Replacement 17 inch tires

leicaman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2004
Location
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
TDI
2015 Golf TDI SE, 2005 TDI GLS, RIP
Guys,

My 2015 Golf TDI came with the 17 inch option, 225/45/r17 tires. The tires are half used up and I currently am using my winter Blizzaks with steelies. The worst part is that one of the three tires is a Uniroyal tire and I just want to start over.

Of course the ice and snow of winter will go away. I want to bolt on my wheels with new treads when spring comes. The car came with Pirellis and I am not thrilled with them. I want to hear what tires would you replace those originals with. I am looking for tire and model suggestions. I want decent tread life and handling.
 

PB_NB

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
Location
Vancouver, B.C.
TDI
1999 New Beetle
Apparently the Michelin Pilot Sport 3 and 4 are great tires. I am looking at some for the Beetle to go on the BBS wheels and to get ready for our towing season with the trailer.

A bit on the pricey side but seem to have great reviews.
 

elcid86

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
Location
VA/DC, USA
TDI
2015 Golf TDI SEL
Apparently the Michelin Pilot Sport 3 and 4 are great tires. I am looking at some for the Beetle to go on the BBS wheels and to get ready for our towing season with the trailer.

A bit on the pricey side but seem to have great reviews.


Wry Good summer tire. I run them on my E46 BMW. Might be overkill for this application. Continental Conact DW or DWS might be a good option.
 

Mrrogers1

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Location
Omaha NEEEBRASKA
TDI
2011 Golf TDI 6MT, 2011 Jetta TDI DSG, 2015 Golf Sportwagen S TDI DSG
I really like the Conti-Pure Contacts, great LRR long lasting tire.
 

adjat84th

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
TDI
'01 Jetta TDI/'15 Golf TDI
Extreme contact DWS, have had several sets. Work great in the snow for an all-weather tire,they're quiet, they've all lasted 60k miles for me, and they're also lighter than comparable tires which I believe can help fuel economy just a touch.
 

1854sailor

Resident Curmudgeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2004
Location
Westerly, RI
TDI
2015 Golf SE SportWagen, 2015 Golf SE Hatch Back.
Second vote for Continental Pure Contact. They often run specials where you get a $70.00 gift card with the purchase of four tires. Mine paid for part of my stay at the Sturgeon Bay TDIFest.
 

willafb

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2008
Location
FT Meade, MD
TDI
2015 Golf TDI/2015 Golf SE
vredestein quatrac 5

quatrac 5 (Netherlands) are really good all-season tire and they have three-peak mountain snowflake symbol (3PMSF) but not a dedicated snow-tire (all weather/climate tire as they call them in Europe). Retired military here and when I lived Germany they were really popular.

They have a test review on tire rack.

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Vredestein&tireModel=Quatrac+5
 
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sprstu

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Minneapolis, MN
TDI
mk1 TD, GSW TDI 6spd
I know this is not as common of a thought but I had amazing luck with a set of Nankang Noble S1s on my previous JSW 225/45/17. Very good road response, quiet and very good tread wear even on my lowered car. They are an Ebay special, $270 shipped for a set. General Altimax have also been a good "budget" tire. Neither of the two I would say are sporty or have any ability to track/autocross, but for daily life and the occasional on-ramp shenanigans they have been awesome.

Continental used to be VWs OE tire supplier, the DSW range was excellent but upwards of $200/tire.

Otherwise, I have had bad luck with the Falken Ziex and anything from the Fuzion brand, all super short life and bad road noise . Worst tires Ive had were Michelin Primacy, the loudest, hardest tires known to man.
 

20IndigoBlue02

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
Location
Was North NJ, now SoCal
TDI
2002 Golf TDI-- deceased
I know this is not as common of a thought but I had amazing luck with a set of Nankang Noble S1s on my previous JSW 225/45/17. Very good road response, quiet and very good tread wear even on my lowered car. They are an Ebay special, $270 shipped for a set. General Altimax have also been a good "budget" tire. Neither of the two I would say are sporty or have any ability to track/autocross, but for daily life and the occasional on-ramp shenanigans they have been awesome.

Continental used to be VWs OE tire supplier, the DSW range was excellent but upwards of $200/tire.

