Best tyres for my VW MK6 Golf?

whitecloud663

Hello again,

Hope you all had a merry Christmas and a soon to be happy new year

Following on from my last thread, my car is booked in for a cambelt change and full service at the VW dealership in early january.

My front 2 tyres (have not been changed since new) was also recommended for a change. The tread has gone down to 3mm. The tyres as from new were Continentals Eco Contacts. Dealer has charged me £80 for each tyre. They will only supply me the Continentals. A friend of mine tells me that's absolutely ridiculous and that I can get tyres else where for half the price although they will not be Continentals.

When I went to the VW dealer the last time, I queried why I should stick with the Continentals and the sales assistant told me its best to keep all four tyres the same brand and that Continentals are very good tyres and going for cheaper ones may not provide the same levels of grip. Are the dealers trying to scam me or is he telling the truth? Shall I just stick with the dealers recommendations ?

motorguy

what size are the tyres?

It should say something 205/55 R16. Thats whats on my mk6 1.6TDI

I went for Hankook Ventus Prime 2's. They're standard fit on mk7 golfs. Paid about £65 each, fitted, replacing Dunlops i had previously.

If you plug in your reg and details into blackcircles, it'll give you info about grip levels etc on each tyre type.

http://www.blackcircles.com/order/tyres/search

forgotmyname

Yes you can get cheaper tyres. Cheap chinese budgets with funny names and no grip.

I use Khumo which is a good mid range tyre. But i wouldnt go any lower.

whitecloud663

motorguy wrote: »

what size are the tyres?

It should say something 205/55 R16. Thats whats on my mk6 1.6TDI

I went for Hankook Ventus Prime 2's. They're standard fit on mk7 golfs. Paid about £65 each, fitted, replacing Dunlops i had previously.

If you plug in your reg and details into blackcircles, it'll give you info about grip levels etc on each tyre type.

http://www.blackcircles.com/order/tyres/search

Thanks for that. Tyre size is 195/65 R15 H. Looks like they are selling the same Continental tyre for £60.

What about cheaper budget brands like Arrowspeed or Nankang? Is it worth saving an odd £30 for these brands?

facade

whitecloud663 wrote: »

Are the dealers trying to scam me or is he telling the truth? Shall I just stick with the dealers recommendations ?

Depends on your definition of "scam"

The dealer will make more money off you if he fits the tyres, as he pays a lot less than £80 for them.

You can likely get the same tyres a few pounds cheaper (fitted remember, that is normally extra, as is the new valve & balance: read the small print on the online adverts)

There are lots of different tyres, each has a rating for dry grip, wet grip, noise, wear levels, economy etc.
If you are used to the feel of the continentals, replace them like for like.
Buying cheap ditchfinders could be a mistake but you can buy better tyres. My Nissan has continentals, they wear out quicker than you can say "I only fitted these last week " but they seem to grip quite well.

It is best to have all 4 tyres the same, as more/less grip at one end of the car could cause handling problems in extreme conditions, that you likely will never encounter.

bryanb

whitecloud663 wrote: »

Thanks for that. Tyre size is 195/65 R15 H. Looks like they are selling the same Continental tyre for £60.

What about cheaper budget brands like Arrowspeed or Nankang? Is it worth saving an odd £30 for these brands?

I've got Nankang winter tyres on (They came on some alloy wheels I bought) Not half as bad as I expected from the bad publicity I read.

motorguy

whitecloud663 wrote: »

Thanks for that. Tyre size is 195/65 R15 H. Looks like they are selling the same Continental tyre for £60.

What about cheaper budget brands like Arrowspeed or Nankang? Is it worth saving an odd £30 for these brands?

Again, the Hankook is coming out well with 5 "stars", and a B for economy and B for wet grip, for £53.99.

I personally wouldnt go for a budget tyre as with a common tyre size like yours and mine the saving is quite minimal relatively speaking.

whitecloud663

thanks for all the input. I think I'll just stick with the VW dealers in regards to the Continental tyres. I'll try to negotiate with them to see if they'll bring down the price to match other suppliers like Blackcircle. Hopefully they should!

motorguy

whitecloud663 wrote: »

thanks for all the input. I think I'll just stick with the VW dealers in regards to the Continental tyres. I'll try to negotiate with them to see if they'll bring down the price to match other suppliers like Blackcircle. Hopefully they should!

Dealers rarely have their own tyre fitting bay so chances are they'll just be running it up the road to the nearest tyre centre and adding on their markup.

I'd be trying local tyre fitters if you dont want to use blackcircles.

whitecloud663

motorguy wrote: »

Dealers rarely have their own tyre fitting bay so chances are they'll just be running it up the road to the nearest tyre centre and adding on their markup.

I'd be trying local tyre fitters if you dont want to use blackcircles.

Hmm that is interesting. In that case I'll see if they'll price match locally, and if not I will just go to somewhere local but will stick with the Continentals Eco Contacts.

DUTR

whitecloud663 wrote: »

Hello again,

Hope you all had a merry Christmas and a soon to be happy new year

Following on from my last thread, my car is booked in for a cambelt change and full service at the VW dealership in early january.

My front 2 tyres (have not been changed since new) was also recommended for a change. The tread has gone down to 3mm. The tyres as from new were Continentals Eco Contacts. Dealer has charged me £80 for each tyre. They will only supply me the Continentals. A friend of mine tells me that's absolutely ridiculous and that I can get tyres else where for half the price although they will not be Continentals.

When I went to the VW dealer the last time, I queried why I should stick with the Continentals and the sales assistant told me its best to keep all four tyres the same brand and that Continentals are very good tyres and going for cheaper ones may not provide the same levels of grip. Are the dealers trying to scam me or is he telling the truth? Shall I just stick with the dealers recommendations ?

Considering the interval and/or mileage for a cambelt change the tyres have lasted well, my Conti's on the front would last about 17K, so in the grand scheme of things, £80 a pop is not bad.
The one new year I had to replace the rears and in desperation I ended up with some budgets at £50 a go vs the usual £110, and to my surprise they seemed better than the Conti's.
When time comes on this car I will be in a dilemna on which rubber to wear but it depends on the mileage to 3mm depth.
All that said with the winter conditions not far away, good tread is going to be handy.