Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: beet1e on February 25, 2003, 02:58:59 PM
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My Golf V6 is 2 years old, and with 34,000 miles the treads on all four tyres were down to just below 3mm. (Legal limit in Britain 1.6mm, but not advisable to drive on less than 2mm owing to generally wet conditions) So I went down to my local tyre place (http://www.micheldever.co.uk/) to buy four new ones. They talked me into having the Michelins again. So French tyres on a German car - all I needed was some Belgian chocolate to nibble on while they did the job!
While I was waiting, I read a car magazine that they had out. There was a six car group that was tested. The six were the Ford Focus RS, Alfa 147a, Subaru WRX, Golf R32, the souped up version of the Mini ONE, and another one I can't remember. Hehe, I couldn't help noticing the caption under the Golf picture, which said: "After the WRX, the Golf R32 seemed so responsive..." - or something like that. I have no axe to grind, never having owned or driven either. But being a product loyalist, I would probably look at the R32 first, and not bother with the others. So I skipped to the verdict at the end - and the Golf R32 came top with 5 stars. The WRX was either 2nd or 3rd. The magazine was, I believe, called EVO.
But somehow, I can't imagine Funked in a Golf. ;)
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I read that test, and they tested a base WRX against an R32. Not very sporting of them. £20k base model WRX against £23k top of the line Golf. £24k STi is Subaru's top of the line, and would have been a better comparison. And would blow the doors off any VW ever built. :)
Golfs are fine with me. They are one of the few compact cars (along with the Scooby) that have enough headroom for me.
But the ones sold in the USA are not so quick.
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Those cars Beet1e mentions, I hate 'em all. They're a squeak to get out of ones pick up truck grill when you run across them on the road...high powered pressure washer removes them fine though.
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Beetle I should add that I think you would get a kick out of the R32. AWD is so much better than 2WD when you have a lot of power. I have had so much fun in the rain this winter, kicking the tail out around corners where my old Hondas would have just been plowing and wheelspinning.
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PS I always run Michelins too. I'm wearing out the stock Potenzas as quickly as possible so I can get some +1 Pilot Sports. :)
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S-03's.... then better judgement got ahold of me since I use it for commuting 90%, Yokohama AVS Sports ($590 for four at Tirerack.com) Not till June though, I still have 1/16" til I hit the wear bars....did I tell you how much German tires suck? (Continentals)
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Personally, I'd try the new Kumho Ecsta MX if they come in a size you can use (they don't for me :( ). Tire Rack scored the MX better in both wet and dry performance over the Yok AVS Sport. The AVS Sports are great tires...I had them on my E36M3...but it looks like the MX's are a good bit better and cheaper.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/max_perf_charts.jsp
My favorite tire of all time is the S-02...Bridgestone screwed up with the S-03 IMHO trying to make it quieter and better in the rain. I've run back to back autox fun runs with Kumho Victoracer r-compound tires and the S-02s and the Bridgestones were only a second slower. Most street tires are a good 3 sec slower than r-compounds on a 60 sec course.
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Originally posted by funkedup
Beetle I should add that I think you would get a kick out of the R32. AWD is so much better than 2WD when you have a lot of power.
Yep, sure is. My current one is AWD. The VR6 I had before this was FWD, and it was so easy to spin the wheels - even on a dry road, so AWD is much better. From the VR6 to the model I have, the wheels went from 15" to 16".
What's different about the VW engines produced in the USA?
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I suppose you measure those little skateboard tires in those funky metric measurements too, huh? I run big-o bigfoot xt's on both of my vehicles. 31x10.50 on the Suv and 33x12.50 on the truck.
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The R-32 is quite a car. One of the guys at work has one on order. I think the UK allocation is something like 400, and they are already sold - he ordered his at a motor show.
Still, I'd probably prefer the Scooby. Although, if I had that much spare change, I'd save a few more pennies and buy a Jap-spec Evo VII or VIII straight from the the land of the rising sun. ;)
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funked... give them tires to me for a day or two and I will wear em out for ya. (they need to be mounted on 5 lug chevy wheels@4 3/4 or ford 9" lug pattern).
lazs
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Originally posted by funkedup
PS I always run Michelins too. I'm wearing out the stock Potenzas as quickly as possible so I can get some +1 Pilot Sports. :)
Pilot! That's the one... I've just been out to check my pressures, as I don't trust the garage to do it properly. Actually, they had! But one of the valve caps was loose.
The writing on the side wall is "Pilot Primacy". But flippin 'eck - £68 each, plus new valves, plus balancing, plus alignment, plus VAT - £363. :eek: :(
But the ride on the Michelins is wonderfully sure footed.
