Best Tyres for the Volkswagen Golf MK3 GTi 16v

My first Michelins after many years. Great tyre. Best tradewear I ever had. I bought them in 2013 and now in 2016 they still look like new. Quite noisy and the stones of the road get in the patterns on the tyre, making it more noisy. Really good for dry and wet driving on normal conditions. Perfect grip. For this type of car (VW Golf GTI MK3 2.0) it is the perfect tyre, quite expensive, but still a good choice.

Having used Toyo T1R's for a long time on this car I thought I'd try the Rainsport 2's. Bad choice. The sidewall is too soft (which is what gives them good comfort and wet grip), so it makes the car feel like it's on a mattress. I had the same dry grip as a T1R, however I didn't feel confident turning in as quickly. The tyre is not progressive and does not give good feedback of the road, causing you to back down earlier than you'd like. I have since put them in the back axle, with T1R's at the front and I am back to how it used to be, great. I do think these are good tyres for this car for the BACK axle only, as it compensates for a light rear, providing that much needed grip.

Just awful. Went from an Avon zv3 to these and it is now like driving on pillows. Car wallows and feels unconnected to the road. I guess they are predictable and reasonably comfy and quiet but do not get them on anything you would like to go around bends in.....what a disappointment!

I have used Toyo T1-Rs on my Golf MK3 GTi 16v (205/50/15) for over 50K and was very happy with them until I tried the Uniroyal Rainsport IIs. They have excellent dry grip, far superior progressiveness (I can push it to a tyre squeal around roundabouts and still feed completely in control which I could not do with the Toyos). However the wet grip is what really makes these tyres excellent, I have far greater confidence on wet country roads than I ever did with the Toyos. I do not have anything to report on tyre wear, but I hope they will be better than the Toyos which was my main reason for changing. I paid ?65 each for the Rainsport IIs including fitting so they were basically almost the same price as the Toyos (?55 excluding fitting). I would mention though that the Rainsport IIs were really hard to find in this size (205/50/15), I ended up going to the Uniroyal website to find an accredited supplier locally who could order them in 205/50/15. Downsides? None to report really, but aesthetically the Toyos definitely looked cooler with their wall to wall V shaped grip.

I will post another review to report on wear in a year or so.

Long term review: I have used these on my Golf MK3 GTi 16v from when I purchased it (60K) until today (114K). The grip in the dry is excellent - better anything else I have tried to date, wet grip is average, but the wear rate is not particularly good as they are made from a softer compound than most tyres. I have gone through quite a few sets since I purchased the car, I reckon I averaged about 12K from the fronts. The tyres provide good feedback, and are fairly progressive.

I decided to try another tyre. Although the Toyos were cheap (?55 each + fitting) I started to think that I could get better value for money elsewhere by trying a similar performing tyre which wears less. I decided to go for the Uniroyal Rainsport II since those, the Toyos, and the Kumho KU31 are the only credible performance tyres for 205/50/15. I have only had the Rainsport IIs on for a few days but I am astonished at how good they are. The dry grip is at least as good as the Toyos, but road feedback, progressiveness, and wet grip are far superior. I paid ?65 each including fitting and balancing so the price difference between them and the Toyos are negligible. I am now hoping they will last longer too.