Very Unpopular Opinion: The stock summer rubber is pretty good.

[johnnloki]

The stock summers, Bridgestone S-001s are much maligned on this forum. My set lasted me about 38k kms, with a fair bit of commuting on them. The dry grip was still there, but they were getting pretty slimy in the wet.



The Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 are spoken of as an upgrade to the stockers (and seem to be highly regarded everywhere). Even those have been eclipsed in their class now.



In Tirerack's tests, the newer Azenis FK510 best the Indy 500s in Grip in dry and wet. Wet traction being what I'd consider the most important factor in a summer tire (I don't like feeling like my car wants me dead)

I bought a set of FK510s, and I've put a few thousand kms.
They're a great tire and all, but they truly just don't have the ultimate grip of the stockers, even in the wet.

Don't be fooled by hype- UHP simply isn't as grippy of a tire as a Max Perf, no matter what.

My favorite tire I've ever bought, the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3, still rates pretty highly, and it's a 15 year old Max Perf design. Barely available in any sizes anymore, though.


"It's like 95% of the tire that is the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S for like 50% of the money."


No it ain't, and I should've opted for the Michelins.

 

[etmanning]

I had the stock all seasons on my car. Had a bad alignment so they wore out in 20K miles.

I went with Indy 500s as an upgrade and they made a HUGE difference. It feels like a totally different car.

Tires have been my best mod that I've done. Definitely recommend the Indy 500s. I don't have much experience with other tires so I might be completely off here but in my experience they're great.

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[Aelwulf]

So far my General AS-05s have done better in the wet and initial acceleration than my stock tires did. But being all-seasons they'll still break grip if I punch it or take off on a turn. Think the stocks were Potenzas. The General GMax RS summer tire is supposed to be similar to the Azenis and did better wet than the Indy 500s as well, and seems to have more folks switching than the Falkens. Both are probably good since the Indy 500 is supposedly being discontinued (caught a comment/link a week or so ago, don't remember where).

In the end it often comes down to personal preference. Tires can be almost as bad as oil/brakepads/etc. in that regard. But the Michelins and Contis do tend to still be considered best options if you have the money for 'em.

 

[drrck]

People hate on the stock A/S tires, not the the S001s. They are a fine tire, but I wasn't going to pay a premium to replace them when they were worn out. PSS are available for less cost.

 

[CDM MK7]

I bought a set of FK510s, and I've put a few thousand kms.
They're a great tire and all, but they truly just don't have the ultimate grip of the stockers, even in the wet.

Don't be fooled by hype- UHP simply isn't as grippy of a tire as a Max Perf, no matter what.

Depends on what tires you're comparing. Objective testing with other Max Performance tires says otherwise, but I can understand why you might perceive that with the FK510. The Falken has a fairly soft sidewall compared to other tires in it's class - especially the Indy 500. As a result, they're also a lot more comfortable on the road.

Personally FWIW - I've never driven on the S001 so can't comment, but I now own the FK510, had the Continental ECS previously, have a set of Indy 500 on my other car (wrx), and my previous car to the GTI was on Michelin PSS. The Falken's are easily the most comfortable, have comparable dry and wet grip to the ECS, and have the best hydroplaning resistance of the group. Turn-in is fantastic on the Indy 500, but the tire is heavy and nervous in the wet. The PSS was great all around, but I couldn't justify the price tag for a 300TW tire.

With the FK510 at it's price point, it's tough to beat IMO.

 

[Diggs24]

People hate on the stock A/S tires, not the the S001s. They are a fine tire, but I wasn't going to pay a premium to replace them when they were worn out. PSS are available for less cost.

This. I don't recall people saying bad things about the S001. Actually, don't think many people opted for summer tires as I think you had to request them if you ordered a car and not a lot of people ordered vs taking what was on the lots due to good deals on them. I think they even did away with that ability as well within the last few years so there are even less cars that had summers from the factory. I think most cars came with A/S which everyone hated.

