Sticky tires on the E-golf, my report

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Deschodt

***
Joined
Mar 14, 2017
Messages
85
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 ;-)
 
Yeah, I probably will not wear them out before the lease ends, I guess I'll give them to one of you if interested ;-) I could not take the squealing embarassment anymore, and had a few close calls freeway driving (people doing crazy stuff ahead) where I thought the behavior of the golf was inadequate both in braking and emergency lane change. I feel more comfortable with quality rubber, but there's a cost for sure...
 
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In red, what's left after my commute yesterday (admitted with seat heater and some windshield defrost)
In yellow my normal summer commute (less seat heater, same windshield defrost).

There is an impact but probably somewhere like 1/2 of that gap like for like... For me, not an issue... Braking is very good now. I did hear a chirp on braking over a painted line on purpose, but much less and those tires are totally new and need to scrub in. No regrets.
 
Deschodt said:
Yeah, I probably will not wear them out before the lease ends, I guess I'll give them to one of you if interested ;-) I could not take the squealing embarassment anymore, and had a few close calls freeway driving (people doing crazy stuff ahead) where I thought the behavior of the golf was inadequate both in braking and emergency lane change. I feel more comfortable with quality rubber, but there's a cost for sure...

That must be why the Ecopia's work for me. I don't drive my e-Golf on the freeways or interstates, I have TDI's for that. A good portion of my drive is foothill road with turns, and some stop signs, but I always come to a complete stop before the limit line, here in CA. I do run the tire pressure at 45 psi all the way around.

Glad you got a better planted feel and aren't suffering too badly in loss of range.

Being retired, I don't drive in work in commute traffic any more in Los Angeles City, with 4 million idiots, or Los Angeles County with 10 million other idiots on the road. And I don't miss it one bit, that's combat driving.

I am at 45k miles on the 2014 passat tdi. 8/32" on the front tires, 9/32" on the rear tires, OEM Continental Contact ContiPros. Tires have been never rotated, set the toe in on the alignment to 0, on all 4 corners. Maybe I will rotate them at 50k miles.
 
Last observation here: I still get "some" chirping when covering the brake pedal over a painted line or any low grip surface...
I say "covering the pedal" because that's hardly called "braking" at that point..
I'm starting to believe it' s a function of the car switching over from regeneration/slowdown to active pads-on-discs... and therefore it might always be there... It's a lot less noticeable with the stickier rubber though, I do not scare pedestrians anymore.

If VW lets me return the car w/o penalty with *any* tire on, I will donate the Ecopias gradly ;-) I'm stashing them just in case, I've never leased before and I have no idea what they ding you for...
 
Deschodt said:
Last observation here: I still get "some" chirping when covering the brake pedal over a painted line or any low grip surface...
I say "covering the pedal" because that's hardly called "braking" at that point..
I'm starting to believe it' s a function of the car switching over from regeneration/slowdown to active pads-on-discs... and therefore it might always be there... It's a lot less noticeable with the stickier rubber though, I do not scare pedestrians anymore.

If VW lets me return the car w/o penalty with *any* tire on, I will donate the Ecopias gradly ;-) I'm stashing them just in case, I've never leased before and I have no idea what they ding you for...

I don't believe they ding you, tires are considered normal wear and tear, and built into the price of the lease arrangement in miles leased per year. Since the tires you put on will have less miles on them the originals, you should provide that information as to total miles on the Newer tires you installed at your expense.
 
I just finished the lease on my 2015 SEL and rolled over into a 2017 SEL lease.
One thing I noticed at the new car pick up was that the brand of tire had changed. I can't remember now what the new one has, but I remember it being different. Of course, they're still skinny, low rolling resistance tires, so there's probably little change from the performance of the 2015's but I can hope... ;-)
 
GadgetGav said:
I just finished the lease on my 2015 SEL and rolled over into a 2017 SEL lease.
One thing I noticed at the new car pick up was that the brand of tire had changed. I can't remember now what the new one has, but I remember it being different. Of course, they're still skinny, low rolling resistance tires, so there's probably little change from the performance of the 2015's but I can hope... ;-)

How many miles on your 2015 SEL when you turned it in? It will be interesting to hear your thoughts on the 2017 with the greater range between recharges. Early model 2015's had Conti's, shortly thereafter changed to Bridgestone Ecopias 422+.
 
Did you get a better deal on the 2017 SEL than you got on the 2015 SEL? What are you paying, if you don't mind me asking. Thanks!
 
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