile or speed rating but again when the Hankooks are so good at relatively so little money Id have probably not bothered with anything else anyway as the PS3's and Eagle F1's were alot dearer......pretty much got 4 tyres for the price of nearly 3 of the others so a considerable saving.....but I did pay pretty much trade money for the tyres in fairness.

[SRGTD]

I had Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 2's on my mk6 Golf GTD; good tyre and not as noisy as the factory Bridgestones it came with. Softer compound than the Bridgestones, so good levels of grip and even though they're quite soft, they didn't wear too quickly.

I've currently got Continental Sport Contact 3's on my Polo GTI; I had them fitted when I put my new wheels on at the end of last June. They're quite a soft compound (Bridgestones are quite a hard compound) so good grip in wet and dry conditions, but the trade-off is I'm not expecting to get as many miles out of them as I would out of a set of Bridgestones. In terms of noise levels, to me they seem about the same as the original Bridgestones.

Interesting to hear different views on tyres, in particular Joe's comments on Bridgestones, bearing in mind he tracks his GTI. Quite a lot of the performance Golfs are fitted with Bridgestones from the factory and they're disliked by many of the forum members on golfgtifprum.co.uk; owners citing them as being noisy with poor grip and owners suffering from excessive wheelspin. Some owners have even changed to an alternative premium branded tyre pretty soon after taking delivery of their cars.