Otherwise, I have had bad luck with the Falken Ziex and anything from the Fuzion brand, all super short life and bad road noise . Worst tires Ive had were Michelin Primacy, the loudest, hardest tires known to man.
Don't you mean Hankook Noble S1? Or do you mean Nankang AS-1?
 

garreth5

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2015
Location
GA
TDI
jetta
Had good experience with Nitto Motivos. My car felt very planted even during rainy days. These nitto tires were very grippy in dry conditions also.
 

jonferns

Veteran Member
Joined
May 10, 2009
Location
New Jersey
TDI
'15 Golf
Second vote for Continental Pure Contact. They often run specials where you get a $70.00 gift card with the purchase of four tires. Mine paid for part of my stay at the Sturgeon Bay TDIFest.
Third vote for the Conti PureContact. I've had these mounted on 16" Biolines for 60k miles and they still have plenty of life left.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
I have Conti Pure Contacts on my BMW (oddly same 17" size as on the Golf). They seem to be a good tire, only complaint I have is they're kind of loud on a lot of road surfaces. The BMW may not be good at isolating road noise, so the Golf may be different.
 

Mrrogers1

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Location
Omaha NEEEBRASKA
TDI
2011 Golf TDI 6MT, 2011 Jetta TDI DSG, 2015 Golf Sportwagen S TDI DSG
I really like the Conti-Pure Contacts, great LRR long lasting tire.
I know I already put my "vote" in for the PureContacts, they really are great BUT I'm going to be putting a set of the SureContact tires on my summer wheels. Since I always run snows, I'm not scared off of running a higher performance summer tire. Should be interested to see if I take an actual hit on economy but this is turning out to be another great tire from Continental from all reports.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
no mater what tire you toss on, I highly recommend going up one size for added side wall, the alltrack runs 205-55-17, I'd even recommend even going up to 215-55-17.

I run 205-65-16 for winters (215-65-16 also clears) and so glad for the sizewall this winter as we've prob had 10 freeze thaw/rain cycles this winter and the pot holes are stupid everywhere.
 

ritsco

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2005
Location
Northeastern CT
TDI
2015 TDI GSW SEL and 2006 Golf TDI GLS
I really like the Conti-Pure Contacts, great LRR long lasting tire.
Ran these on several of our cars. Excellent tire with the same tread PATTERN as on the Extremes. Ran the Extremes on our T5 Volvo S60 AWD. Great summer tire, but wore fast and not that good when the temps drop.
 

funoutdoors121

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Location
CT (USA)
TDI
15 GSW S 6MT
225/50R17 vs. OEM 225/45R17

Hi All;
Thoughts or pros/cons of going with 225/50R17 vs. OEM 225/45R17?
Seems the size would fit, and the higher sidewalls would provide a slightly more comfortable ride and less risk of damage to the rims in bad potholes?
and the downside would be slightly slower turn-in/reaction time in curves...
a bit better fuel economy due to the larger tire circumference...
Al in all, seems like more pros than cons for going to a slightly larger sidewall, i.e 50 instead of 45 on 17" wheels.
Thanks, Happy Driving!
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
I find the speedometer on my GSW to be very close to accurate. Larger diameter tires will make it read a bit low, possibly. I think the change in ride and handling might be hard to notice. If you want to improve the ride I'd suggest finding some take off 16" wheels and go with the stock 205/55-16 tire. Or even switch to 15s.
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
I find the speedometer on my GSW to be very close to accurate. Larger diameter tires will make it read a bit low, possibly. I think the change in ride and handling might be hard to notice. If you want to improve the ride I'd suggest finding some take off 16" wheels and go with the stock 205/55-16 tire. Or even switch to 15s.
I generally agree and I did just this (w/ 15"), but my experience was an eye-opener.

I replaced the OE 225/45-17 Pirelli P7s (on VW Genevas) w/ 195/65-15 Conti ProContact TXs (on VW Lyons) from a MK7 S TSI. Both wheel/tire sets had less than 1K miles on them. The result? The 15" are louder, ride no better, and have no better rolling resistance or FE than the 17". The lesson? Tire design can be just as import as size to all these qualities.
 

funoutdoors121

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Location
CT (USA)
TDI
15 GSW S 6MT
Totally agree that tire design/quality is key.
In the winters we run 16" tires with good snow tires (Michelin X-Ice or Bridgestone Blizzaks) and the rest of the year use 17" wheels.
I find the 17" tires a better driving tire with their wider and lower profile.
Last set were Pirelli P7+, and now considering the Michelin Pilot4S, even if a bit pricey.
Mostly debating between the OEM recommended size of 225/45 and a slightly higher sidewall, in 225/50 tires.
All in all, seems the 225/50 may make more sense than a 225/45.

PS
Have a spare set of 16" VW alloys with 205/55 Contis with under 3k miles - if anyone is interested, just PM me (located in CT)
 
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