Dunlop Sport 3000A tyres

[BeigeJet]

Hi All,

I'm looking for humble opinions on some tyres. The Contie 2's are just about at the end of their life after 45k. I may get 50k out of the fronts. The rears are worse than the fronts coz they spent their 1st 30k on the front while the wife leadfoots it. TDI torque! The issue though is loss of grip now rather than outright longevity.

I'm a little limited on choice of provider as the leasing company has a national fleet deal. I spoke with one provider and the Dunlop Sport 3000A sound OK. Size is 205/55/16 91W which is higher than the lspeed rating of the Conties 'V'.

I would welcome all opinions good bad or indifferent. I hear these were OEM on BA/BF xr6 and 8's so they cannot be all bad? can they?

[BeigeJet]

Hi All,

I'm looking for humble opinions on some tyres. The Contie 2's are just about at the end of their life after 45k. I may get 50k out of the fronts. The rears are worse than the fronts coz they spent their 1st 30k on the front while the wife leadfoots it. TDI torque! The issue though is loss of grip now rather than outright longevity.

I'm a little limited on choice of provider as the leasing company has a national fleet deal. I spoke with one provider and the Dunlop Sport 3000A sound OK. Size is 205/55/16 91W which is higher than the lspeed rating of the Conties 'V'.

I would welcome all opinions good bad or indifferent. I hear these were OEM on BA/BF xr6 and 8's so they cannot be all bad? can they?

PS - I was quoted $275 - $290 for Conti 2's if I wanted OEM. But nah they're a bit noisy on coarse chip AND too expensive!

[docjames]

I've had a different size dunlop on a falcon XR6 AND xr8 - they're great, wear ok with good wet/dry grip (get a bit slippy as they get worn) - i would be happy with them.

You havent mentioned what the alternative is?

[PhilMart]

For what its worth Wheels recently did some testing on tyres and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric came first but Falken FK452 in my opinion came a close second and for 130 a tyre less will be my next choice.I would love the goodyears but really cant see the small benefit for the big bucks! These wree on 235/45/17 btw.

[BeigeJet]

Hi Doc,

Goodyear Eagle F1 but getting more expensive. Yokie 'C' drives and Michelins.

The leasing Company have a national fleet agreement with 4 major tyre retailers of which one I would not go to even if they were the last tyre detailer on earth. This is a personal opinion after too many bad experiences at a number of their franchises.

What sort or wear did you get on the falcons? I'd be happy with 40 - 45k.

Cheers,

Neil.

[les88]

I had them on my BFxr6 turbo ute ...noisy... the rears went by 30k klm front to rear change every 10k I couldn't recommend them
les

[docjames]

Wear on the T was 45000km for the first set, but those were mostly highway kms. On the second set i handed the car back with 93000km (so 48000km) and they still had 5-10kkm in them (must have been gentler on second set). Givent he performance and weight of both these cars, i'd say that's pretty good. The T was on 17s, the 8 on 18s.

The 8 i only had for about 15000km but they had stacks left and would have ended up the same (40-45000km) i'd reckon by the ongoing wear rate.

Of the others you mention, I'm wary of the C-drive (have heard mixed things) and the Michelins will depend on which ones but the ones i know are either too hard (to get kms) or too soft (wear out too quick and cost $$$). The Dunlop seemed to be a good compromise.

At the end of the day, any you mention are reasonable tyres. All have pros and cons and at the end of the day you wontr know until you try them.

Also, maybe see if you can get a price on the Bridgestone gIII - i've had them on a few cars and found them quite good too.

[dangerous_daveo]

They aren't a bad tyre. My dad had them on his Subi, was quite happy with them, got about 40k kms out of them, but he had a dodgy wheel alinement which chewed two of them.

When he went to replace them they were quite exxy, so he has moved on to a toyo, which he actually thinks is quieter, and nicer to drive on.

For me I wouldn't go GIIIs for the money you can get a better tyre. When I had them they didnt last all that long, for less dosh I could get the dunlop SP Sport Maxx which are a much better tyre. But Im lucky to get 20k out of them, ditto with the GIIIs.

The michelins are just too much, ditto with the continentals, Id even say Bridgestones are a bit pricy now too. For the performance and tyre life they just arent worth the extra, its no where near in proportion.

