Which tyres for 18inch wheels?

[Ricotansky]

I'm going to need a couple of new tyres for the van soon and I'm trying to decide what to get. Does anyone know what VW supply the 18 inch wheels with?

I'm contemplating Good Year Eagle F1 or Continenal SportContact 5 as I've had these on cars previously, but are they going to be suitable on a heavy van? They are available with the 103 load rating so I assume they will be, but I just wondered what anyone else with 18s is running.

Cheers in advance,

Rico

 

[splitmike]

I've ran falken tyres on my last 2 T5 these are quiet and last relatively well too.

 

[WelshGas]

Don't forget this Forum Discount.
http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/vip-discount-codes-for-national-tyres-tyre-shopper.9045/

 

[Ricotansky]

Thanks Welshgas, any idea what percentage the discount is for National Tyres? The attachment doesn't say how much it is.

Tyre Shopper don't have my size

 

[WelshGas]

No idea I'm afraid. PM Martin, he might know.

 

[marshian70]

You might want to give tyreleader.co.uk a look. I've used them in the past and found them to be very competitive on price.

 

[tuono001]

I fitted some 18" wheels recently that came fitted with Autogrip tyres. I have to say they are far better than I expected and much quieter than the Dunlops that were on the old wheels.

 

[SimplyDubs]

Continental SportContact 5

I've had SportContacts on numerous vehicles... Love them on my Cali.

Current set on 30,000 miles with plenty of tread on the rear and about 6mm on the front.

Find them quiet and like the Alloy Protection lip that does what it says. Also got me out of mud a few times, even towed my brothers Cali out that was running standard 16".

Rgds
Mark

 

[caliman]

+1 for falkens

 

[Ricotansky]

Thanks for the responses. The van is in for a service tomorrow so I'll see what they recommend, although based on my previous experience of Vw dealers product knowledge I trust the info I get here a lot more!

Probably go for the continentals as I like them on my car.

Ta

Rico

 

[muttley]

Definitely don't go for Hankooks - they seem to be made of putty, and will wear out before you get back from the dealer...

 

[AlanC]

I am running 17" Hankook DynaPros 4 seasons M+S and they are wearing well.

Alan

 

[Ricotansky]

Definitely don't go for Hankooks - they seem to be made of putty, and will wear out before you get back from the dealer...

I am running 17" Hankook DynaPros 4 seasons M+S and they are wearing well.

Alan

Fiiiight!

 

[muttley]

The problem is that 18" tyres tend to be 'sports suv' tyres rather than car tyres, so you can end up with a very soft compound - leading to atrocious wear. Obviously the M+S tyres are better. I have gone through 3 sets of tyres in 30,000 miles, not including the set of winter tyres.

Mind you, I may just be unlucky with tyres, as I have had 4 punctures in 1 year on my car! I suspect the daft low profile is to blame for that.

 

[Ricotansky]

That was my concern with getting the same tyres as I use on the car. Although we don't to huge mileage in the van so I guess as long as they are safe it isn't the end of the world if they don't last for tens of thousands of miles.

 

[rippers]

I wanted Conti's on my 18" Sportlines but SMG advised me to go for Hankooks because in their experience they would last longer.
Having done only 500miles from new I can't comment but I've had Hankooks before and can't say I've noticed them wearing quicker then other brands, I'll come back to this thread in year and let you know

 

[Gedi]

I have 18" Bi-Dakar wheels which the garage put on when I ordered the van. They put on tyres called Federal 101W. They are still going strong and that has been 3 years and just over 17,000 miles. Is the load rating supposed to be 101 or 103 for 18" wheels?

Cheers Gedi

 

[Ricotansky]

I think 101 is the minimum required so sounds OK to me. I'm probably going to end up with 103 as that is what seems to be available in the brands I like.

 

[Ricotansky]

I'm getting four Goodyear eagle f1s fitted tomorrow. I'll update this thread in a year when I know if this was a good idea or not!

 

[Custardtart]

I put Hankooks on when I swapped to 18" wheels as they get good reviews.

In 4000 miles the fronts went from 8mm to 6mm tread which is much better than I was getting with the OE Dunlops on 17" thunders. Backs are wearing slightly slower.

I think it is a problem - you don't want hard noisy van yres in a nice vehicle like the Cali but it's so heavy the softer car-oriented tyres will probably wear a bit fast.