Tire Rack Tire Suggestions/ Recommendations/ Opinions

[Gavin@TireRack.com]

If you need a couple of suggestions/ideas regarding tires that work well on a MKV, here are a few to consider depending on your needs. Since I am from the Tire Rack, I only have the tires we carry at my disposal to test/ get customer feedback and offer opinions on.

I'm posting this due to a outdated post regarding suggested tires for MKV's. I don't mean to step on anyone's toes, just offer some advice on current tire models available.

This is just a brief overview for the 2013 year. I have broken the tires into four basic categories in this post: extreme performance summer, max/ ultra high performance summer, performance all-season and touring all season. I have left winter tires off of this post because winter tires are a little more complex, and need to be on their own. DOT/ R compound tires are also complex.

Each category will have an inexpensive and premium subheading below. My experience is, generally speaking, the premium tires are better. Just remember, you can't eat caviar on a bologna budget, but some bologna tastes pretty good (if you like bologna).

The biggest hurdle in selecting a tire is selecting one that fits your needs correctly, ie. not putting a summer tire on your car if you want a tire with a 30k mile warranty, or purchasing a touring tire if you intend on taking your car to the track for a weekend.

Without further introduction, Gavin's recommendations:

Extreme performance summer tires will suit your needs if you're looking for all-out handling, taking your daily driver autocrossing on the weekend without an extra set of wheels, or just hooning on the street. Do not consider this category if you're looking to use the tires in near freezing temperatures, need a tire that is comfort-oriented, want a tire with a 15k mile lifespan, or for driving at high speeds in deep standing water.

Inexpensive extreme performance summer:

• Hankook Ventus R-S3 (best bang for the buck)
• Dunlop Direzza Sport ZII (The jury's still out on this one. It's predecessor the Z1 Star Spec was great.)

Premium extreme performance summer:

• Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD-08 (very versatile)
• Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 (best riding tire in its class)

Max and ultra high performance summer tires will suit your needs if you're wanting a little better ride quality, little better lifespan, and better wet grip than an extreme performance summer tire. They too are not intended to be driven in near freezing temps, and offer a shorter life than an all-season tire.

Inexpensive max and ultra high performance summer:

• Continental Extreme Contact DW (best bang for the buck)
• Sumitomo HTR Z III
• Hankook Ventus V12 Evo
• Yokohama S.Drive
• BF Goodrich g-Force Sport Comp 2 (New for 2013. Great tire!)
  

Premium max and ultra high performance summer:

• Michelin Pilot Super Sport (What I presently have on my car, and all-around, the best summer tire I've owned.)
• Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position
• Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT
• Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport

My experience is the tires in the performance all-season categories are going to be the most versatile on a GTI. They are good to decent at everything, but do not specialize at one specific performance aspect.

Inexpensive performance all-season:

• General G-Max AS-03 (New-ish tire this year. So far so good)
• Kumho Ecsta 4X (New-ish tire this year. So-far so good)
• Sumitomo HTR A/S P01 (Decent tire, a little sketchy with cold)

Premium performance all-season:

• Bridgestone Potenza RE970AS Pole Position (Fantastic tire!)
• Continental Extreme Contact DWS (A little soft in the sides, but good cold grip.)
• Michelin Pilot Sport AS+ (Very refined ride quality.)

Touring all-season tires will offer decent year-round grip. They are comfort oriented and offer better lifespan. They too are a compromise in performance. I tend to recommend more touring tires to Golfs than GTI's

Inexpensive touring all-season:

• General Altimax HP (Best bang for the buck.)
• Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum

Premium touring all-season:

• Michelin Primacy MXM4 (Good ride quality without sacrificing handling too much.)
• Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus (The best riding tire, better handling than it's predecessor the Turanza Serenity.)

As always, if you have any comments or questions please let me know. If any of this information helps and new need to place an order, support GolfmkV by clicking the banner above to place your order with Tire Rack or by giving me a call.

[Tr!tan!um]

Bump for good guy Gavin. He was super helpful and knowledgeable on the phone.

