Tyres for 2005 Sportline

[greasykitchen]

I'm thinking about new tyres for my 2005 FSI Sportline. Standard specs are: 205/55/R16

Two questions:

What tyres were originally fitted?

What do people suggest / recommend for standard driving with perhaps slightly above average performance (good handling, and response, but quiet and comfortable)? Nothing too pricey.

If there's already a thread(s) on this, kindly direct me to it.

Thanks.
Stephen

[BeigeJet]

Hi greasykitchen,

The original tyres fitted that I recall seeing were Kumho (cannot recall tread pattern) and Continental Sport Contact 2's. There may well have been others.

I'm currently running Yokohama 'C' Drive 2 in the same size you are asking about. This pattern updated the original 'C' Drive sometime in the last 2 years.

I find them very quiet and very good. But they tend to be a bit pricey Got mine in April this year $200 per corner fitted.

The previous set were the aforementioned original 'C' drive pattern and I got 56,000k from them.

Hunt around and you'll probably find like I did that there isn't many brands around below $200. Oh and that's for a tyre with the minimum load and speed rating. The original tyres were probably 91V. Anything lower than this rating may cause an issue with an insurance company if you have an unfortunate need to make a claim due to an accident.

I have found that tyres below $200 seem to have load rating lower than 91 and speed ratings lower than V.

Cheers,

Neil.

[peter]

Hi Stephen,
Recently put on a set of Toyo Teo Plus and have been really happy with them.

Getting a very smooth, quiet ride and good grip. I like them more than the standard Goodyear NCT5s.
And hopefully, good mileage out of them too, going by what I'd heard. Should be better than the NCT5s at least. ...though the treadwear is still only 300, which is similar to the NCT5s (280 I think).

Our local tyre place in Brisbane South has them in your size for around $160 each, fitted.
Hopefully would be similar in Melbourne.

cheers
Peter


ps. I use treadwear only as a rough guide, the same rating across different manufacturers can still wear differently under the same conditions.

[greasykitchen]

Thanks Neil and Peter,

I've had a bit of a look on some websites and among other things found Bridgestone Turanza ER300s at Bob Jane's for an advertised $169 each. The spiel for them make them sound good, but ... They have a rating of 91/V/240km/h. ER300

I don't desperately need tyres; there's still plenty of tread. But I do get a fair bit of road noise, some wheel spin (well, not actually - it's reigned in by the ESC) on wet surfaces under moderate power, and at least one of the fronts looks a bit flat even with the 'correct' air pressure. So I thought it wouldn't hurt anyway.

I figured the front may have been slapped on by the dealer and they (Bridgestone EL8Ks) don't match the rears (Goodyear Eagle LS2000 Hybrid II). I'd probably only get fronts for the time being unless I strike a good deal (60K Km service coming up $$).

So, any other input welcome.

Thanks.

[AdamD]

I'm also looking for a set of 16s for my mum's 2005 2.0 FSI Sportline. She's still running the original Continental SportContact 2s, but after close to 50,000km they've seen better days.

A mate recommended the Bridgestone RE002 as a good middle-of-the-road tyre that may suit the Golf; anyone had any experience running these?

I'd consider anything that's particularly quiet, but also has at least above-average (read: decent, not outstanding) dry and wet grip, in the ~$200 bracket.

[Transporter]

GoodYear NCT5, if you can get them, I was very happy with them on our MK5 TDI.

[Phunked]

I got 75,000km out my Conti CSC2s. Donnelan's in Box Hill replaced them for $185 a corner fitted 18 months ago.
When they're new, they're fantastic - good grip in wet & dry, and reasonably quiet. Grip is good throughout the life of the tyres, but noise increases with age. I'll keep using them.

[brad]

Michelin Primacy HP or Michelin PS3

[lucky phil]

I also have a 2005 Sportline that was running Conti Sportcontact 2's as standard equip. They had 50,000 km's on them so replaced the fronts with Conti Premium contact and they only lasted 15,000 km's. Just replaced the lot with Sportcontact 2's again for $125 a corner from Tempe Tyres. Looking forward to another 50,000 km's out of these. My son had the same on his Integra and have done 10,000 km's and still look new.