I realize most of you will not care. You want max mileage, nothing wrong with that... I treat my egolf more like an electric GTi.
I only commute 44 miles a day and was tired of squealing tires each time I was barely braking over a metal cover or a painted line - sounding like a hooligan at 5 mph ;-) Or those times in the city when you take off at 90 degrees to join traffic that would result in more squealing, traction control, and no actual "Go", almost dangerously so, at least irritantingly. Or wallowing like a half beached whale when doing an avoidance maneuver in case of an accident ahead...
I hated the Ecopia - ironically all the folks I talked to did as well, even my sister in law who drives like a granny also complained about the "embarrassing squeal" of those tires, so it's not just my driving style.
I had the shop save those POS tires so I can return them to Mr. VW at lease end, they look new. Meantime I will be running on Bridgestone potenza re970 Pole position AS, basically as high performance as you can get while retaining an all season rating...
Things of note, it's not all roses... the good:
- The tires aren't even scrubbed yet and the car feels more planted. More solid.
- no squeal.. at all... They will spin a little (a lot less) when overworked (like a 90 degree right take off) because the car is front wheel drive and quite torquey, not magical. Still, much better in that regard. Change of direction feels more stable too...
- The most impressive difference is the braking, the car feels solid under braking.
- The tires don't look flat all the time like the ecopia, the sidewall appears stiffer.
The not as good:
- The new tires are heavier, 23 lbs ea. vs 19 - I noticed the ecopia's light weight when I stacked them in my garage. That results in a less sprightly tip off, like the first second of acceleration when re the Egolf just jumps, it feels a little lazier now. Once in motion the torque feels the same, it zooms.
- Also the tires seem a tad louder...
- Mileage: seemed like I ate about a needle's worth of extra juice. Not much, not even one little mark on the gauge. Will report tonight after a full cycle. Either way it's not going to affect my commute.
Again I'm not after traffic lights races here, my other car is rather good, and when I jumped into the Egolf to commute I wanted something that would not require me to recalibrate my brain too much, brake better, handle emergencies better. mostly, something that wouldn't squeal when I'm driving like granny and when it's not justified, and overall make the car feel more planted... Mission accomplished, but there is a penalty in initial pull... And probably mileage.. If I were to do this again I would not let the shop pick a tire, and I'd look for the lightest high performance tire instead (tire rack has weights), I can feel the unsprung weight (+4 per corner) of those tires. YMMV - literally ;-)
I only commute 44 miles a day and was tired of squealing tires each time I was barely braking over a metal cover or a painted line - sounding like a hooligan at 5 mph ;-) Or those times in the city when you take off at 90 degrees to join traffic that would result in more squealing, traction control, and no actual "Go", almost dangerously so, at least irritantingly. Or wallowing like a half beached whale when doing an avoidance maneuver in case of an accident ahead...
I hated the Ecopia - ironically all the folks I talked to did as well, even my sister in law who drives like a granny also complained about the "embarrassing squeal" of those tires, so it's not just my driving style.
I had the shop save those POS tires so I can return them to Mr. VW at lease end, they look new. Meantime I will be running on Bridgestone potenza re970 Pole position AS, basically as high performance as you can get while retaining an all season rating...
Things of note, it's not all roses... the good:
- The tires aren't even scrubbed yet and the car feels more planted. More solid.
- no squeal.. at all... They will spin a little (a lot less) when overworked (like a 90 degree right take off) because the car is front wheel drive and quite torquey, not magical. Still, much better in that regard. Change of direction feels more stable too...
- The most impressive difference is the braking, the car feels solid under braking.
- The tires don't look flat all the time like the ecopia, the sidewall appears stiffer.
The not as good:
- The new tires are heavier, 23 lbs ea. vs 19 - I noticed the ecopia's light weight when I stacked them in my garage. That results in a less sprightly tip off, like the first second of acceleration when re the Egolf just jumps, it feels a little lazier now. Once in motion the torque feels the same, it zooms.
- Also the tires seem a tad louder...
- Mileage: seemed like I ate about a needle's worth of extra juice. Not much, not even one little mark on the gauge. Will report tonight after a full cycle. Either way it's not going to affect my commute.
Again I'm not after traffic lights races here, my other car is rather good, and when I jumped into the Egolf to commute I wanted something that would not require me to recalibrate my brain too much, brake better, handle emergencies better. mostly, something that wouldn't squeal when I'm driving like granny and when it's not justified, and overall make the car feel more planted... Mission accomplished, but there is a penalty in initial pull... And probably mileage.. If I were to do this again I would not let the shop pick a tire, and I'd look for the lightest high performance tire instead (tire rack has weights), I can feel the unsprung weight (+4 per corner) of those tires. YMMV - literally ;-)
