Driving the GTI again this past weekend reminded me why so many people have different impressions of this car. I've spent most of my time driving the GTI in the city. In that environment, the suspension has always felt remarkable comfortable given its low-profile tires.
Get on a broken and rutted freeway like the 405 here in L.A. and it's a different story. More than once this weekend I felt like I was behind the wheel of a Nissan GT-R. At highway speeds, the GTI feels considerably less compliant. Those 40-series tires suddenly feel more like they look as every crack comes through to the interior. It's not quite as awful as the GT-R, but it's still more road intrusion than your average hatchback. I don't mind it that much, makes the car feel a little more serious. Wouldn't be surprised if other didn't agree though.
Ed Hellwig, Editor, Inside Line
skyggge says:
05:05 PM, 06/27/11
I agree. I've logged many hours and many days going back and forth between my 2010 Speed3 and a GTI. While the GTI is nice, it's not like a Lexus to the Speed3's Jeep Wrangler. In my opinion, the GTI's ride is only slightly better, and actually worse over certain roads.
sharpend says:
05:36 PM, 06/27/11
It's road - and tire - dependent.
Get on a washboard section of freeway and you'll feel it - especially at first. After some time with the car you get used to it and don't notice it nearly as much.
It could also be the poorly reviewed Dunlop SP Sport 01 A/S tires on your car - according to the Tire Rack survey results they suck - ranked a lowly 23rd out of 24 in the Ultra High Performance All-Season category.
In fact, they got the lowest Ride Comfort score of all 24 tires.
esoterica says:
09:08 PM, 06/27/11
@sharpend, I agree about the tires. Even of the same size, tire model can make an enormous difference in ride quality.
bodyblue says:
05:17 AM, 06/28/11
I like the GTI but how long will IL keep it? It seems that everything that can be said about it has been said about it....kind of like the Flex.
vvk says:
05:36 AM, 06/28/11
This car would be so much better with a set of 205/55-16s... Or even 195/60-15s. Better in every way.
philaburb says:
06:21 AM, 06/28/11
I agree that the dunlops may be making it worse, I've got the pirellis on mine, its not nearly as bad as Ed's description, and the roads here in the northeast aren't perfect by any means.
louiswei says:
07:11 AM, 06/28/11
405 will almost make any sport-oriented car felt like a GT-R... The best car for that highway? The Lexus ES350.
rascal99 says:
07:12 AM, 06/28/11
I have the Pirelli's and they are just LOUD after 18k miles. And I can feel a bit of vibration in the steering wheel. Someone at VWVortex indicated you cannot cross rotate these tires, or rotate them at all because the camber is quite pronounced in the rear. Just swap them front to back. Wonder if anyone has an opinion on this. Would like to ditch these tires but the tread wear appears fine.
fordson1 says:
08:12 AM, 06/28/11
"This car would be so much better with a set of 205/55-16s... Or even 195/60-15s. Better in every way."
Except that the wheels for the 195/60-15s would not fit over the brake calipers. And the tires would be over an inch smaller in diameter than the tires that come on the car, so mileage would probably suffer in addition to handling, and the speedo would be way off.
Other than that, they'd be just perfect.
This is a GTI. Its mission is not to ride and handle like an LS430.
equ says:
10:27 AM, 06/28/11
I drove a 17" and a 18" gti back to back... 17's ride much better with no seeming downsides. You end up paying for those looks, too bad that 18's are now standard.
fordson1 says:
11:48 AM, 06/28/11
I kinda agree about the 17s vs 18s - but as soon as the just-OK OEM Pirellis on mine are done - or even before - we will see what some higher-end tires can do for the car - and maybe some lighter forged wheels, too. If I had gotten the Dunlops on it they would never have made it home from the dealership.
OEM tires suck on cars anymore - you can get a $60k 6-series Audi with H-rated tires on it - and indifferent H-rated tires at that. Mustang GTs come with A/S tires stock - know what percentage of new Mustang GTs ever are allowed to see snow? Maybe 10% max?
As for how much more needs to be said about the GTI...they need to chip it.
IL claims they use all of their LT cars the way typical owners do, and to that effect, they go out in the desert and tow trailers with the Raptor, they load up the Sienna and Odyssey with people and luggage and go on road trips, take the Mustang GT out for track days and now they're looking to upgrade the tires - all things owners of these vehicles would do. So they need to chip the GTI - because that's what GTI owners do with them.
bozaman says:
12:22 PM, 06/28/11
tires...change the tires. i have the dunlops and believe they are marginally acceptable, but can be improved on significantly. i have a set of summer tires on now, but expect to ride out the dunlops in through the winter until they require replacing but my opinion is that they are only ok across the board. your description of highway ride characteristics with these tires are spot-on and mirror my experience. once the tires were changed out for my summer tires, the ride changed significantly.
milleman says:
04:35 PM, 06/28/11
IL's GTI's ride is understandable given the 40-series 18" and those particular Dunlops. I intentionally bought my GTI with 17" and as soon as I could sold the A/S Contis for their then-new ExtremeContact DW. Ride actually improved over the A/S tires (they come in 1st for ride comfort in Tire Rack's current survey) and nearly transformed the car's handling on public roads by any subjective measure. I'm not saying anything new that hasn't been posted above, just my own experience as a suggestion (again!) for you to at least try good summer tires (ideally on borrowed 17" aftermarket wheels) on your GTI prior to concluding your long-term test. Yes, that and an ECU flash...
tsy says:
03:02 PM, 07/ 1/11
The GTI with 18" wheels has suspension limiters to fit the wheels/tires. I'm sure this diminishes the suspension compliance some as well.
corsar says:
03:23 PM, 07/ 5/11
IL, could you please do what you promised to do long time ago - 17" vs. 18" test? The topic would be closed then...
hooklyn says:
07:54 AM, 10/12/11
The Summer Dunlops on this car aren't great. I have the Pirelli A/S tires and the ride is much more compliant.
Don't fault the car, fault the tire.