High Mileage Tires

There are US offerings coming out now of high mileage tires that match the originals that came on the Passat (exact tire not available in US and not worth buying again due to low mileage, though unlike some I had no issue with the Contis performance)

Goodyear has an Assurance Fuel Max out. I am not inclined to it as we need a better all season tire, but it might be a good option for less ice prone states and areas (I try to save the Blizzaks for the hard core ice/snow season).

It is an 89H rating, for those who are iffy about that choice. The OEMs are 91H, though the 89H load rating works for the Passat.

Don't seem to be available in 225/45R/17 for my Passat though.

The lack of a proper load rating is a deal killer for me. Next tires for my Passat will be Michelins from Costco when my current Goodyear ResponsEdge are through.

89H do not work well for our cars. I had to return mine for 91s...

You do NOT want the improper load rating. Just think how many MILLIONS of dollars VAG could have saved putting 89s on our cars from the factory...but they didn't.

I went with 91V and I likey I thought I was taking a big hit on milage because the tires were heavier than my previous ones but I think a lot of that was due to 'scrub in' and the fact the balancing weights were rubbing the brake calipers (for the first couple of thousand miles). I've basically returned to very close to what I was getting on my old tires. Oh yeah, the new tires are GY Eagle GT

Smokerr said:

The OEMs are 91H, though the 89H load rating works for the Passat.

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I used tires with the 89H for a while and didn't have any issues. But after I had purchased them, my state (Maine) mandated that tires must always meet the original tire load rating at a minimum ,otherwise you fail the state inspection.

Tires were grandfathered if you had proof of purchase prior to the law taking effect, but apparently some tire stores were still selling underrated tires after the fact and that was causing problems for folks that did't know any better.

I found out about it during my first inspection after the start date. The dealer tried to tell me that the tires weren't grandfathered. I happened to have my laptop with me so I connected to the dept of motor vehicles, downloaded the inspection regulations, and found a section indicating that they were in fact grandfathered.

Brought the laptop to the service writer and had him read it. Luckily I had the receipt in my glove box (for warranty support) so I didn't have to go back. I'm surprised that they didn't disable public wifi access after that.

leicaman said:

The lack of a proper load rating is a deal killer for me. Next tires for my Passat will be Michelins from Costco when my current Goodyear ResponsEdge are through.

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I purchase Michelin Primacy MXV4 from Costco. It's been close to 12,000 miles since. Not really happy with the mileage. I took a 2-3 mile per gallon hit from the ContiTechs.

DeliveryValve said:

I purchase Michelin Primacy MXV4 from Costco. It's been close to 12,000 miles since. Not really happy with the mileage. I took a 2-3 mile per gallon hit from the ContiTechs.

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I think my car went down 1 or 2 mpg with the goodyears as they are more performance orientated than the previous Michelin Energy tires were from the factory. With that said, I wasn't exactly thrilled to get only 40k out of the originals. But overall I really can't complain except the GY are noisy since a rotation.

The 89s always felt out of balance so after 2 rebalances the tire guy realized that 91s were the fix...and they were!

leicaman said:

I think my car went down 1 or 2 mpg with the goodyears as they are more performance orientated than the previous Michelin Energy tires were from the factory. With that said, I wasn't exactly thrilled to get only 40k out of the originals. But overall I really can't complain except the GY are noisy since a rotation.

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I really wanted the Energy MXV4 Plus tires or Energy MXV4 S8s. But my local Costco said they no longer can get them. ? So I went to the Primacy.

I hear ya about the Original equipment tires. The Conti's really only lasted about 40,000 miles also. But I pushed them way over that because there really is a lack of rain my parts. At least the Primacy's have a 60,000 mile warranty.

abctdi said:

The 89s always felt out of balance so after 2 rebalances the tire guy realized that 91s were the fix...and they were!

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While I do not disagree with tryng to match the OEM load, there are times when you find a tire in a ragne thats is more than high enough.

Also, keep in mind, when a tire is really bad, it is not going to balance no mater what.

If you replace the tires that won't balance with a 91H, it may seem by association that the 89GH was the problem, when in fact if you had replaced the balance problme ones with two more 89H, you would have had the same result.

It doesn't matter what the load rate of the tire is. I had a Goodyear, truck tire (3.4 ton and can't remember what the load range is, but its like a semi truck raring). It twisted, bad vibration and no way you would balance that out. It was on the lightly loaded front.

Other 3 were fine. It became the spare until I had to replace all of them. It would run on the rear, not the front.

The Assurance Tripple tread fits my needs perfecta, so am inclined to go that route, despite it being an 89H as well (its got the higher rating of its type). Still chewing on it.

The 89H takes the car to 5,116 pounds.

The 91H take the car to 5,424 pounds

Tire quality will make more difference than anything at that point.

DeliveryValve said:

I really wanted the Energy MXV4 Plus tires or Energy MXV4 S8s. But my local Costco said they no longer can get them. ? So I went to the Primacy.

I hear ya about the Original equipment tires. The Conti's really only lasted about 40,000 miles also. But I pushed them way over that because there really is a lack of rain my parts. At least the Primacy's have a 60,000 mile warranty.

