Indy 500 vs P Zero... Sport summer tire help

[bentin]

A lot depends on your roads. 200tw are perfect for roads around Austin. A 1000tw would have been fine for the boring ass roads around Dallas.

PS4 are 240 tw, yet the grip advantage of a 200tw tire is much greater and longevity isn’t that much worse. Plus PS4 tend to chunk when driven at the limits on track.

If you truly don’t plan to track or drive backroads very aggressively, then yes, 200tw are pointless. I also certainly wouldn’t recommend them for straight line hook up only.

 

[tigeo]

A lot depends on your roads. 200tw are perfect for roads around Austin. A 1000tw would have been fine for the boring ass roads around Dallas.

PS4 are 240 tw, yet the grip advantage of a 200tw tire is much greater and longevity isn’t that much worse. Plus PS4 tend to chunk when driven at the limits on track.

If you truly don’t plan to track or drive backroads very aggressively, then yes, 200tw are pointless. I also certainly wouldn’t recommend them for straight line hook up only.

Folks overly focus on the "TW" number vs. the tire as a whole including comfort and quietness, both important to many folks just driving on the street. Most summer street tires are in the 300 range and PS4S are 300.

 

[Daks]

The challenge with using "200tw" tires as some are suggesting is longevity - I have no idea why anyone would daily tires like this (that are really more track/autoX orientated) if you drive a lot b/c they will wear out so much faster than a tire with a higher tread wear rating on the street and will not have the comfort of a true street tire - how are folks driving on a public road that they would require tires like this is beyond me and no, I'm not talking about straight line/take-off tire spin issues with fwd cars that many use these tires to try to correct. I would think the Indy's would be fine, lots of folks use them for a summer street tire and they aren't as much $$ as many of the other popular summer tire choices like Michelin PS4S or Conti Extreme Contact Sports. I seem to recall looking at the Tirerack test data on the Indys and they were really no better than the Michelin PS4 all seasons. I personally have the PS4 all seasons as my "winter tire" b/c we don't need a dedicated winter tire where I am and the Conti Extreme Contact Sports as my summer tires...both are excellent street tires.

You are spot on. However, since putting in a bigger turbo the indys are not sufficient.

 

[Subliminal]

Lighter, different turbo, bigger engine, FWD. What works for your awd wagon doesn't necessarily work for everyone else's setup/needs/wants. It's not apples to apples.

 

[tigeo]

You are spot on. However, since putting in a bigger turbo the indys are not sufficient.

Sufficient for what? Straight line tire spin b/c fwd/high power or cornering grip?

 

[tigeo]

Lighter, different turbo, bigger engine, FWD. What works for your awd wagon doesn't necessarily work for everyone else's setup/needs/wants. It's not apples to apples.

The OP here is asking about street tires, no track use on a stock GTI and folks are recommending 200tw autoX/track tires. Those are not best choice here for his car and his use. A set of standard summer street tires is more than adequate and will last longer, ride better, and be quieter.

 

[tigeo]

Lighter, different turbo, bigger engine, FWD. What works for your awd wagon doesn't necessarily work for everyone else's setup/needs/wants. It's not apples to apples.

On a higher power fwd GTI, are folks having cornering issues that are the push to run 200tw tires on the street or are they concerned about the loss of grip in a straight line and that's what drives it? I don't see how anyone could get in trouble even pushing it hard on a public road (where you can't cross the double yellow) in the mountains in a GTI that has adequate "driver mod" on a set of PS4Ss.

 

[clownish]

Hankook R-S4s. Grippy above 60 degrees or with a lot of heat into them. Decent treadwear milage for the rating. Very strong sidewalls that hold up to big impacts. Have bought so many sets of R-S3 and R-S4 tires I don't know the count. In and around these, i've gotten sets of Indys, Pzero, Michelin PSS and PS4, and a few other summers. I keep coming back to the Hankooks because they're reliable and perform good enough for me. IMO, the Indys AND the Pzeros didnt have enough to feel good on a stock R32, let alone something torquey like a 4-500 wtq golf.

