Tires Pirelli or Continental

I've been running 18" Conti Pure Contacts for about 8k miles now. Initially, I didn't love the tire but they handled good so I decided to keep them. Recently had them rebalanced and rotated which that made a difference. Ride is firmer than Michelin's or OEM Contis but this is one of the best handling tire I've owned on any of my cars. Hydroplaning resistance and snow traction for an all season tire is excellent.

I have had Conti DW performance summer tires on my TDI for over a year, now, and run them between 40 - 41 psi. For me, that is a good compromise between handling and comfort, and gives the added benefits of longer tire life and better fuel economy. Note, however, that the standard sport suspension on the US TDI, while about equal in handling to the GTI on real roads, is a bit softer and more forgiving on bad roads. Also, 16" wheels help and are better suited to the chassis than 17" wheels.

I notice some of the new GTIs at my dealer are coming with pirelli P7 tires vs the P zero. P7s are grand touring tires. I have them on my car and handle and ride great and theyll hopefully last longer than usual. Theyre cheaper than Mich. too. Ive bought cheap tires, mid range tires and expensive tires before and the P7s seem to be the best so far. Id recommend them. Plus, Ive purchased p zeros before and dont remember them being all that great. I am very happy with the p7 grand touring tire so far. very quiet and smooth.

four tires (Continental DW)

Finally got back to the car this weekend to have the tires switched out from the conti to pzero. Much happier with the Perilli. Can certainly tell the stiffer sidewall, feels like it did with my original oem tires.

I have Verde's on my 14... ran terrific in snow and now in summer, grip excellent. I love them!

If its the tires its time to invest in some Continental DWS

I had them on my old B5 A4 and liked them very much. Didn't get great mileage out of them. But they handled very nice. I have a 2012 SEL and don't much care for the Pirelli tires on it now. Yes, they are only 50% at 21500 miles. which is good. But in the rain I think they get very slick. Don't have the confidence for spirited driving when wet out. Which the DWS's work well in.

I have the Pirelli P-Zero Nero 225/40HR18 on Detroit wheels. They were pleasantly quiet until a few thousand KM then I started to notice a tire noise. No bumps hit and it's all 4 corners.

I had my Pirelli PZeroNero's for 20k miles. They got extremely noisy for one, and also the steering wheel started to shimmy on the highway over 65mph. I just had Mic Pilot Super Sports installed and the shimmy is still there.