[k3v0]

this is handy, i've been reading some other tire guides on here but they are a little on the older side. it's nice to see some newer options/info

[madrestaur]

Pouring rain at Wakins Glenn and the RE-11 were awesome!

[Gti_ever]

Sub'd lol

[Gavin@TireRack.com]

Originally Posted by madrestaur

Pouring rain at Wakins Glenn and the RE-11 were awesome!

Sweet! They're a fantastic tire. Glad to hear they were what you needed.

[Starscream]

After reading and seeing pictures of the Conti. DW's after some track/autoX abuse, I'm leaning more towards the Pilot SS's.

The price difference is still hard to swallow though. But it really seems to fit all my needs.
-Good treadlife (20k+)
-Quiet/Comfortable for daily
-Sticky/Predictable for track/autoX

I'm no longer into trackdays and autoX to be the fastest. Been there, done that, was class champ in multiple classes across several years. Just looking for a tire that can play ball in both courts well. Doesnt have to be great, but good for daily driving, long trips, and good for spirited drives, autoX, trackdays.

Would you still suggest the Pilot Super Sports? The DW's seem to do all this, but don't hold up to the abuse of racing in the long run.

Thanks,

Jay

[Gavin@TireRack.com]

The Conti's are still a good tire. I wouldn't completely write them off.

I would still recommend the Michelin Pilot Super Sports over the Conti's for a couple of reasons: The sidewalls are a little stiffer and you don't get the sides rolling over as much. The wet grip is also better. They are the tire I have on my car, and will buy another set once these are toast.

The Conti's are good, probably a close second...

[Starscream]

Originally Posted by Gavin@TireRack.com

The Conti's are still a good tire. I wouldn't completely write them off.

I would still recommend the Michelin Pilot Super Sports over the Conti's for a couple of reasons: The sidewalls are a little stiffer and you don't get the sides rolling over as much. The wet grip is also better. They are the tire I have on my car, and will buy another set once these are toast.

The Conti's are good, probably a close second...

I was dead set on the DW's for the longest time. They're still a great tire and at a very affordable price. But for someone who is an above average driver and will be seeing the autoX or road course track about once a month or more, it just seems the PSS are more tuned for those conditions. The 30k warrenty, 30-day trial, etc, all play into the added cost of the tires, which makes the price difference not as bad IMO. Not to mention Michelin has been known as the benchmark tire with the Pilots in the MAX perf summer tire. Much like a 911 or M3, there's good reason other companies base their products off of theirs, cuz they're worth the extra coin for the benchmark tool for the job.

Thanks!

[Mr645]

Going to order a set of 4 DWS for my wifes Volvo C70. I have the DW on my R32 and very happy. Low price, high grip and seem to be lasting very well.

Anyway. Stock is 235/45/17 and thinking about going with 245/40/17. Any reason not to?

Thanks,
Jon

[CW08DSG]

Hey Gavin,

I can't find much feedback on the ContiSportContact 5. I believe it has replaced the 5P?

Do you have any opinion on this tire yet, specifically comparing it to the Pilot Super Sport?

Thanks in advance!

[Gavin@TireRack.com]

Originally Posted by Mr645

Going to order a set of 4 DWS for my wifes Volvo C70. I have the DW on my R32 and very happy. Low price, high grip and seem to be lasting very well.

Anyway. Stock is 235/45/17 and thinking about going with 245/40/17. Any reason not to?

Thanks,
Jon

I believe the stock 17" wheels are only 7" wide. A 245/40R17 really should be put on only an 8" to 9.5" wide wheel.

[Gavin@TireRack.com]

Originally Posted by CW08DSG

Hey Gavin,

I can't find much feedback on the ContiSportContact 5. I believe it has replaced the 5P?

Do you have any opinion on this tire yet, specifically comparing it to the Pilot Super Sport?

Thanks in advance!

Not a lot of feedback yet on the Sport Contact 5's or 5P's from customers and we haven't done a test yet either due to size/ application limitations. The tire was designed primarily as an original equipment tire for a few Mercedes and Audi applications, much like the Michelin Pilot PS3.

