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Summer tire help?

L

lecherousjester

New member
I know being in Central NY it's a bit premature to put on summer tires, but my tire guy is offering me a "trade-in" of $100 per tire on the stock Conti's if I do it with less than 1000 miles on them.

Above all else I really want something quiet and comfortable, and then after that good tread wear. Performance is nice but I've always had all seasons so anything summer is going to be a bump up for me.

I've got it down to 3 of them : Yokohama S.Drive, Hankook Ventus RS-3, and the General Exclaim UHP. I'm actually kind of leaning towards the Generals at this point because a bunch of family members have done General snow tires and they're pretty good across the board, and it seems to have an extensive database of reviews on TireRack saying they're comfortable and quiet with medium performance for a pretty low price.

Just wondering if anyone has anything to add for or against any of the ones I've listed, or even to steer me towards something else? I've already ruled out ones like the Pirelli PZero Nero and Michelin Pilot Exalto SP2 just because they're so damn expensive, so keep that in mind too.

Any help is appreciated, thanks!
 
S

subacpw

Ready to race!
if theres any snow on the ground and you go to a summer tire your done. you are going to have no traction.

that being said, if cost is a factor do you really need a summer tire?

For all daily driving a good all season tire will do just fine. Personally I would have loved to get summer tires on my GTI (considering in im ATL snow is non exstant) but since summer tires wear out so much faster and I would probably never be able to use the full grip of a summer tire at this point.

Now if your going to track or autox the car why not (time permitting) use the stock tires for daily then when its time to replace them get new rims (assuming you want a different style) for either the street or the track. Use a good all season for daily use on the car and have a good track/autox tire on the stock (or extra) wheels.

thats just my $.02

An im stuck with the dunlops.:mad:
 
L

lecherousjester

New member
Definitely not autox-ing, but I'd like tires that would be able to better handle the extra power from the APR chip I'm planning on getting. I know I'd never be able to drive in snow with summer tires, but my work is less than half a mile away from my house and I've got probably 4 other cars I can take if I need to make a longer trip.

I think I might be leaning towards the Generals because it says on tirerack that it meets the minimum requirements for an M+S tire, so it should be able to get me half a mile on a light dusting of snow if needed.
 
J

joema2

Ready to race!
lecherousjester said:
...Above all else I really want something quiet and comfortable, and then after that good tread wear. Performance is nice but I've always had all seasons so anything summer is going to be a bump up for me...I've got it down to 3 of them : Yokohama S.Drive, Hankook Ventus RS-3, and the General Exclaim UHP. I'm actually kind of leaning towards the Generals at this point...
Click to expand...
The General Exclaim UHP is a well-rated tire on TireRack.com. By contrast the Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS that many GTIs are equipped with is rated 18th in a field of 21 tires.

I swapped my Dunlops for Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s, at my expense. The Dunlops were quiet and handled pretty good for an all-season tire. However the rubber compound and siping cuts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siping_(rubber)) make it feel a little "squirmy" and imprecise.

The Michelins have much better turn in and transient response, and ultimate grip is better. The car handles more crisply, just feels sportier.

That said, there is more road noise over some surfaces than the Dunlops. Impact harshness is a little greater.

Compared to other all-season ultra-high-perf tires, the Dunlops were not rated super-quiet -- compared to other tires in the *same* category. But all-season tires will often be quieter than summer tires.

Ultra-high or max performance summer tires often sacrifice some gas mileage for their high performance. They have a little more rolling resistance. I'd estimate it's 1-2 mpg less on average.

If you really value highly maximum sporty handling, summer tires make a difference. Just be advised there are some tradeoffs as stated above. I haven't used the General, but it's a well-rated tire.

The GTI is a lightweight car and very sensitive to tire/wheel imbalance. If you want the best balance job, select a shop using a Hunter GSP9700 road-force balancing machine: http://www.gsp9700.com/. I have no relationship to them, just mentioning it FYI.
 
M

MikeW

Ready to race!
Does your tire guy carry Continental? If so look at the ExtremeContact DW. I'm planning on putting these on my new MkVI. The take seems to be good (but not extreme) handling, good ride, quiet, good wear, and not particularly expensive.

BUT...

You're going to need a set of winters. I live in NYC, but spent a lot of time upstate. If I lived up there, I'd have a set of steeles with a dedicated snows on them.
 
L

lecherousjester

New member
I actually got the General Exclaim UHP's and in upstate NY less than a week is enough to expose them to pretty much every weather possible. These tires are fantastic and better than I had expected - quiet, comfortable, great in the dry, great in the wet, and honestly not even too terrible in 10-12" of deep snow - I was able to get up the hill in my driveway even after being plowed in.

I know I'm going to need winter tires but I've still got about 6 months before I figure that out...I'm probably going to get some 16" steelies and grab either Nokian Hakkapelliitas, Hankook iPikes, or maybe even the General Altimax ones.
 
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