What tires did you replace your stock Conti's with???

k1xv said:

I faced a decision like that a while back, and decided to replace a pair of tires with new ones. The following Spring, I replaced the second pair. It just kills some folks to replace tires that still have some legal tread on them. When I replaced the first pair, I saved the "good" tire because I could not bear to throw it out.

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While 2/32 may be fine for dry roads and wet roads below highway speeds they are in fact very risky to drive at highway speeds and will dramatically increase stopping distances in emergency situations. So considering most of my commute is going between 60-70mph I thought it safe to just get new tires mounted.

I'm not just pulling facts out of mid air...
Here's some good info on tread depth:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=157
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/how-safe-are-worn-tires/index.htm

A great video to better illustrate the difference between a 4/32 and 2/32 tire:
http://youtu.be/2pwDrny-4KY

TDI smile said:

My car came with stock Michelin's and I replaced them with Michelin. I'll run Michelin's only.

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Care to share which ones exactly?

ATR said:

A great video to better illustrate the difference between a 4/32 and 2/32 tire:
http://youtu.be/2pwDrny-4KY

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That is good info. I didn't even consider stopping time, just mileage and hydroplaning. Better to be safe and pay a bit more..

Anyone try the Michelin Pilot Sport AS3's? I'm sitting at 66K on the OEM Contis, probably another safe 5K left. Overall they have been a good tire for me...on two cars. They lasted 73K on my 06 Jetta.

mrutter1 said:

Anyone try the Michelin Pilot Sport AS3's? I'm sitting at 66K on the OEM Contis, probably another safe 5K left. Overall they have been a good tire for me...on two cars. They lasted 73K on my 06 Jetta.

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The as/3's were on the short list at a very close second to the tires I got (v rated pure contacts). What ultimently gave favor to the conti pure contacts was better winter traction.

If you live in a area that doesn't get much snow the as/3's may be the better choice. However, they won't get the mpg's that the stockers will (2-4mpg less) they will pay off with epic grip however.

a/s 3's are crap in the snow - amazing on dry &wet pavement. louder than the mxm4 or stock conti sets.

definitely get winters if you live in snow country

Tires are still going strong! 80,300mi. I put them on around 37,000mi...

BarnyardsTDI said:

Tires are still going strong! 80,300mi. I put them on around 37,000mi...

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Wow 40k? How much tread is left and what tires are they?

I'll have to go out and check but pretty sure about 3/16" above the wear bars still. They are the Michelin Primacy MXM4's. Rated for 55,000 miles so I hope to acheive that. I do rotate about every 5,000 miles and get them balanced as well and I normally run 38psi (door placard) unless I have a fully loaded car and a long trip. Then I go 44 psi (max load on sidewall). They have been great tires and I've made a road trip from Texas to California and one up to Colorado on them. Quiet too!

^^I'm having about the same experience as Barnyard with the Primacy MXM4 tires. I'm at 5/16 after about 45K miles. I'm planning to get new tires for the winter, that could be close to the 55K warranty, even if the MXM4 tires would pass inspection. I'll be getting the same thing again.

One difference, I run my tires softer than Barnyard. I'm running 33 psi for what I think is a more quiet and comfortable ride. I'm also running slightly oversized tires, 235/45/17.

PS: One other thing, it seems like the wear bars have little nubs on them so you can tell immediately if you're running down to the bars. It's like they have little indicator flaps on the wear bars that would come off immediately if you got to the bars. I really only checked once, a couple of tires at a couple of places, but I'm pretty sure there were little flaps. I was thinking maybe it's like the ones on the tread when the tires are new, except these flaps don't wear off until you get to the bars. Its pretty cool if I'm not crazy.

Based on the feedback here I don't feel comfortable trying to get the remaining life out of my tires to get down to 2/32". I've narrowed down my three choices:
1) Continental Extreme Contact DWS (W speed rated) - $132
2) Continental Pure Contact (H Rated) - $127
3) Kumho Ectsa PA31 (V Rated) - $88

It sounds like everyone loves the Michelin Primacy's but they are a bit expensive for my taste. I run a set of dedicated snow tires in the winter so I don't necessarily need something that is incredible in the snow. With that said, I have 50k miles on the car now and have no plans to keep it past 100k (may upgrade to a newer model when it comes out) so I just need something that will get me to 100k. Thoughts and opinions? The Kumho's got good reviews on tire rack but I'm wary since they are so cheap.

^^My opinion, I wouldn't ever consider a higher speed rated tire. In my experience they're always noisier and less comfortable than their lower speed rated counterpart. So for me, the V-rated and W-rated tires would not be on my list. Maybe if I were racing on the weekends, but I'm a commuter. I think the sportier tires will also tend to wear a bit more quickly and can even affect your mpg in a negative way. An increase in performance might be worth the trade-off for you, but I'm just saying it's something to consider.

All that said, I think both Continental tires are well regarded here. In particular, I think the Extreme Contact DWS is praised here and on the GTI forums. Ultimately, I tend to go by the Tirerack test results not the surveys. I look at the surveys, but figure there is a lot of noise in there that has to be taken with some skepticism.

How do all those tires stack up at Tirerack?

For the Primacy MXM4, they said...
What We Liked: Excellent wet traction and good road manners
What We'd Improve: There's not much that needs improvement
Conclusion: A very capable Grand Touring All-Season tire
Latest Test Rank: 1st

PS: I took a quick look. The Continental PureContact is available as H-rated. It also did well in the tests, but it was compared to the older tires in the category, e.g., the Primacy MXV4 instead of the Primacy MXM4. I suspect the ProContact is the newer tire. I think that's what I had on my Golf TDI as OEM? They were OK, but not as good as the Primacy MXM4.