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Mine were very very close to showing treadwear indicators at 40k.

When my original MXV4's were done in '06 after 42k on them, I went a little wider than the stock 195-65-15's and put 205-60-15 91H Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S' on and they really woke up the road feel and handling with NO harshness or noise. I only lost maybe 1/2 an mpg, probably due to the increased width and they're done now at 53k miles. Excellent tire in the wet and dry. Even down on the wear bars, I'm amazed how much water they'll handle!.
I use Nokians in the winter, but I did get caught in a surprise early May snow just after buying the Pilots and they did quite well.
I highly recommend them. I'll be getting another set of these!

Costco have $70 off deal on a set of 4 Michelins FYI...

Smokerr said:

The Assurance Tripple tread fits my needs perfecta, so am inclined to go that route, despite it being an 89H as well (its got the higher rating of its type). Still chewing on it.

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The tires I mentioned above were TripleTreds. I didn't get the mileage out of them that I had hoped and from the moment I bought them I couldn't keep them on a straight track without constant driver corrections. I also had wear problems on the outer edge of the tire. Even if I could have put another set on my car legally, I wouldn't have.

Take a look at the Gernal Altimax HP. You'll spend 25-50% less per tire, it's quieter and doesn't have the tracking problems. Plus, it matches the load rating. I bought mine last July, have 34K miles on them, and so far no problems. What remains to be seen is whether I'll get the 60K miles they're rated for. I'll be putting on another set this winter most likely.

Can you go with a 225/50 on the stock 16s on an 05 versus the 205/55? Have to get tires sometime soon and I can get a good deal on the wider tires w/o sacrificing anything, really.

Figure on 10mm additional on each side of the tire and look for clearance problems, especially the fronts.

senez said:

Can you go with a 225/50 on the stock 16s on an 05 versus the 205/55? Have to get tires sometime soon and I can get a good deal on the wider tires w/o sacrificing anything, really.

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they will have identical ride height but you will loose a little mpg due to higher rolling resistance, handling will improve (bigger contact patch)

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Yeah, I knew it was practically just wider and less treadwall. I'm more concerned with clearance, like ^^ said.

As far as MPG, anything's better than the equinox as a daily driver. It just sucks it's going to take nearly 3k to get the passat back on the road.

senez said:

Yeah, I knew it was practically just wider and less treadwall. I'm more concerned with clearance, like ^^ said.

As far as MPG, anything's better than the equinox as a daily driver. It just sucks it's going to take nearly 3k to get the passat back on the road.

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they should fit, but put the fronts on and rotate the steering back in forth to confirm clearance

Have you thought of going the opposite and go slightly taller such as the case would be with the 205/60-16?

Haven't considered that...what's your rationale, there?

The only reason going wider is I like the look of wider tires a bit better. My speedometer on higher tires would read slower than true...

slightly fewer revs and maybe better fuel economy.

bluesmoker said:

they should fit, but put the fronts on and rotate the steering back in forth to confirm clearance

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While exercising the suspension...

leicaman said:

Have you thought of going the opposite and go slightly taller such as the case would be with the 205/60-16?

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I've done that. Falken 912.
No clearance problems, and personally I think they look a bit better as they fill the wheel well more.

As for fuel economy, it's hard to tell so far, even taking the size difference when calculating. The 912's are perhaps grippier than the old conti's.

How is the wear with the slightly taller tires blaz? How is the ride and handling? I often wondered why the tire was/is the same size as the NB. The passat is a much hearvier car.

For all the talk about tires and fuel mileage, I have never seen any difference in the Summer/Winter tires.

I had the Conti TS810s for winter originally, and did not expect much of a change as they are a high performance winter tire.

I had thought the Blizzaks might show some difference, but there was none that I could tell when I put them on, or took them off.

Maybe if all highway, but it does better than the book says anyway, and at 41+, it seems unlikely you are going to squeeze much more out of it.

TDForNow said:

When my original MXV4's were done in '06 after 42k on them, I went a little wider than the stock 195-65-15's and put 205-60-15 91H Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S' on and they really woke up the road feel and handling with NO harshness or noise. I only lost maybe 1/2 an mpg, probably due to the increased width and they're done now at 53k miles.

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I put the same Michelins on my Passat at 29,500 mi (the factory Continentals were toast by then.) I stuck with the stock 195-65R15 size and everything ^^ he said applies. (Actually, I now have 30K on my tires and they still look new...)

leicaman said:

How is the wear with the slightly taller tires blaz? How is the ride and handling? I often wondered why the tire was/is the same size as the NB. The passat is a much hearvier car.

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The 205/60R16 92H Falken 912s definitely have good grip and handle well. But there's no way I can say if their size is much of a factor. It's only a 3% difference, and there are so many other factors.

As for wear it is too early to tell. But again, I doubt that the size would have much of an effect. The reviews on the web suggest they might not wear as well as some other tires. The rubber does seems quite soft, but then the tires were just manufactured in Feb 09, and my old contis were 5 years old and worn down to the wear bars: not a fair comparison

They are also quiet.

So far, we like them. And you can get them delivered at a good price too, especially in the states.