Why do you need wide tires?

[sashpe]

It's almost a rhetorical question! I've just put my original summer tires on (Bridgestone Potenza RE050A 235/45/17) and I am shocked! Noise and comfort over the winter ones (Dunlop Wintersport 3D 205/55/16) is so low I can hardly believe I have driven the car with them for 5 years now. I drove the winters on DCC Normal which is miles softer and more comfortable than the summers on DCC Comfort! Traction seems to be considerably lower than the winter tires especially in city driving where the Bridgestones can't get near optimal temps - they spin and lock up way more than the Dunlops. Probably, there will be difference in fuel consumption as well. However, it's the noise which surprises me most - it's so much louder in the car, I wonder if it's still my car. Even at low speeds, I hear (and feel) every small imperfection on the surface even on good roads. I have noticed the difference every spring when swapping tires but this year I feel it's worse.

Do you guys think that the Bridgestones may have gone bad? They are on 50k kms and about 4.5 years old. Thread seems to be fine with about equal 4-5 mm depth (nowhere near the low thread marks). I have rotated them every spring diligently so the 4 tires are pretty much the same in terms of wear. In comparison, my winter Dunlops are roughly the same age and millage and I haven't felt them deteriorate!

This really got me thinking - does the Scirocco need such wide tires? For a track day may be but for everyday driving, when it's pretty impossible to heat up the tires properly, isn't it an overkill?

[D C]

I had the same experience with my last car Golf tdi, 17" Bridgestones where extremely noisy, Dunlop Wintersport 4D 205/55/16 winter tyres transformed the car to the point where I almost left them on. Handling and grip where fine and noise much reduced, after two 6 month winters they are much less than half worn.
Had 6 year old Bridgestones on my Z3 and now have changed to Avon ZV5's which again are a lot quieter.
Scirocco has 19" P Zero's which aren't too bad and hoping to fit the winters the start of November, your post has given me confidence that the car will be fine on narrower rubber, thanks.
Tyres do get hard with time though they should be OK for 4.5 years, maybe they where a couple of years in stock before they where fitted.
Dave.

[sashpe]

Can't imagine how the Scirocco rides on 19s! The swap from 16" to 17" is quite a difference and moving to bigger wheels has to escalate the problem even more.

DOT on my Bridgestones is 2009 so they are as old as the car. Probably should do wheel alignment just in case although with no uneven wear, I doubt it will make much difference.

Narrower tires are win-win in most cases, just make sure the wheel can take a smaller size. Mine are 8Js and to be honest 225 might be a bit too narrow.

[luc1989]

I bought brand new r and it's on 19" with bridgestone tyres and my god is it noisy, especially at motorway speeds.
Grip in the dry is good but as soon as it gets a bit wet they have no grip at all, I am mister unimpressed and as soon they get worn I'm swapping them for goodyear f1 assymetric 2.
The ride on 19 is busy on comfort and unbearable on sport.

[SMB]

I have to agree that the std bridgestones are noisy , I have had them on a mk5 gti and the r , both suffered excessive tyre noise. I'm sure that that rear wheel stepping wear makes it worse. That said the width doesn't mean you have to have noisy tyres, The Bridgestones claim 72 db, goodyear are 70, dunlops 68db, that may not sound like much but decibels is a log scale, so a 3 db drop should equate to a halving of noise level approx. I will be trying another brand at change time. I bet most people never look at the noise rating of a tyre!

[rambo]

I bought brand new r and it's on 19" with bridgestone tyres and my god is it noisy, especially at motorway speeds.
Grip in the dry is good but as soon as it gets a bit wet they have no grip at all, I am mister unimpressed and as soon they get worn I'm swapping them for goodyear f1 assymetric 2.
The ride on 19 is busy on comfort and unbearable on sport.

I have Goodyear Assymetric A2 EL (Extra load) fitted to my Scirocco R-line TDI 19 inch Luganos. Lovely tyres, nice and quiet, handles superbly and grips as well. Car is standard. What I do have done every time I have new tyres fitted is get a full alignment check done by a garage called ABP Motorsport based in Crewe, they have won Garage of the Year Award for the past 4 years and their service is exemplary. At motorway speeds with stereo off the car is very quiet. So worth having a good wheel alignment check done. Also run fronts at 35 psi and rears at 33psi. Hope this helps.

[Jason81]

Interesting as I have the Bridgestone Potenza's as well 235/45/R17 97W and I thought it was just me because they are noisy! Especially on rough roads and on motorway roads.

As a result I was contemplating soundproofing the whole interior of the roc, floor, doors and boot to provide a more quiet and relaxed ride, however after reading some of the posts it's safe to say that a change of tyres may just do the trick and quieten the cabin noise. Thanks guys I might invest in a good set of Dunlop tyres.

[sashpe]

Dunlop Noise parameters are lower than most tire manufacturers by some margin. Are their tires that quiet really? Has somebody compared some of the Dunlops against GY Eagles A2?

What causes the misalignment of wheels - rough roads, potholes, poor tire changes, vehicle amortization? I haven't observed uneven tirewear on both of my tires sets but, still, I rotate them every ~6 months so it might not be enough to develop.

[Jason81]

Quick update guys:

I've just replaced the two front tyres with Good Year Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 and have driven roughly 100 miles and compared to my two old Bridgestone Potenza RE050A, here are my initial findings:

- Quieter than the Bridgestone's and thus a more relaxed cabin.
- Softer/smoother feeling ride.
- Good grip.

Would love to also replace the rear 2 tyres with these Good Years as they are proving to be a very good improvement compared to the Bridgestone's, and all in all the Good Years are doing a good job

[skyblues11]

i think winter tyres have softer rubber compound, which should warm up faster and thus grips better on cold surface. That might helped the noise level too.

I had just swapped mine over recently from winters to the same bridgestones, but not noticed any difference as i never drive without the radio on.

Unless the UK has a regular 30 degrees plus summer that lasts for 5- 6 months, some part of me thinks its better to keep the winters on forever, especially for cold , wet days like today ( May bank holiday Monday, west midlands , 2014)!

[sashpe]

Honestly, after 2 months of driving with the Bridgestones I find them perfectly fine. I have even started driving on Normal from time to time.

I guess it is all about gettting used to. It is when you switch tires when you realize how good or bad was the tire you got used to.