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Originally posted by crowMAW
Personally, I'd try the new Kumho Ecsta MX if they come in a size you can use (they don't for me :( ). Tire Rack scored the MX better in both wet and dry performance over the Yok AVS Sport. The AVS Sports are great tires...I had them on my E36M3...but it looks like the MX's are a good bit better and cheaper.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/max_perf_charts.jsp
My favorite tire of all time is the S-02...Bridgestone screwed up with the S-03 IMHO trying to make it quieter and better in the rain. I've run back to back autox fun runs with Kumho Victoracer r-compound tires and the S-02s and the Bridgestones were only a second slower. Most street tires are a good 3 sec slower than r-compounds on a 60 sec course.
Crow what the hell is a Kumho? It sounds like some kind of porn starlet. Where do they make those tires?
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Originally posted by funkedup
Crow what the hell is a Kumho? It sounds like some kind of porn starlet. Where do they make those tires?
LOL...only if you mispronounce it (say Koo Moe instead of...well nevermind :D ).
They are Korean. Kuhmo has been trying to crack into the US performance tire market for a while. Most racers that need DOT legal tires run Kumho Victoracers...they are cheap, wear well and are more sticky than anything else other than Hoosiers (which are ungoddly expensive). And even Hoosiers are not as good on hot asphalt (they get greasey)...concrete is another matter though...Hoosiers rule on concrete. Victoracers also make excellent rain tires for those who would run slicks in the dry.
Anyway, from everything I hear, the Ecsta MX tires are fantastic.
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Thanks for the info!
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Originally posted by beet1e
The writing on the side wall is "Pilot Primacy". But flippin 'eck - £68 each, plus new valves, plus balancing, plus alignment, plus VAT - £363. :eek: :(
But the ride on the Michelins is wonderfully sure footed.
Most garages/tyre centres often advertise tyres at certain prices but often omit the price of valves and balancing. The thing is that the time of fitting a new valve and doing the balancing whilst fitting a tyre is only a minute or two more so that's where they really cash in. Front wheel alignment will only take a couple of minutes too, unless you want to adjust it then it can be time consuming! Glad I don't have to do that anymore!! :)
As for the Golf R32, I saw a review of it on TV about a month or two ago. I think they drove it in Germany or wherever. They said it was very good but with a totally new Golf out later this year they urged 'new Golf' buyers to wait and see what comes along.
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Nexx - yes, it all adds up. BTW, I said that place was my local tyre place, but it's about 40 miles away - but their prices are better than anything I could get around here. I haven't bought tyres from anywhere else since 1986. When I had the Toyota Supra 3.0i turbo, the biggest expenses (apart from petrol at 23mpg) were insurance and tyres. By shopping at Micheldever I would save about £160 on the purchase of two tyres, so it was worth the drive.
As for the new Golf, the current one like mine was out for about 2 years before it was made available in the UK. I saw it at the 1999 Frankfurt Motor Show, but had to wait till March 2001 to get mine - probably the usual German reluctance to make the cars in RHD. :rolleyes:
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The Golf can still be used as executive car.
The car has style
Our sales managers drive in a AWD Golf
A Subaru would have been an other view.
But i like subaru coz it using boxer engines :)
2wd drive is just as much fun too as long as it is ur back wheel
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The R32 is a nice Golf.
Added it to my dream list ages ago hehe
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Potenzas AHHH!!! Trash tire!! Mich's Pilots are ehhh..
Kumos are great...for Auto-X'n I wish I had gone to those over these Toyo T-1S that I have at the moment. Tho the T-1S are showing great wear for being daily driven 7k and 5 Autocross events later.. I say I can get 20K out of them which is far better then the Kumos
And these T-1s are great tires for the road and nice in the rain!
Aye Crow.. do you make it to Gainesville for AutoX'n
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Originally posted by nuchpatrick
Aye Crow.. do you make it to Gainesville for AutoX'n
I was there at the last Divisional and it rained like hell. It was miserable.
I know CenFL Region has all but decided not to run there anymore because of the expense and lack of nearby lodging. The lodging is an issue...the nearest hotel is pretty expensive. But luckily I've got a friend that will be moving there this summer and it will give me a couch to crash on. My biggest problem is getting my tires to G'ville...I can't fit 4 race tires in the S2k like you can in the Miata! :mad:
I would have liked to run the SOLO I they held there, but I don't have a roll bar. :(
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Yeah.. I have the same issue no roll bar :( I do plan on getting one at the end of the year.. You should see if Harddog is going to make one for the S2K.. May be worth while....
Ye should pick up one of those small trailers and put a hitch on yours.. Theres a one guy that does that with his S2K.
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Crow this was posted in the Miata.net Forum.. If you have $300.00 you can run at Sebring...lol...w/o roll bar
Heres the link
http://www.speedventures.net/4-29-2003_event.asp