Just a heads up. You don't need the same tread pattern on the same axle mate.
....Surely you meant to write that you DO need the same tread pattern on the same axle, and you meant that front tyre treads could be different from rear tyre treads. Ideally it's better to have the same tread patterns all round and deeper treads on the rear - Sticky Vicky must be obeyed!
From experience, avoid running Directional treads on one axle and Asymmetric treads on the other - It kicks in the ESP more often and can feel very snatchy to drive.
No. It's a bit of a dated practice. There's absolutely nothing wrong with running different tread patterns on the same axel. I'm not saying do it deliberately but if you've got a good conti that's out of production there's no need to bin it off. Especially if its in nearly new condition.
....Sorry but I'm not sure I can agree.
If two tyres have a different tread pattern then they are very likely indeed (almost 100% certain?) to have different properties in their construction and/or rubber. For example, tyre wall stiffness. Consequently, under typical stresses and UK road conditions the car's ESP system is likely to kick in as it reads one wheel (tyre) behaving differently.
This is not necessarily a problem in itself inasmuch that the ESP will 'save the day' and help you out of trouble. However, I know from direct experience that the ESP kicking in due to tyre differences is very unpleasant and actually the first few times it happens it's quite scary until you realise what is happening and keep your foot planted through it. And that experience is with a Quaife diff installed.
Another aspect of this is that tyre wear rate is likely to be different between different tyres and again it's far from ideal to have uneven tyre wear on an axle.
So, until someone can fully explain otherwise, I don't agree that your advice on this is a good practice and especially not for any spirited driving (which GTI's are designed for).
red is correct here in every area he describes
of course you can use different tyres on the same axle if you want inconsistences, if it was a micra or a fiesta or something then stick anything on, but were talking about a performance car here, other thing to remember is the water dispersal will be different on a diff tread pattern.
to run a car like a gti and want it to perform well common sense must be used.
personally if I bought a gti and it had 4 brand new tyres on it with one being a diff tread pattern it would be off asap and replaced for the right one, if the tread pattern is no longer available then at the very least match up the axles with the same tyre.
if you want to get it even more right then if you are on the search for 1 tyre then try and get a similar dot code tyre,,, the year and week of production of every tyre is stamped on the sidewall, so something like a august 2012 produced tyre will act differently than a tyre that rolled of the production line in say 2010, hence the reason why all major tyre manufacturers advise to discard a tyre after 4 years if I remember right, even if it is brand new and been sitting on a garages shelf, a tyres sidewall strength WILL degrade over this time and will then act differently on the road.
how many people out there knew the exact date of production is stamped on their tyres ?
look on the sidewall, there will be a 4 digit code, it can be on the inside or on the outside of the tyre, if you cant see it go to the other side of the car and it will prob be on the outside of that one,,, the 4 digit code will be for example 2611 in a little rectangle circular box where all the other things are stamped like the tyre size, 2611 will mean the tyre was made in the 26th week of 2011.
when I bought my car 2 months ago it had 36k miles on it and 2 of the tyres where original 2008 dot codes, salesman tried to tell me the tyres where 6 months old lol, once I pointed this out he just shut up.
every tyre in the uk has a dot code
diff tyres on same axle ? not on a gti dude but your car