[CW08DSG]

Originally Posted by Gavin@TireRack.com

Not a lot of feedback yet on the Sport Contact 5's or 5P's from customers and we haven't done a test yet either due to size/ application limitations. The tire was designed primarily as an original equipment tire for a few Mercedes and Audi applications, much like the Michelin Pilot PS3.

Thanks for the info, Gavin. I'm working on a deal with a guy I'm selling my Huffs to. He works for Conti, and I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a set of the Contact 5's and be a guinea pig of sorts.

[Gavin@TireRack.com]

Originally Posted by CW08DSG

Thanks for the info, Gavin. I'm working on a deal with a guy I'm selling my Huffs to. He works for Conti, and I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a set of the Contact 5's and be a guinea pig of sorts.

Let me know how they work out, or write a review at Tire Rack.com to let all interested parties know how they performed for you.

[ehancock]

Originally Posted by CW08DSG

Thanks for the info, Gavin. I'm working on a deal with a guy I'm selling my Huffs to. He works for Conti, and I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a set of the Contact 5's and be a guinea pig of sorts.

Pretty sure i just bought a set of tires from this guy lol. He seemed like a pretty good guy.

[CW08DSG]

Originally Posted by Gavin@TireRack.com

Let me know how they work out, or write a review at Tire Rack.com to let all interested parties know how they performed for you.

Will do. Will have the tires tomorrow morning and have them mounted on the new wheels in the afternoon or Thursday at latest.

Originally Posted by ehancock

Pretty sure i just bought a set of tires from this guy lol. He seemed like a pretty good guy.

Hmmm, he have a Jetta GLI? He bought my suspension components, asked me what I was doing with my Huffs and things progressed from there. If his name starts with an O, it's probably the same guy. Seems very stand up, been great to work with for sure.

[ehancock]

Yeah that's him. I bought a set of Continental ExtremeContact DWS from him and then i felt guilty for spending money on my car so i was trying to sell :(

He said he would hook me up when it came time for tires on Tasha's car

[CW08DSG]

Originally Posted by ehancock

Yeah that's him. I bought a set of Continental ExtremeContact DWS from him and then i felt guilty for spending money on my car so i was trying to sell :(

He said he would hook me up when it came time for tires on Tasha's car

haha, don't feel guilty.

I had no intentions of selling my tires, just the wheels. But he made a couple of proposals for a complete swap with some tire suggestions and I figured wtf. I'd had blown the wheel money on something else and I'm definitely not in love with my current tires. I know he was looking for a complete set of tires/wheels for convenience sake, so this worked out well for both of us. The fact these should be a considerable improvement is a plus for me.

[Jonesy]

I don't know if TireRack sells Cooper tires, but I absolutely love my Zeon RS3-S summer tires. The grip is fantastic and they ride much better than my old Toyo Proxes 4s did. Wet performance isn't as good as the Toyo, but it still is very good for a summer tire, and I can feel confident about pushing them a bit in the rain.

I don't track my rabbit, but I do really push it in daily driving, and the grip from these is fantastic. Way more performance than my Rabbit would ever need, but it's nice to have the confidence. They're perform well above their price point, IMO ($135 installed for 225/45/17). They're even the tire Roush uses for most of their Mustangs. And there's an all season version. Tread life also seems pretty good, no noticeable wear after 4k miles.

[spblat]

Thanks for this thread Gavin. I'm about ready for a fresh set of tires for my 2009 with OEM 17's. Here's what I'm thinking:

I mainly want less road noise. Portland roads are a mess due to all the studded tires on the road.

I also want better grip accelerating in first gear. On the aforementioned awful Portland roads.

I don't have any interest in snow or ice characteristics. When things get nasty I don't drive the GTI.

Do any obvious choices pop out?

Thanks again.

[junker]

Michelin Pilot SuperSports. Done. And maybe wider than 225... 235...245 ;D