Thank you for all the replies and shared info. My main concern is low noise and high mileage since I commute 120 miles a day; I don't drive the car in snow if I can help it.

I'm buying 2 sets of tires this weekend. Replacing the Conti's on the Golf with Primacy MXM4's (I bought a set for my Jetta about 6 months before I sold it, loved them).

My pickup has LTX M/S on it. They're 8 years old and have 60k. I'd keep them around for another 30, but they're dry rotting....

mrutter1 said:

Thank you for all the replies and shared info. My main concern is low noise and high mileage since I commute 120 miles a day; I don't drive the car in snow if I can help it.

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The Primacy MXM4 would be my choice in your case then as they are rated 55k and will stay quiet until the last bit of tread. I was down to 4/32 on my primacys when I had them mounded to my accord and they were begining to loose grip at that point along with getting a bit noisy. But up until then they were great tires... I just didn't like how they did in the cold/snow.

TDIinMA said:

Not according to the sizes.

Here are the specs on the stock tires I replaced:

Continental ContiProContact(Grand Touring All-Season) 225/45R17

With these:

Michelin Pilot Super Sport(Max Performance Summer) 225/45ZR17

This is why I am perplexed. Could the "R", vs. "ZR" speed rating make that big of a difference?

If I knew this was going to happen, I would have gone with a different tire.

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Hi all, just wanted to update this since I think I have solved the mystery. With all things being equal, the one variable that seems to have made the difference is tire pressure. I noticed this when one of the tires tripped the TPMS. I went around with my gauge and found that three were between 32-33 and the other was at 26 (and I suspect may have a very slow leak).

I'm not sure how long these were like this, but it seems reasonable to assume the TECH that installed them at Midas filled them this way. I filled them all to about 37 and am now getting pretty much the same mileage I was with the old worn out Conti's. The only other contributing factors may be the tires breaking in more and perhaps the air temps increasing a bit.

Just replace my OEM ProContacts with the newer Conti PureContacts. I considered the ExtremeContacts but the deciding factor for me was that the PureContacts were LRR (Low Rolling Resistance) and the ExtremeContacts were not.

So far, outstanding mileage results with new tires. TireRack explains that new tires cause mpg drops of 5% or more than worn tires due to increased diameter of new treads as well as higher rolling resistance of new treads. So far, for me, the PureContacts are yielding slightly higher mpg's... a nice surprise! Conti's LRR technology (EcoPlus I think???) seems to be a winner.

TireRack ratings were outstanding for the PureContacts and their video review compared the Conti's against three other grand touring options including the Michelin Primacy... I thought MXM's, but might have been MXV's. PureContacts came out on top.

It really is like nit picking once you choose a quality tire. So once your reach into the higher quality tires, selecting between the top two or three really becomes a personal choice. The other deciding factor for me was that I thought having German tires for my German made car was the right thing to do.

MaddogTDI said:

............... The other deciding factor for me was that I thought having German tires for my German made car was the right thing to do.

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Love that statement. But what do I do? My GOLF is MADE in BRAZIL.

I do not want any Brazilian Tire, or?

My JSW was assembled in Mexico!!!! Think about that for a while. LOL

Is that a real poncho or is that a Sears poncho or is that a Mexican poncho?

On the Tire Rack website, under Pure Contact Specs.... "country of origin", it shows both DE (Germany) and MX (Mexico). Bet I could correctly guess where most US-sold Pure Contacts are made! (Think wages and shipping cost)!

av8or said:

On the Tire Rack website, under Pure Contact Specs.... "country of origin", it shows both DE (Germany) and MX (Mexico). Bet I could correctly guess where most US-sold Pure Contacts are made! (Think wages and shipping cost)!

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All 4 of mine are from Mexico. Got them two months ago.

bobt2382 said:

All 4 of mine are from Mexico. Got them two months ago.

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Yep, same with he pure contacts I got as well...

To update on mpg that I got on my last tank:
The previous couple of tanks I got before I bought the pure contacts I averaged 41-42 mpg.
On my last tank fill I got 42.5mpg per my hand calculations. And that was with more stop and go driving

So I'm very happy with my choice. They are great tires that seem so far to be the best oem upgrade

bobt2382 said:

All 4 of mine are from Mexico. Got them two months ago.

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Maybe it depends on tire size? My pure contacts are made in the USA.

Softrockrenegade said:

Maybe it depends on tire size? My pure contacts are made in the USA.

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Hmm, 225\45-17 V speed rating. Bought from tire rack on West Coast. They shipped from their Nevada warehouse.

my 225/45-17 V were made in mexico

has anyone tried the Yokohama AVID Ascend?

Got my MXM4's over the weekend.

I learned that those tires have a inside/outside wall. So did the tire guys. They had to re-mount 3 of my tires! They went to put the first one back on the car and noticed it said "inside" on the tire wall. That's not right! So they had to re-mount and balance them.

D'oh.

mhx said:

has anyone tried the Yokohama AVID Ascend?

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Yes, I have. And they are wearing really well. They start out with around 12/32 of tread depth, and in approx 10K miles, I still have over 10/32. They are quiet on the road, and OK in light snow. In winter, I replace them with a set of four Blizzaks.

Sumitomo HTR-Z3s for the summer on stock 17" rims (good handling, relatively cheap alternative), Bridgestone Blizzaks on 16" black steelies for the winter

tom28 said:

Got my MXM4's over the weekend.

I learned that those tires have a inside/outside wall. So did the tire guys. They had to re-mount 3 of my tires! They went to put the first one back on the car and noticed it said "inside" on the tire wall. That's not right! So they had to re-mount and balance them.

D'oh.

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The tire shop you went to must have idiots as installers. I wouldn't go back there if I were you. That mistake, 3 times, is inexcusable.