quiet tyres

[VWTDIMAN]

Had Michelins on my 2.0 Bora, very noisey and terrible understeer!!!
Got Dunlops now much quieter and 100% better turn in.

Hi

Wondered which type of Michelins you used?

Be interested to know.

Martin

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Hi

Wondered which type of Michelins you used?

Be interested to know.

Martin

I think skyeman has already stated (in post #8) he don't know which Michelins they were.

Rgds

[VWTDIMAN]

Sean

Oh I see.

Regards

Martin (Slightly perplexed?)

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Hello to everyone on what appears to be an excellent site.

You're most welcome. Enjoy, and share all experiences, good or bad.

Having owned VW Golfs now for over 10 years, I can safely say that the best tyres for me at any rate, not necessarily the cheapest, are MICHELIN. I had a MKIII GOLF GL TDi and this ran beautifully on E3A (195/60) Michelins.

E3A - they are the later spec Energy tyres arn't they??? I too have found the earlier spec Energys to be excellent. Can't personally comment on the later ones, but I'm sure they'll be pretty darn good.

I would not knock Kwik-Fit. They provide a superb service and make every effort to look after your car. They also give excellent deals on Michelins and can match ATS Tyres easily for price.

How do they balance your wheels though? I had huge probs with Crap-Fit... whoops, Kwik-Fit being utter incompetents when balancing. They could only do static balancing, with one set of stick-on weights along the centre line, even though their wheel balance machines were capable of dual-line dynamic balancing . Single line static balancing may be fine for skinny wheels, like on Citroen 2CVs, but on any rims 5" or wider, you really do need (and should expect without having to ask for) dual-line dynamic balancing. As I mentioned previously, they repeatedly damaged my alloys (I changed five nearly brand new {6mm front, 7½mm rear}, but ******** lethal Yokohamas {which were categorically specced by the manufacturer} to Michelin Pilot Sports), gouging both inner and outer lips of the rims.

Also, don't forget that ATS (UK) and ATS Euromaster (mainland Europe) are actually owned by Michelin, so they will usually be able to better anyone else on Michelin prices. Also, any ATS UK warranty will be valid in Europe - handy if you nip over "la manche" etc.

Main VW dealers tend to be expensive on tyre fitting and often recommend Continental or Pirelli (not sure why?....is it because these tyres are cheaper).

Never heard VW dealers recommend Pirelli myself, but they do push Continental. The Contis are often OEM, and are also German made. The reason VW dealers are more expensive, is because they need to cover their overheads (nice shiny showrooms, nice shiny courtesy cars, nice shiny blondes/brunettes sitting behind desks answering phones etc), and because they know people won't haggle. (It's not just VW dealers, all main dealers for all makes are the same).

I recently bought a superb 04 reg MK V GOLF GT Tdi (140 BHP) and was amazed to see that the main dealer sold the vehicle to me with Euronic (or is it Eurotour??) 556 tyres on the front! I know it's not their responsibility to have good tyres on the car, but after spending close to £15,000, it surprised me. Clearly these were not on the car when sold new

You are quite right about tyre fitment, but very wrong regarding the responsibility of the Main Dealer. VW would have difinately NOT supplied a new car with anything but premium brand (usually Michelin, Continental or Dunlop) tyres. I would have done two things; firstly, ask the dealer to remove them and fit OEM branded tyres at their cost before purchase, OR demand a discount for your cost of replacing them BEFORE purchase. Secondly, write a formal letter of complaint to both the Dealer Principal, AND to Volkswagen UK, explaining that the VW Franchised dealer were knowingly supplying a modified car, with tyres which were clearly below the standard supplied when the car was new. This is quite important, as the car is still under the manufacturers warranty. If you were to fit non-standard/non-genuine parts, the garage would throw out any warranty claim. . If you had purchased the car out of VW warranty, or from an independent rather than main dealer, then it is a different matter, you (and the seller) are fair game - caveat emptor, as they say.

but, once I had the new Michelin PHP (Primacy High Performance) V rated (designed to run up to 149 mph) tyres 205/55/16V fitted, the car's performance thankfully transformed beyond belief. Road grip is truly superb even in the three inch downpour we had this weekend down here in Cornwall (early December 2006). Cornering is also amazing; the car holds the road like being on a rail.

Primacys are really designed for big luxury saloons, pounding up and down motorways/dual-carriageways, with "sir" in the back. For twisty Cornish roads, the Exalto would be better suited, although you seem to be v.happy with your present lot. :-)

Initially I had complained to our VW garage about a low frequency rumbling sound (1600 revs about 38 mph) in 4th Gear. After they introduced me to their version of the STIG (VW Chief Engineer who was brilliant....yes, he was) it transpired that this was not the car, it was the tyres!!! The two rear tyres were Continentals one with 3mm of tread and the other 7mm.