Really my research has told me get the 2nd rung tyre in which ever brand (decent brands, and not the falkens, their 2nd rung is just rubbish in the wet) and you should be ok. Won't have the best of best grip, but the wear will be a lot better, along with cost. And hey, your tdi aint a race car, and I'm sure you dont drive it like one.

[pinzvidz]

For what its worth Wheels recently did some testing on tyres and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric came first but Falken FK452 in my opinion came a close second and for 130 a tyre less will be my next choice.I would love the goodyears but really cant see the small benefit for the big bucks! These wree on 235/45/17 btw.

After doing a lot of research, and taking the Wheels test into consideration, I replaced our GTI's OEM Dunlops with the FK452s this week. Absolutely brilliant tyre - excellent grip in the wet, and very little road noise as well, even on course chip. Missus loves 'em, says they're 1000 times better than the Dunlops. Highly recommended!

[BeigeJet]

Hi All,

Many thanks for everyone's opinions.

Along with Doc James and Dangerous Daveos opinions, a fellow work colleague provided similar evidence that the Sport 300A are OK.

Dangerous Daveo,

Youre right the TDI is no race car and we don't try and drive that way! Although the wife loves the torque and gives a bit of a squirt on more occasions than I would like.

MY mind is pretty well made up so I'll be going with the Dunlops. Yes there's better tyres. But hey there's a lot worse too!

Cheers for all your input,

Neil

[dangerous_daveo]

The one major point. SHOP THEM AROUND!!! We found differences of up to $60 per corner.

[BeigeJet]

Hi All,

Many thanks for everyone's opinions.

Along with Doc James and Dangerous Daveos opinions, a fellow work colleague provided similar evidence that the Sport 3000A are OK.

Dangerous Daveo,

Youre right the TDI is no race car and we don't try and drive that way! Although the wife loves the torque and gives a bit of a squirt on more occasions than I would like.

MY mind is pretty well made up so I'll be going with the Dunlops. Yes there's better tyres. But hey there's a lot worse too!

Hi All,

Well I finally bit the bullet and got the Dunlop Sport 3000A'a yesterday.

Not much choice of where I got them because of my leasing company's preferred supplier hook up. I won't know the price until it's charged back but expect them to be around $170 based on the retail price.

The wife reckons the jetta now wears sneakers! They are that quiet compared to the Conti 2's. Hopefully they'll be as grippy.

However I do have to go back to the tyre place because:-

1. They didn't put the special wheel nut key back (not good if I get flat in the meantime)
2. They broke 3 of the black plastic caps that go over the wheel nuts (I knew I should have done this before going there). They have committed to replace these with originals from VW


For the record the Conti's did 48,300km. The back were illegal and the fronts probably had about 3,000 km left.


Cheers and happy motoring to uyou all,

Neil.

[limmy]

After doing a lot of research, and taking the Wheels test into consideration, I replaced our GTI's OEM Dunlops with the FK452s this week. Absolutely brilliant tyre - excellent grip in the wet, and very little road noise as well, even on course chip. Missus loves 'em, says they're 1000 times better than the Dunlops. Highly recommended!

pinzvidz - just letting you know, i have been running fk452s for the past 15000kms and they have been great. particularly for the overall value of the tyre. you are right in saying they are excellent in the wet, but i have found they are better in the wet than in the dry.

in saying that, i think i'm going to stick some advans on when the fk452s are worn.

[origin]

After doing a lot of research, and taking the Wheels test into consideration, I replaced our GTI's OEM Dunlops with the FK452s this week. Absolutely brilliant tyre - excellent grip in the wet, and very little road noise as well, even on course chip. Missus loves 'em, says they're 1000 times better than the Dunlops. Highly recommended!

Hi PinzVidz,

Could you tell me where did you get the tyre from ? I am thinking to change mine too..

How much is it ? each?



Thanks in advanced
origin

[zorro]

Dunlop is worth it.

I can say that the DUNLOP's are a great tyre. I have a set on my Liberty RX and they are light years away from a set of FALKENS. Noisy, quick tyre wear and a real disapointment in the wet. The original Bridestone Potenza's are excellent but almost $100 per tyre more expensive.