Tires Continental or DUNLOP
Tires are a great value. Good handeling in Dry and some wet. Started to get noise from them at 20K. Should rotate every 5k and should last a little longer than the 30K I got.
When I first had mine, I used to run 38psi all around but after a few thousand KMs I found them to ride too hard so I lowered mine to 36psi but was slightly better. But lately, i've been running them at 35psi all around and I find that this is the right balance for comfort and sportiness. I think 35-38psi is a good pressure. Anything higher seems to be over inflated in my opinion. These tires are far better than my experience with Falken's FK452s. Those tires were just noisy as they wore. I also found them to be stiffer on the widewalls in comparison to the conti's.
I find that I do notice that cornering gets more "spongy" on any of the Contis I have had below about 36-38 psi. The factory recommendation is a compromise with soft ride / comfort. To get better handling and mileage you can go way above 38 psi before the inside wears out faster - something like >45 psi, perhaps. I run my TDI at 40 psi, and the outside edges still wear out quickly (from the many corners in the hills, here). And yes, the Contis IMO do like to be inflated.
These were on my R32 (as shown) and only saw 5-6k on the roads, and were stored winters. That said, tires are more of a gimme than anything else. With the off camber/toe wear from a substantially lowered R you lose a lot of inner tread.
I've run Dunlop Wintersport 3D's for going on 4 years. They're great in snow aswell as just on cold pavement.
I went with the Conti's and couldn't be happier!
The Conti DW's are excellent, but I do find they tread squirm pretty badly until they wear a bit. I just did my first rotation after about 4500 miles and with the higher tread back on the front, I noticed it instantly. Other than that though, really good so far.
These tires are nothing short of amazing, i've never felt my previous gti or my new one perform the way it does on these tires. I can't recommend them enough, they're really *that* good.
I went with steelies and 16". I actually run 16" 55 series Dunlop Wintersport M3 tires. They are OK but not magic. I actually really love the look of plain black painted steel wheels on my lava grey A3. When I put my normal wheels back on in the spring I'm always disappointed.
These tires are notorious for sidewall bubbles. I went through about 6 or 7 in a year and a half, eventually bit the bullet and bought a new brand of tire.
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