Tires YOKOHAMA or BRIDGESTONE
I still have my summer wheels and tires left from when I traded my B5 A4 in on my GTI. I bought these wheels new from a dealership a couple of years back, and they have two summers on them, as do the tires. The wheels are in perfect shape, with no curbage, scratches, or defects of any kind at all.
Yes Street - 245/40/17 Yoko S-Drive (`3mm clearance on inside to clips on suspension, no rubbing at all) Track - 235/40/17 Toyo RA1 (best size I could get RA1s a the time)
The H rated 18" bridgestone dueler H/Ls seem to perform about 90% as well as the V rated OEM Contis that I replaced them with. IMO I gave up 10% of the sticky feel of the Contis for the awesome tread wear of the bridgestones...
I had the same problem with my Bridgestone Potenza RE050's. I contacted Bridgestone directly and they told me that they would warrranty my tires at a pro-rated cost. My tires had 20K on them and they met me halfway. I ended up with a brand new set of Bridgestone Potenza RE960A/S Pole Position's with UNI-T for $400 installed (Usually $800). I've had the tires for about 6 months and they are pretty quiet compared to the RE050's.
The MZ-01s have served me very well in every aspect (never have been stuck, and I'm in a notoriously awful snow car) but dry driving, where they are incredibly squirmy (and now, with worn tread, dangerous in the wet).
I put some Yokohama A008's and new shocks on it and I was off. Like the 914 it had nearly 50-50 weight distribution, and relatively stable RWD handling.
I replaced the awful Goodyear Wranglers that came on my egg with Bridgestone H/L Alenzas @ about 800 miles. Although I've now done only about another 1K miles on the Bridgestones, I'm 100% pleased with the switch. They are HUGELY quieter and ride marginally better. Their wear rating is about 40% better than the Goodyears, and they are rated very highly by customers on the Tire Rack web site. In addition, you gain c. 200#/tire load capacity. I'd not hesitate to do the same thing again.
There's a really interesting all-season Yokohama tire available (called the Advan S4) in 235/50R17 that is "AA" rated for traction, has a 400 treadwear ratiing, and is one of the least expensive tires in its category and size at $186. Its also rated #1 in the ultra high performance all season category. I'd go with this in a second.
I ditched my 19s for the factory (Canyon) 17s on my V8. Mounted up Bridgestone Dueller A/T Revos (265/65/17) about 3K mi ago. I can't say enough good things about this tire -- second truck that we've put them on and they're doing great. Super in rain, snow, and the usual winter muck!
Bridgestone Potenza G009 195/50/15 (horrible crap tires)
Write your review
Help others - share your experience with this part.