The Official Polo Tyre Thread

[RhysQ]

good choice in tyre mate, you wont be dissapointed. are they going on the front??

[Timbo]

New tyres to the rear, please -- strange as it may sound

[pomme]

Probably will go front, i used to put all the new ones on the back, get the old ones used up front then keep rotating like that. But i want to get that new tire feel, instead of 10,000 k's from now. I'm impatient.

[mozzzy_2000]

Great idea shaneth!

Car - 07 Polo GTI
Rim Size - 17x7.5
New Tire - Michelin Pilot Preceda (PP2)
Tire Size - 215/40/17
Tire Replaced - N/A (tyres were fitted by the dealer before delivery)
Km's On new Tire - 4000km
Thoughts on New Tire - I've always been a fan of the Michelin tyre range and these 'baby' Pilots seem to live up to the family name. Reasonable grip on the track for a road-spec tyre and they seem fairly progressive at the limit, minimal scrubbing visible after a track outing which is a good sign as to the tyre life.

Hey fellas I was wondering what is the biggest tyre you can fit on the Gti? jamessatfish says he has replaced his stocks with 215s on 17" rims whilst people have commented that 205s are the biggest you can fit. What's the story? I reckon the GTi would look awesome with fat tyres like 215s. Is this feasible? I have no problems with my dunlops, infact they're pretty grippy especially in summer but it would be good to know what other options are out there.

[jamesatfish]

Hey fellas I was wondering what is the biggest tyre you can fit on the Gti? jamessatfish says he has replaced his stocks with 215s on 17" rims whilst people have commented that 205s are the biggest you can fit. What's the story?

So far the biggest I can get to fit is the 215/40/17s. I tried a set of 225/45/17s that came with my track wheels, but they were scraping the inside of the guards even before I turned the wheels.

Looking at the various tyre calculators online it seems 225/40/17 might be possible but I haven't been able to find any rubber in that size to try it out.

[jamesatfish]

Two R-Spec reviews:

Car - 07 Polo GTI
Rim Size - 17x7.5
New Tire - Falken Avensis R-Spec (can't remember exact model #)
Tire Size - 215/40/17
Tire Replaced - N/A
Km's On new Tire - 2000km
Thoughts on New Tire - Rubbish. Absolute Rubbish. These are supposed to be R-Spec tyres but they behave more like crap road tyres - they get hot too quickly and they don't grip when hot (or cold for that matter). I ran a set of these at Wakefield on 2 occasions and the best I managed was 1 second SLOWER than on the Michelin Pilot road tyres I ran previously. Now relegated to Motorkhana duties where I don't feel so bad turning the fronts into smoke. About $250 a corner.

Car - 07 Polo GTI
Rim Size - 17x7.5
New Tire -Kuhmo V70A R-Spec
Tire Size - 205/40/17
Tire Replaced - Falken Avensis R-Spec
Km's On new Tire - 1000km
Thoughts on New Tire - I was a bit concerned about dropping back to a 205 width tyre as the last thing the Polo needs is less grip especially at the front wheels. I was very pleasantly surprised though - these are fantastic tyres and the grip levels well exceed any of the 215 width tyres I've used on this car previously. Typical R-Spec characteristics - minimal grip when cold and the fronts were worn after about 500kms of mixed track/highway/motorkhana driving. Turned a 1:15.2 at Wakefield in the wet so pretty good grip in all conditions but quite scary when you hit standing water as there is minimal tread to disperse water. About $400 a corner.

[mozzzy_2000]

Cheers dude. Very interesting. I am personally not doing any track work but I still like the idea of 215s on this car. Thanks for the input.

[Kai]

i swear someone was putting 215/**/16 on there stock polo rims.

Who was that?

[Kai]

okay so i went AD08's this time.

205 a corner. (my price)

[PogoAmy]

Hi all,

I killed a Conti on my GTI today, and have decided to replace all four tyres with ones that don't pop at the merest brush of a feather.

Straight up, I am crap at maths. So, considering that my speedo is out to the point where if it says 100 I'm actually doing about 92, can somebody please advise if I went for 205/50/16 tyres rather than 205/45/16 as are on the thing currently, would that make my speedo more correct or even less correct?

Also, are there any potential pitfalls with this change? (Other than slightly bigger sidewalls?)

I ask as the tyres I want (and can get a very good price on) aren't available in 205/45/16. At least not in Australia.

Thanks!
PogoAmy.