Well there you go, the dealer admitted the tyres were not fit for purpose . Get those letters posted today. For a main dealer to supply any car with such differences in tread depths is completely irresponsible.

The Michelins set me back £332 all in (I opted for £24.95 additional payment to Kwik-Fit to carry out tracking.....and I watched them do it).

Why the tracking? Did they explain why? Did they show you the abnormal wear on your existing tyres. If not, then they have fleeced you by carrying out unnecessary work. Another letter off to Trading Standards. And you can be sure you will need the tracking doing again when you go back to Kwik-Fit in 12 months time.

I suspect alloy wheels are prone to damage as when carrying out work Kwik-Fit use metal bars, presumably to stabilise the vehicle? Someone will tell me what these do. Kwik-Fit did not damage my 16" alloys but a small white mark (thin white line???) appeared on one; it may have been there before they took it for 2 hours.

I think you have your words mixed up. Alloy (as well as steel) wheels are prone to damage, by kerbing etc, and lazy tyre fitters. Kwik-Fit usually damage alloys. Describe the "metal bars" which they used: where were they used? The white mark you state might be chalk or crayon - sometimes used to indicate the location of the wheel weights, or sometimes to highlight an area of damage to the rim, such as a buckle, maybe on the inner edge of the rim. See if it cleans off.

So 4 x Michelin 205/55/16V tyres for £356.95 all in and that INCLUDED tracking. That 'feel good factor' has now come back after the rumble sound disappeared.

Oh, way up there /¦\ (oohh... that's pretty, in'it), you said £332 all in, now your saying £356 all in. You've been had. For a set of 4 of those Michelins, a good price after phoning around would be the £300 mark.

Michelin tyres are simply, in my opinion, the best on the market. Other opinions very welcome as I am new to what looks like an excellent VW/AUDI forum.

Yup, I fully agree with you on that statement. There may be tyres out there that are cheaper, but when you prang your motor because of ***** rubber, the £250 + excess on your insurance, plus the hassle of getting the dents smoothed out, somehow, the price difference is a no brainer.

Martin (aged 48)

LOL, I like it. Rgds.

[skyeman]

Michelins are still not for me but I did notice that Costco do them in every size type you could imagine and they looked cheap to me.
It must be Christmas the world over flowing with good will, that's the only explanation for somebody waxing so lyrical about Kwik Twits!
Or has Tom Farmer joined the forum?

[Teutonic_Tamer]

It must be Christmas the world over flowing with good will, that's the only explanation for somebody waxing so lyrical about Kwik Twits!

Well - it was you whom initially threw Crap-Stiff into the melting pot first, wasn't it . VWTDIMAN - Martin aged 48, then jumped in head-first after you .

Or has Tom Farmer joined the forum?

I thought he had sold them a couple of years back - I could be wrong though

[VWTDIMAN]

Hi TT and many thanks for all your excellent comments which I will take on board. It does seem that poor Kwik Fit do get a raw deal. I am wondering where one would do better to get tyres fitted - or is this obvious to eveyone but me? Presumably a VW specialist i.e. not a main dealer.

By the way TT - Do you know of any oil issues with the latest TDi engines as I have checked levels and they are low. Oil prices are sky high for these cars i.e. 13.99-a-litre. Give me some feedback on this.

Best regards

VWTDIMAN (still 48). Incidentally, you don't mention your age?

[skyeman]

Think Mr Farmer bought them back, he sold it to Fors for a very substantial fortune, they managed it into the ground then he bought it back for pennies!

[passat1.8T]

My 2 peneth worth so here goes...

I’m having continental sport fitted on the front of my 1.8T sport estate in the morning this was based on price and the fact that they seem a good all rounder, so will have to see how it goes.
As for Michelin tyres, ive had them on cars before and cant wait to get rid of them, I find that the tend to pull your car about EG when there’s a crack in the road or your on the white line or overtaking crossing the white line, I think they call this "tram lining" either way I would never choose to have any Michelin tyres.
I’ve had loads of Firestones and find there a good tyre for the way I drive which is quite harsh and I do expect a lot from tyres! lol
Yokohama tyres, great grip when warm and in the dry but don’t last 5 mins!

[skyeman]

I'd almost forgotten how much the Michelins tram-lined, terrible for following the camber
Yeah Yokies are great tyres if you can afford to change them every week.