Which tyre Golf GTD?

[Straight-Sixx]

Looking at getting 4 new tyres this week for our Mk7 Golf GTD. I have always used Pirelli P-Zero since we have owned the car which has been over 7 years now. Usually I have only had to replace 2 at a time so kept the same brand. Before I press buy on Blackcircles for £610 fitted for 4…is there a good tyre that is cheaper that I am over looking? 225/35/19 size, I have no complaints about the P-Zero, the wife only potters about in it day to day usually but we do end up frequently on the motorway for family trips. Any suggestions?

Many thanks

[mmm-five]

£150/corner fitted, for a 19" premium brand doesn't sound excessive to me...but doesn't seem worth buying an expensive, max/high performance tyre for touring style driving.

Something slightly cheaper like the Vredestein Ultrac Pro or Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127 will only save you £100 anyway, and below that you risk going into the budget brands (although you may be able to find the odd mid-range Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS71, Yokohama Advan Sport V107 or GiTi Sport 2 a little cheaper).

[Haltamer]

My standard comment; If it's for general runabout and touring duties, Look at an All season tyre instead.

Greater touring bias, comfort, greater safety in the cold etc.

[Straight-Sixx]

mmm-five said:

£150/corner fitted, for a 19" premium brand doesn't sound excessive to me...but doesn't seem worth buying an expensive, max/high performance tyre for touring style driving.

Something slightly cheaper like the Vredestein Ultrac Pro or Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127 will only save you £100 anyway, and below that you risk going into the budget brands (although you may be able to find the odd mid-range Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS71, Yokohama Advan Sport V107 or GiTi Sport 2 a little cheaper).

This is my thinking, the are expensive (in my eyes) but moving to another brand is only saving me a few quid when I know that the P-Zeros work and do last. I sometimes use the car to head up Yorkshire by myself so I do like a decent tyre for the B-roads.

I wasn’t sure if there was another go to tyre that I have missed that would save a considerable amount.

I chose the Continental ContiSport 7 for my Golf but it does less mileage than the GTD so didn’t fancy them wearing quicker the the Zero. Plus they similar in price.

[Straight-Sixx]

Haltamer said:

My standard comment; If it's for general runabout and touring duties, Look at an All season tyre instead.

Greater touring bias, comfort, greater safety in the cold etc.

I haven’t ever owned a Touring tyre on a car so I’ve always been a bit apprehensive about buying a set in case of whatever reason…even though in the back of my head they would perform absolutely fine

[mmm-five]

Straight-Sixx said:

I haven t ever owned a Touring tyre on a car so I ve always been a bit apprehensive about buying a set in case of whatever reason even though in the back of my head they would perform absolutely fine

'Touring' is just a label for tyres that are the level below tyres with the high-performance label...usually harder-wearing and better in the wet than a high/max performance tyre...but the gap is narrowing.

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 24th February 13:23

[stevieturbo]

mmm-five said:

'Touring' is just a label for tyres that are the level below tyres with the high-performance label...usually harder-wearing and better in the wet than a high/max performance tyre...but the gap is narrowing.

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 24th February 13:23

I think there were some tests on "touring" type tyres, good tyres are still good tyres.

One one of my cars I opted for Conti Premium 6/7, simply as the sport contact was not available in those sizes. I'm near sure I recall someone saying some of the "sport" aspect is mainly just a stiffer sidewall. Who knows really.

Driving the Premium's hard in a sporty car for sprints and hillclimbs, where I have used the tyres I have been very impressed for what is just a "premium" tyre and not a sport tyre
And in the wet they seem very good.

Have a couple of sets of wheels/tyres now for the car so if I get a chance I'll try them back to back at the same event with the A052's

[mmm-five]

stevieturbo said:

I think there were some tests on "touring" type tyres, good tyres are still good tyres.

One one of my cars I opted for Conti Premium 6/7, simply as the sport contact was not available in those sizes. I'm near sure I recall someone saying some of the "sport" aspect is mainly just a stiffer sidewall. Who knows really.

Driving the Premium's hard in a sporty car for sprints and hillclimbs, where I have used the tyres I have been very impressed for what is just a "premium" tyre and not a sport tyre
And in the wet they seem very good.

Have a couple of sets of wheels/tyres now for the car so if I get a chance I'll try them back to back at the same event with the A052's

The gap between performance and longevity between the different tiers (touring/high performance/max performance/track) has certainly reduced since I started driving...and the price difference has narrowed somewhat too (although track tyres that aren't just shaved road tyres are still expensive).

I've driven trackdays on budget tyres that came with a 2nd hand set of trackday wheels (just to kill them off), touring road tyres (Pilot Exalto), high performance road tyres (Michelin MMX then Michelin Pilot Sport 2/3/4/Supersport) to track tyres (R888s) to tarmac rally tyres (Silverstone S585 - good value, a step up from R888s, but noisy & heavy), and even on used Pirelli P-Zero Corsa/C tyres from Porsche Cup cars.

I couldn't honestly claim that any mid-range/premium tyre is 'bad' and as long as you're happy to research the positives and negatives of each tyre to match your own use (i.e. cold & dry vs warm & wet performance) then you won't end up in a ditch due to the tyres themselves.