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New wheels - now what tyres?


OzGTI
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I'm sitting here in my office looking at a set of beautiful, very nearly new 18" wheels - thanks to redragon! They arrived this morning from Malaysia.

Not only are these beautiful but they are rare - remember that the Monza/Detroit 18's are not avaialble as an option in Australia, nor normally available throgh VW as a spare part.

As far as I'm aware the only other set here belong to Toti, who has been enjoying his new GTI - complete with 18's for about a week now.

The question now is, what tyres?

I've been happy with the Conti SportContact 2's on the 17's. Anybody else have some recommendations? Goodyear, Yokohama, Bridgestone, Pirelli, Avons, Michelin are all available here so we are not short of choice - it just that its hard to test drive a set of tyres.

I'm looking for good road holding etc and quietness. Durability is less of an issue for me as I only do about 6,000 miles a year. Quietness because our roads are fairly coarse and we do tend to get a lot of road noise into the cabin- this is a common 'issue or complaint' with respect to Euro cars sold here.

Any and all advice welcome.

Also, can someone tell me what the inflation numbers are for the 18's? 2 up and fully loaded. Either imperial or metric numbers are OK.

The Aussie tyre placard on the filler lid only lists 16's and 17's and there is no mention of 18's in the manual.

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The Fulda Carat Exeleros are very quiet and seem to grip well for normal everyday application, the ride is pleasant on them also. From the few fangs that I've had from a stand still I did notice a little wheel spin however the tyres have done less than 300kms and I haven't pushed it too much as I'm still breakin her in.

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I got Yokohama Parada 2's on my OZ's. Have to say I am rather impressed so far, very very grippy in the dry, and they have excellent water shedding on rain soaked roads.

Cool looking tyre too 169144-ok.gif Only disadvantage I would say is that as with all Yokohama's, the tyre compound is so soft for grip, they wear quicker than most tyres

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I settled on the Goodyear F1s this time around after some reliable recommendations from various sources. Although it isnt the tyre of choice for the Monaro (normally Pirelli Rosso Zeros), they have given far more grip and much more control of the car. Am not sure I will still get 16k out of them though. Worth a try, I'm mightily impressed so far!

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[ QUOTE ]

did you get your damaged rims sorted?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not yet Petsy, gotta take them to a place by me called Lap-Tab

Have heard good things about them and their website is quite impressive, their boss there reckons he can spray and repair only the damaged areas and blend them in. Which I am happy with as I don't want the entire wheel spraying as I have the 'OZ Racing' decals around the centre of the wheel.

Will report back on the quality of their work anyway so I can recommend them to anyone else who bashes their alloys, although I wouldn't wish that on anyone beerchug.gif

Thanks for asking though 169144-ok.gif

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Thanks LeMan,

I've heard good things about the F1's. They look like they'll be on the short list - they are also amongst the most affordable.

Also seriously considering the Yokohama V183 - assymetrical design like the Conti's.

Also thanks to Mose, AndyW and lagrian re the positive F1 comments.

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Hi Jono,

Yes, they did but they are super expensive $520 per tyre compared to between $360 per tyre (Goodyears) to $400 per tyre for Bridgestone S03, with the Yokohams's in between.

I've been haapy with the 17' Conti's - despite the cost, might still go down that path.

I was also looking to see what brands had the best sidewall/rim protection - no point damaging the new 18's.

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[ QUOTE ]

Hi Jono,

Yes, they did but they are super expensive $520 per tyre compared to between $360 per tyre (Goodyears) to $400 per tyre for Bridgestone S03, with the Yokohams's in between.

I've been haapy with the 17' Conti's - despite the cost, might still go down that path.

I was also looking to see what brands had the best sidewall/rim protection - no point damaging the new 18's.

[/ QUOTE ]

My GTI with 18's came with ContiSport2's. My Alfa had Pirelli P7000's -- good grip but quite soft (wore quickly).

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Tried out S-mode and Launch Control today!! I was being a lil bit naughty coz I've only just clicked over 400kms but I couldn't wait any longer! The car got the better of me!

WOW!

The Fulda's are pretty much broken in now and the performance I must say is respectable (in the dry anyhow). Although I was being a bit cautious with LC, the car had no problems gripping and there was no skidding. Also went over what is probably the worst train tracks in my area and the GTI felt like it was gliding over them. Much smoother than the 17s on my former 3 series BMW.

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Like MOSE I settled for the Goodyear F1 GS-3D's in the end.

My initial thoughts are these:

The Monza's look spectular - really pleased I got them and once agian heaps of thanks to redragon.

My worry about the ride, moving from the 17's to the 18's has at least initally quelled. The ride quality feels very little different from the 17's.

So the Goodyears. Firstly, they look good. They fill thewheel arches very nicely along with 18's. They also have an agressive tread pattern.

Its been a dry day here so I don't have any sense of them in the wet as yet, but dry performance seems very good. No time for any agressive driving yet though.

My other initial feeling is that I can hear more of the exhaust note, which can only mean that the Goodyears are bit quieter than the Conti's. Now if this really is the case then I 'm very happy, always much beter to hear the exghaust the the turbo working than the tyres.

Thanks to the guys who recommended the various tyre types, certainly helped me make some decisions.

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[ QUOTE ]

Tried out S-mode and <font color="red"> </font> today!! I was being a lil bit naughty coz I've only just clicked over 400kms but I couldn't wait any longer! The car got the better of me!

WOW!

The Fulda's are pretty much broken in now and the performance I must say is respectable (in the dry anyhow). Although I was being a bit cautious with LC, the car had no problems gripping and there was no skidding. Also went over what is probably the worst train tracks in my area and the GTI felt like it was gliding over them. Much smoother than the 17s on my former 3 series BMW.

[/ QUOTE ]

<font color="red"> </font> Hi Guys, How does the LAUNCH CONTROL work?

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