Do you do lots of motorway miles in your Sport?

[d_onions]

Hi, I've only managed about 13000 miles out of my 235/45 17w (97) P-Zero Pirelli's, as I'm told they are a relatively soft compound tyre. My driving is mostly motorway speeds and the heat generated significantly increases the wear on my tyres. Can anyone recommend a decent priced tyre that has a hard wearing compound without compromising on handling/stopping distances. I would expect Michelin or Continental to be good at everything for the £££. For example are Vredestein's or Barum any good for high-mileage? Ta

[damo140]

Hi, I've only managed about 13000 miles out of my 235/45 17w (97) P-Zero Pirelli's, as I'm told they are a relatively soft compound tyre. My driving is mostly motorway speeds and the heat generated significantly increases the wear on my tyres. Can anyone recommend a decent priced tyre that has a hard wearing compound without compromising on handling/stopping distances. I would expect Michelin or Continental to be good at everything for the £££. For example are Vredestein's or Barum any good for high-mileage? Ta

I got 18000 out of Barum's in a Saab 9-3, couldn't fault them

[gamichea]

A high propotion of my driving is on 60 and 70 mph limited roads. My Sport came with Rossos and I got 15.6k from the fronts at which point the tread centres were close to illegal but both sides of centre there was adequate tread. I had adhered to VW's pressure recommendations.

Being something of a Michelin fan, next came a pair of Primacy HPs. A far superior tyre at a somewhat superior price (then £130 a corner, Rossos £105). They lasted 20k despite starting life with only 7mm of tread rather than the more normal 8mm and exhibited the same wear pattern as the Rossos.

A lot of online research next led me to Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetrics which have been on for just 2k but have impressed as being every bit as good and probably better than the HPs. You have to go for a Y-rated tyre but that is no issue. They were £123 a corner whereas the HPs had risen to £150.

Interestingly Goodyear alone among these 3 brands publish pressure recommendations by tyre and vehicle combination and they are lower than VW's blanket recommendations by around .5 bar. I am running Goodyear's recommended pressure and have noted nothing adverse from so doing. Fuel consumption is marginally down but that coincided with the exceptionally cold February weather so I reserve judgement on that. I am most interested to see if I get more even wear across the tread but don't think I will see firm evidence until about 5k. If wear is more even I suspect Goodyear type pressure will work just as well for other brands and that VW are recommending pressures on the high side to meet an agenda of their own.

Incidentally, whatever tyre you go for they must be Extra Load rated for the Sport.

[Quatrelle]

Interesting post that Gamichea. I wonder if, had your driving been on 'twisty' roads, whether your tyre wear would have been more across the tread.

I usually run mine near the maximum pressure recommended by VW (partly because I forget to check them, so if they lose a little pressure they are still within limits), but my driving is seldom on motorway-type roads and I find the tyres wear fairly evenly.

I always run Michelins on my Laguna, and this has worked well for me on that. At the moment I'm stuck with Bridgestones on the Passat.

[gamichea]

Interesting post that Gamichea. I wonder if, had your driving been on 'twisty' roads, whether your tyre wear would have been more across the tread.

I do drive on 'twisties' when I can and tend to exploit the car's capabilities, traffic and passenger(s) permitting . Also usually manage to do several big passes in entertainment mode each year when holidaying in France & Italy.

I did try dropping the Primacy's pressure below VW's recommendation towards the end of their life with no obvious effect but did not get down to Goodyear levels and probably for insufficient miles anyway.

I still have Rossos on the rear running VW pressures and wearing evenly but I dislike them as unexceptional and noisy in a whining/swooshing kind of way. They have a reputation as puncture magnets, justified for me by the need to replace a 60% worn one after 25k. I'm toying with the idea of swapping front and rear to quickly finish off the Rossos which will probably last a further 30k on the rear and then get a fresh pair of Goodyears on the front.

[d_onions]

Great posts Gamichea.
I explained my problem to a guy at Blackcircles.com who recommended Continental Sport Contact 2 (£135.38 each fitted) or Bridgestone RE050A (£128.20 each fitted). Quite pricey compated to Toyo's etc but hopefully I'll see more miles with better grip/stopping distances. My Pirelli's suffer from saw-tooth wear which generates noise. I guess we'll see if my new one's deteriorate in the same way.

[johnloaderuk]

Great posts Gamichea.
I explained my problem to a guy at Blackcircles.com who recommended Continental Sport Contact 2 (£135.38 each fitted) or Bridgestone RE050A (£128.20 each fitted). Quite pricey compated to Toyo's etc but hopefully I'll see more miles with better grip/stopping distances. My Pirelli's suffer from saw-tooth wear which generates noise. I guess we'll see if my new one's deteriorate in the same way.

I've always used the Conti Sport Contact 2 on my 2.0TDI Sport. It was fitted with them from new, and I've just had another set of four fitted at 123k (fifth set, I think). I've never felt the need to try any other make as I've no complaints with these at all. Nearly all motorway driving, so not much stress on them. I got mine from National Tyres, £520 for four fitted, balanced, new valves.

I had saw tooth wear with one set, turned out it needed a four wheel alignment check, which has sorted the problem. As this is a known issue I got VW to do it for free.

Make sure you get the 97W rated tyres, I think these are for extra load, as the saw tooth wear occured with a set which weren't extra load. The tyre dealer assured me these would be fine, but I'll never know if it contributed to the saw tooth issue or not.

[pendle wizard]

hi i have dunlops on my sport - i read elsewhere in the forums that dropping the pressures from from 2.6 to 2.2 improved tyre wear and ride. went for a compromise and did 2.3 bar - WOW what a difference it feels way better on the road.

[AJA]

When I brought my Passat with 10K on the clock I had Pirelli P zero Rosso's on, I am assuming that these were on from new. I did a further 8K on these giving a total of 18K on the fronts. I then replaced with Good Year Eagle F1's which I had no issues with and these covered about 19K before I then swapped the rear Pirellis P Zero Rosso's to the front. I replaced the rears with some Fulda's which were recommended by local supplier.German Brand who Make Good Years. Apparently the local Audi re-boot their used stock with these (how true that is, who knows), but did notice the owners Boxter had Fuldas fitted!

I have now covered 39k and the Pirellis have about 5K left before I will have to change. Given the way the Fuldas are going I may put them on front too as they appear to be a very good tyre.

I do the most of my mileage on Motorway/ Dual Carriage with small amount of town stuff.

[sl123]

I bought my passat with 10k on the clock and Pirelli P zero Rosso's on - now at 14k 3 months later (mainly motorway).

Fronts are 3 and 3.5 (passenger front wearing more in middle than driver side) - seems same as gamichea !! Might drop the pressure a bit from 35 psi.

Rears are at 6.5mm.

I'm tempted to swap fronts to rears to balance them out, although it would mean replacing all 4 when the time comes.