Oh. Then I stand corrected.

Im used to the all season tyres beeing really crappy in all seasons.

But it might be that you get another kind of rubbercompound who is more suited to tarmac than snow.

Kinda think this one is horses for courses, your seasons are considerable more extreme than ours, a tyre that better in the occasional snow that we get (Hampshire UK) and a lot of cold and wet weather with minimal performance drop-off the the few hot summer months is what I'm looking for.  Not entirely sure how I feel about about the 7mm thread depth outta the factory on these but, the 68db noise level of these can't be ignored when you have the rear torture beam suspension setup.

 

AsI've said I'm gonna give them a whirl and as they were only released in May of this year nobody has really got a real world experience of them in winter conditions.

Yeah, I kinda tend to forget that you what you call winter, I call autumn :p So I guess the tyres are equally different

Ill stay out wintertyre discussions on this board

I've gone fro the GY F1 symmetric 2's from Black Circles, they're 186GBP fitted at a local garage.

 

Good choice, they seem to be very popular on the O3 section and they have a decent bead for rim protection; at £93 each it is very good value for money (mid-range price for a premium range tyre)

As and when I need new tyres I'll go with the GY Efficient grip, I ran them on my Mk1 vrs with 18" wheels and was very impressed, very good wet grip and brilliant in the dry plus the road noise was considerably less than the Yokohama's they replaced.

 

Be a while yet as I've only done 2.5k in the 5 months I've had her.

Lots of tyre choices, I just hope that my wheels remain un kerbed until the tyres are sufficiently worn enough that I can replace them with something with some decent rim protection

check out the link above, they performed equally to Michelin's summer tyre [ energy saver ] on dry roads

and the same on wet against the alpin winter tyre

Had one last talk with some fitters who said the worst thing in the world to me "they'll feel a lot like the Primacy HP's you had on there already" so, I bottled it and ordered up a set of Conti SC%'s which are being fitted tomorrow.

Winter tires are generally very soft compound with deeper tread patterns. The softer compound adds flexibility in cold weather whilst the deeper tread pattern allows water to pass freely and provides for a smaller surface contact area (cuts snow, ice and standing water better). They are poor in warm weather where they are prone to wear/melt if pushed too hard.

 

Summer tires tend to have less aggressive tread pattern and harder compounds. Some performance versions are akin to grooved slicks. The larger contact area aids grip on firm surfaces, and the harder compound prevents them from wearing excessively. They are ineffective within standing water, snow and ice.

 

All-season tires sit somewhere within the middle. They can offer decent grip within varying conditions, but good summer or winter tires will offer more grip and be safer within their respective seasons. The beauty of these tires is that they also work well during the odd hot winter days and summer monsoons.

 

I swap from summers to winters during November and back again at the end of March. There is no perfect solution which covers every weather condition. You can wear nice trainers to play football but you'd be better off buying studded boots or molds if frequency warrants the cost.

Edited 19 August, 201510 yr by Orville

Living in glorious West Cumbria where the only real seasonal change is the rain gets warmer or cooler, wet grip / wet breaking is my usual yard stick. Based on that and other reviews I went for the GoodYear EfficientGrip Performance tyres and I can't say I am disappointed with my choice.

 

The side walls did feel a bit softer initially when cornering but grip is outstanding in both warm rain, cooler rain and even on the occasional dry day. Noise was noticeably reduced and rolling resistance was so much less that I had to adjust how I drove as I almost ran into the back of other cars as I would misjudge how much speed I would lose. Ride noise / comfort was also improved over the Contisport 2's.

 

I was always a fan of Continentals but the 2's were just so poor that I just couldn't push myself to try the 5's. Although from what I have heard they are a good tyre and much better than the 2's. My second choice was going to be the Uniroyal Rain Sport 3's.

Hi there, from what I remember my VRS Estate was delivered with Conti Sport 2 tyres and they were awful! From a grip perspective they weren't bad but wear and noise performance were terrible. I got 10k miles at the front and approx 12k on the back. Went to Michelin Pilot Sport 3 all round and they've lasted well so far. Although they are very noisy in the cabin, they do grip well and braking is good too. I always get my tyres fitted by Kwik-fit mobile or Tyres On the Drive and cost roughly £100-110 / per corner all-in.

Might go for another premium brand next time to reduce cabin noise but maintain grip and good wear. Any recommendations?

Michelin cross climates are not noisy. Not tested them in cold yet but they've handled this summer's torrential rain with ease. Very impressed so far

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Hi there, from what I remember my VRS Estate was delivered with Conti Sport 2 tyres and they were awful! From a grip perspective they weren't bad but wear and noise performance were terrible. I got 10k miles at the front and approx 12k on the back. Went to Michelin Pilot Sport 3 all round and they've lasted well so far. Although they are very noisy in the cabin, they do grip well and braking is good too. I always get my tyres fitted by Kwik-fit mobile or Tyres On the Drive and cost roughly £100-110 / per corner all-in.

Might go for another premium brand next time to reduce cabin noise but maintain grip and good wear. Any recommendations?

It's all about compromise. Soft tyres for good grip and low noise don't wear well.

Moved from conti 2 to f1 as2s after digging around on here and I'm very impressed.

I recently fitted a full set of GY F1 AS2s, loads more grip than the Dunlop Sport Maxx GTs fitted by the factory, same size rim as standard vRS, £93 a corner fitted via Black Circles.

Edited 14 September, 201510 yr by Matt Pez

I have Michelin Primacy 3 for summer, & Alpin A5 for winter, both quiet & good grip...............

 

Beside a specialist tread pattern the winters have more silica in the material construction which stops the tyre going stiff/hard at low temps..........

I recently fitted a full set of GY F1 AS2s, loads more grip than the Dunlop Sport Maxx GTs fitted by the factory, same size rim as standard vRS, £93 a corner fitted via Black Circles.

Your Dunlops must have had an actual treadwear rating of about 600 to get the mileage you achieved so I am not surprised you found the grip and ride so poor. I will be lucky to achieve half the distance on my meagre 103tsi but I find the ride and cornering grip pretty good. The rolling resistance seems low as well.

V much a wild card but have been well impressed with Hankook Ventus V12 Evo 2's......v good grip levels wet or dry, quiet and seem to be wearing v well too.....a good £30ish/tyre cheaper than the Dunlop crap that was on it before too.

V much a wild card but have been well impressed with Hankook Ventus V12 Evo 2's......v good grip levels wet or dry, quiet and seem to be wearing v well too.....a good £30ish/tyre cheaper than the Dunlop crap that was on it before too.

 

+1  (especially very quiet and wearihg well)

Thats quite expensive I only paid £154 per tyre for 19" assymetric 2's supply and fit

Edit unless that price is for 2?

 

Oh yes, that was the price for 2 tyres fitted

Let us know what you think of them, as I am thinking of changing the CS2s on mine due to the amount of noise they produce. I am torn between the GY F1s and Michelin Pilot Super Sports, as they get even better reviews than the F1s.

 

So far, very similar to the OE tyres, possibly a little quieter, but not by much.

MPG appears to have improved, but not by enough to say that it is the tyres rather than more motorway miles/more efficient driving.

Grip seems to be on par with the OE tyres also.