They aren't going on a vw: http://url.rexroof.com/?r=115
I know, I know...the vw's I test drove just weren't as fun AND they cost
more. I looked at some higher-end cars (3 year old Audis and BMWs) but
in the end decided that the SI met my needs better...more fun than the
Audi and a BMW in the snowy north as an only (non-neuspeed race spring
suspended A2 GTI) car seemed crazy.
So the car came with unbelievably tall and narrow (for its class)
195/60/15 Michelin mxv's. I put 205/50/15 AVS intermediates on and it
completely transformed the car. It's easily as good handling as the SVT
focus I drove since swapping tires. Unfortuntaly, the AVS's are off of
our old 914 and were sitting for a while after the motor blew up, and
after mounting them they were vibrating pretty terribly...and I was
getting even more than the theoretical 4.something% speedo error, so I
want to get as close to that 195/60 as possible while having something a
bit sportier to drive on.
Tirerack reviews the ES100's and the 712's and liked the ES100's more on
the dry and the 712's were better in the wet. I can also get them about
$50 cheaper overall. Grassroots Motorsports reviewed the 712's in their
tire test this year and they were ~.6 seconds slower around a 40ish
second autocross than the Azenis...but they wear a lot better and
"behaved similarly to r-compounds". For comparison, the BFG KD's (or
whatever they are at $150/tire) were only slightly faster than the
Azenis and both those were about 2 or 3 seconds slower than the
r-compound tires.
Mark Reda wrote:
Patrick,
I run 195-50-15's on my Jetta and I wouldn't even consider going up to a
55(%) series.
You're thinking of running 205's , that 55% will be HUGE.
I'm thinking you may have a problem with the tires rubbing.
I thought that our cars came stock with 195-50-15 tires.
If I was going to run 205's I'd probably consider a 45 series tire.
If you're using the stock BBS wheels our cars came with I don't like the way
that 205's sit on them. They look very bloated and balloon our the sides.
Something to consider.......
195-50-15 sidewall height 97.5mm
195-55-15 sidewall height 107.25mm
205-45-15 sidewall height 92.25mm
205-50-15 sidewall height 102.5mm
205-55-15 sidewall height 112.75mm
In reference to the Yoko ES100's, from what I was told they are the
successor to the A520's which are an incredible tire. Nothing but great
reviews from my fellow VW drivers here in Toronto.
Mark Reda.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Austin" <[email protected]>
To: "a2list" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2003 9:51 PM
Subject: Re: [a2-16v-list] Kumho ECSTA 712's
In 205/55/15, for under $95/each, I'm limited to stuff like the Yokohama
AVS ES100, Dunlop FM901 and Ecsta 712...the MX is only available in
205/50/15, which is about 5% too small. The extra 200rpm at 80mph makes
a difference...so, no MX's. Same goes for the Azenis. Unfortunately, I
don't have the cash to drop on a set of new or semi-used 16" wheels
right now, nor do I want to blow through my warranty 5% faster. If I
decide I want to be _competative_ in g-stock, I'll pony up the cash for
some r-compund tires later on... If you can find a better 205/55/15 for
under, say $85/corner, let me know...but I haven't heard particularly
wonderful things about the FM901 or the ES100's in comparision to the
712's. It's kind of a weird size for a performance tire, unfortunately.
I'll probably switch up to 16" wheels in a year or two, but for now I'm
going to stick with the 205/55/15 size.
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