Tyres are my day job. There's loads of choice out there depending on your budget, but you really do get what you pay for. The 2 common complaints with the low profile, wide tyres most of us run are road noise and stepping (uneven wear usually on the inside). This is nearly always worse the cheaper the tyre. Unfortunately tyres seem to be something people cut costs on.
Nearly all of us are trying to make our cars quicker, better road holding in the corners and more importantly, under braking will do this without adding any bhp! Save the extra and get some premium rubber.
These tyres are going to be with you for around 20,000 miles, which is a lot of driving. For the sake of an extra 50 quid a corner you can get yourself in the best that Goodyear or Pirelli can offer, and make those miles so much sweeter.
Buying mid range tyres for a GTi is a bit like giving Yussain Bolt a pair of Reebok Classics!
^^^^ What they said!
Regardless of your car's performance each tyre has a contact area with the road surface which is only about the size of a CD. Do I need to point out anything further such as about braking, grip, and cornering? - It's all you have to rely on and worth being as safe as you possibly can.
To be fair, I have no experience of Falkens and Kuhmos but it's simply not a risk I'm prepared to take. I must assume that these tyres meet the specs to be valid for insurance.
And always fit new deeper tread tyres on the rear axle as Sticky Vicky explains (specially for Ian's pleasure):
http://www.etyres.co.uk/flashmovies/new-tyres-on-rear-800.htmlOn our FWD cars the tread will wear out more quickly on the front, so I buy just a pair of new tyres at a time and move the rear tyres to the front to make way for the new ones on the rear.
Having driven my GTI over 100,000 miles I find these the best allrounder for fast road use: