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.

[Straight-Sixx]

I have decided to go for the P-Zero’s just on the prior knowledge I know how they perform. There are so many choices now you just don’t want to get it wrong sometimes as things things are not cheap!

Thanks for your opinions on tyres though, moving forward its definitely something to think about if I get another car without the need/want for higher end tyres

[mmm-five]

Don't forget that P Zero is a whole range of different tyres of different performance, it's not a single pattern/compound...so the range covers everything from winter tyres to track tyres (just like Michelin's Pilot range).

In the P Zero range you've got:

• P Zero Winter
• P Zero Winter 2
• P Zero All Season
• P Zero E
• P Zero PZ3
• P Zero PZ4
• P Zero PZ5
• P Zero Rosso
• P Zero R
• P Zero Corsa

Just make sure you but the matching one