Sounds like the FK510s are pretty good bang for the buck. I'm enjoying my NT-05s.

 

[drrck]

This. I don't recall people saying bad things about the S001. Actually, don't think many people opted for summer tires as I think you had to request them if you ordered a car and not a lot of people ordered vs taking what was on the lots due to good deals on them. I think they even did away with that ability as well within the last few years so there are even less cars that had summers from the factory. I think most cars came with A/S which everyone hated.

Sounds like the FK510s are pretty good bang for the buck. I'm enjoying my NT-05s.

I only got them b/c I ordered one of the first PP allocations I could get at my dealer back in 2014. Otherwise I agree very few people would have gotten them as dealers won't spec them by default as it would make swapping cars a PITA into a region that summer's don't belong in.

 

[johnnloki]

Whelp, I clearly misunderstood.

I am a little surprised about how many GTIs came from the factory with all seasons.

I always assumed it was the summers that everyone had been speaking about, and that maybe the PP diff was why I didn't have the same hatred for them.

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[blaqsheep]

It's the Pirelli or Hankook all-seasons that are crap.

I ran Indy 500's and now FK510 for daily tires. Falken's seem to be much better in wet and dry, albeit they are now wider (245 vs. 225). A lot more comfortable for daily driving, less road feel than the Indy's, they had pretty stiff sidewalls. Not sure if I'll see some track time on them. Cost wise they worked out to be less than Indy's (which have steadily increased in cost here). We'll see how long they last.

 

[johnnloki]

Using a 245 instead of a 225 changes the shape of the contact patch of the tire, on the same weight car and the same inflation PSI.

Just like with snows, a wider tire should perform worse in wet conditions.

Even though a brand new tire vs a well used one should generally favor the new one, for someone to prefer in wet conditions the 245 Falken to the 225 Indy 500s is a pretty good review for them.

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[mk7_bk]

My tires are close to shot ... shop said on my last inspection.. I think he said it was like 3/10ths car has 19k miles and its a 17. I dont know what measurement is a good indicator but the tires look fine... will say the stock A/S rode fine in the first 6 months. After that it was all down hill. Now its like every dam bump i feel. So ya stock A/S was fine first year and after that its been tough

 

[flipflp]

I was going to say, the S001s treated me pretty damn well for 20k miles, and still had a bit of life when I sold off my Cadiz. I wouldn't have bought them again necessarily, but I definitely had no complaints for all types of driving. Never did any track or autoX with them but I'm sure they would have been reasonable.

I'm not sure if there is/was a way in the US to spec true summers over A/S tires on a GTI or not, but the R will come that way.

 

[johnnloki]

My tires are close to shot ... shop said on my last inspection..

Tires are the most important mod on your car, and the best money that you can spend. It is literally the rubber that meets the road. A GTI needs great tires.



If I could go back in time, I'd opt for Pirelli P Zero Nero GTs rather than the Falken FK510s. They are essentially the same money, but have more grip. And a couple more bucks put you in Conti Extremes.

 

[mk7_bk]

Tires are the most important mod on your car, and the best money that you can spend. It is literally the rubber that meets the road. A GTI needs great tires.



If I could go back in time, I'd opt for Pirelli P Zero Nero GTs rather than the Falken FK510s. They are essentially the same money, but have more grip. And a couple more bucks put you in Conti Extremes.

Ya i just made a new thread to spread the word based on review the zero nero gts are probs cheapest best tires for summer. 80$ and you can get conti extremes which isnt much. But i need to look into a new rim as i wanna keep the stock ones for winter set


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[PLF8593]

Whelp, I clearly misunderstood.

I am a little surprised about how many GTIs came from the factory with all seasons.

I always assumed it was the summers that everyone had been speaking about, and that maybe the PP diff was why I didn't have the same hatred for them.

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Nope, it's the plastic A/S that came with 98%+ of GTIs