 

[Subliminal]

The OP here is asking about street tires, no track use on a stock GTI and folks are recommending 200tw autoX/track tires. Those are not best choice here for his car and his use. A set of standard summer street tires is more than adequate and will last longer, ride better, and be quieter.

plenty of guys, especially with hybrids, are even running 100tw like r888's as their daily

 

[Daks]

Sufficient for what? Straight line tire spin b/c fwd/high power or cornering grip?

Straight line. Even with the Cobb traction control set to max, punching it in third causes excessive spin. Tires have about 6k on them.... No issues with cornering. I don't track the car, I just beat it around town.

 

[odessa.filez]

Yes most people won't stomach 200tw NVH. Plus the hit to wear is big, as mentioned. Somone who uses them for motorsports might leave them on between events. Some may just like it as they are.

Still, the cornering grip and steering response is pretty amazing. Grip will knock seconds off of ax times.

People do plenty of other things to.wreck their ride comfort. GTI starts punishing you from the getgo with 18s. Some people size up to 19s. Or put in loweing springs, or poly bushings...

My car on Falken RT 660 245/40r15 feels absolutely heroic in terms of grip, but I can't wait to take them off post events.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

On a higher power fwd GTI, are folks having cornering issues that are the push to run 200tw tires on the street or are they concerned about the loss of grip in a straight line and that's what drives it? I don't see how anyone could get in trouble even pushing it hard on a public road (where you can't cross the double yellow) in the mountains in a GTI that has adequate "driver mod" on a set of PS4Ss.

For me, as I have a “higher” power GTI and was running ps4s’s before on my street car - of course it’s not cause I was running out of grip while cornering… and I really doubt anyone have ever said such either. It’s exactly as you said - we are just chasing and extra grip we can get to put the power down to our front wheels . When I first switched to rt615K+ 200tw tires I only did it on the front and kept running the 4s’s in the back of the car actually since all I was after was added grip when the power was onset. After a while I wanted to try and stuff wider tires in the front so I went ahead and swapped those fronts to the rear (between that and the peeve of wanting the sides walls to match front to back, that’s really the only reason I run 200tw in the back) it def wasn’t for optimized street driving/hooning.

While having the 200tw on the car all around is a lot more confidence inspiring when cornering on the streets too fast vs the Michelin 4s’s … they def. weren’t maxed out.

And it’s very accurate to note that the 615k+ are def not nearly as quite and comfortable as the 4s were - the wear factor delta isn’t that massive to me, I Daily my car and the tires that are on the rear of my car were put on the car last year the beginning of June and I just checked the tread depth at they are are right at 6/32 in which they started at 7.9/32nds.

 

[Malttv5]

You are spot on. However, since putting in a bigger turbo the indys are not sufficient.

You probably need minimum 265 now or 245 AWD .

For road use the Bridgestone Sport is a good value tyre , I saved $400 on a set over the PS4s .
Cheers

 

[Custom441]

Reporting back...

So, I went with Falken Azenis FK510's in 235/40R18. Mounted them on some FAST FC04's in gunmetal.

What. A. Difference.

Looks aside, the first thing I noticed was how light the whole package felt on the road compared to stock. The new wheels are killer! I've been running them for a little over 3 months now, mostly highway with some occasional zippy backroad stuff from time to time. The lighter wheels combined with the wider, more sport oriented 235 tire definitely provided the extra grip I was looking for. To my eye they do not seem to be wearing terribly at all, though I have not gauged them. In the wet they provide better traction than expected, and road noise is negligible on the highway.
Overall I'm happy with this setup, and would recommend these tires to anyone in a similar situation as me. I was also concerned about jumping to 235's. If you're considering it, just do it. They look great, and they drive even better! Having said all of this, my experience with sport tires is low at best, so I'm sure I would be equally happy with some of the other options that were mentioned in this thread. However I am glad I went with these over the Indy's. These seem like a more all-round (hah!) tire, but I could be wrong.

Thanks to everyone for their input - it was all very much appreciated. Sales & rebate aside, I went with the Falken's based mostly on your recommendations. Cheers!