I've been pretty happy with the tires that came with my 1999 A4 1.8T (205x60-R15 Goodyear Eagle LS). However, it's time to replace them so I'm trying to decide on my next tires. Since the Eagles are a known quantity and I'm happy with them, I'm not planning on changing unless someone has experience with another tire and it fits my needs. This group seems to have a lot of tire experience so here goes....

1) I live in central Texas so "All Season" is probably overkill. It only snows once every 3 years, but we get ice twice per year.
2) I like the grip I've been getting but more is always better :-)
3) I don't want any road noise increase
4) I don't want any increase in harshness
5) I went through the Goodyears in 35,000 miles (I like corners... <grin&gt. I can live with that life again.

So, any thoughts on tires? I'm going to do the Quattro Challenge up in Dallas in two weeks so I need to have my new rubber by then.

-Joel

 

that quite frankly they are AWFUL tires.

Just about any high performance tire will blow them out of the water. Relative to other high performance tires, they have horrible grip, soft sloppy sidewalls, yucko. They come stock on VW's and Audis because VW has a special deal where they get them real cheap in bulk from Goodyear.

I have personally driven on Eagles many times on a number of different VW's and Audis. They really are terrible compared to what else is out there.

Take a look at Bridgestone Potenza RE730's or Kumho Ecsta 712's. They are quite inexpensive, and you simply will not believe the improvement they will yield over the Eagles. They are stictly summer tires (no snow!!!) and have exceptional grip wet or dry. I have had both of these tires, and highly recommend either of them.

If you want even more (and are willing to pay for them) check out Bridgestone Pole Position SO3's, Dunlop SP 9000's, or Michelin Pilot Sports. These are also NOT for snow. These are unbelieveable tires, but these will not last as long as the RE730's or Kumhos, and are very expensive.

Hope this helps.

 

35,000? oh to have "normal" tire wear again... i barely got 15,000 out of my dunlop sport 9000s

 

an all season tire to a performance tire?!?!?!?!

 

the Eagles are even horrible as far as all seasons go.

 

in the same category/price level, you will probably do better by getting Dunlop SP A2s - a good all-around performer for a very low price.

But, like djnelsen said, if you're willing to spend little more $$$, you can do much better, especially if you go for a summer-only tire. For an event like Quattro Challenge, I would if I were you. Unfortunately, you will still suffer from sidewall flex when cornering fast because you have very small rims and high profile tires as a result, but let's not get into this, unless you would like to invest in new rims.

Here in northern VA, after this joke of a winter we had this year, I'm thinking I could just survive on summer-only tires all year long (although I still have my winter wheels in the closet), so you being in central Texas will most likely be just fine with summer tires as well. You will really gain a lot of grip by using those. The downside - shorter tread life, but if you ask me - it's well worth it.

In the summer-only category that meets your low harshness/low noise requirements, I would look into Dunlop SP9000. You may not see the difference in daily street driving (if you don't drive aggressively), but you will definitely see the difference at QC. One point - make sure you break them in (drive gently for the first 300 miles or so), before you take them to the track and throw them in sharp corners.

Have fun!