I am at 15K on stock GY Eagle LS2s and I like them. There is between 7/12” and 8/12” of original 10/12” left with even wear on all four tires and quiet ride. I would likely be replacing stock tires some time before the end of 2013, but I do not think they will be bold by then. Unlike the AZ, in Minnesota we have winters and bold tires are not an option. I’ve been asking around about different tires in 265/50R19 size and I have come to a conclusion that Pirelli Verdes and GY Eagles LS2s are as equally good as they are equally bad – there are many stories of love and hate floating around for both. It seems to me that the Latitudes are about the same, but slightly overpriced vs. Verdes and LS2s. I am of the opinion that after-market tires are generally better than OEM. Either of three brands - whichever is closest to your heart or pocket - would work well.
I am personally thinking about getting summer and winter sets after the OEMs will be done with. Good luck!

 

I am at 15K on stock GY Eagle LS2s and I like them. There is between 7/12” and 8/12” of original 10/12” left with even wear on all four tires and quiet ride....it seems to me that the Latitudes are about the same, but slightly overpriced vs. Verdes and LS2s...

Great response! Answers the OP questions perfectly! Nothing to add!

 

109 views and only one opinion. Doesn't anyone have tires on their Treg?

 

There are many, many threads on here on tyres so I suppose folk think everything that can be said has been said!

 

I thought 28,000 miles and almost bald is not too bad. Considering your summers are over 100 F, that seems okay.

I decided when I was a teenager that tires are for sissies. I run on rims wrapped with electrical tape.

 

There are many tire brand options...and everyone has an opinion and most of them are useless as your impressions are probably far away from mine or someone else's.. Personally I think Pirelli's (not Perellis) are fantastic tires. You bought an expensive vehicle that is known to eat tires...what did you expect?

 

WHY????



Great thread. SOrry but I need to get up on my soap box. Do not take it personally.

I want to know why? Why does it eat tires? Cost has nothing to do with it. Typically cost is an indicator of quality. In this example we would presume not! It is expensive, expect it to wear out. Well then why did you put tires on that have manufacture specification of 50,000 miles? Secondly do not tell me it is a heavy vehicle. All SUV’s of similar size have similar curb weight. Also, if it was heavy, then why don’t the breaks wear out too? Finally if they VW, know it is a heavy vehicle, why do they not put on appropriate tries that can handle the weight. So back to my first question, why?

 

Verdeo - This is what I asked

"Has anyone put on the Michelin Latitudes and have miles to see how they wear for the long term? Any other experiences?"

What I expect is to have someone who has put Latitudes on their vehicle tell me how many miles they either got from them or how many miles they have on them now with X amount of tread left. I didn't ask for opinions on someones favorite brand. My PIRELLI'S really needed to be replaced at 25,000 miles. Now that may be good enough for you, and I would agree if I were driving a Porsche or some other performance sports car, but there has to be a better option than Scorpions for long term tread wear on an SUV. I am merely asking others to share actual experience not perceived brand loyalty. As far as being known to eat tires, thanks for letting me know, I have not heard that yet.

 

Verdeo - This is what I asked

"Has anyone put on the Michelin Latitudes and have miles to see how they wear for the long term? Any other experiences?"

.

Actually your thread was headed 265/50R19 recommendations and you finished your sentence above by asked "Any other experiences?" which is why you've probably got the responses you did!

In another thread I see VW are now apparently recommending their dealers fit the Latitude to deal with the T3 steering wheel shake problem.

In my experience of the brand, but not the Latitude, Michelins usually cost more but wear well, are quiet and don't knock the mpg as some tyres can.

 

TDIDUB,
If you would go to tire rack and look up reviews of all of these...many in actual tests, you would find better information regarding the characteristics of these tires. But really, you are driving an all wheel drive 2.5 ton truck. Do you think it's a ballet dancer?

 

I suppose one has to tread (no pun intended) carefully around some people here!

• It is natural to build up brand-loyalty if that brand serves you well.
• Nothing wrong with sharing that with others either!
• Supporting one brand should not be read as shooting other brands down, it is just "other experiences".
• Tyre wear is dependent on so many factors, that it is dangerous to go by another driver's experience. Driving style, surface and inflation regime are only some of the variables to factor in.

PS:
I had Latitudes on my V10, but in 285/45/19. Does that count?
They served me well, with even wear and fair mileage (± 50000kms).
When they had ±2mm tread left, they became prone to punctures in the tread area. Holes would open up without evidence of a nail etc.
I dumped them and are currently running the 18" BFG A/Ts (file under "other experiences" ), until I replace the 19"-ers.

 

My experience is OE tires don't come with mileage warranty, wether they are the same or not.

My Pirellis got replaced with Michelin At 26K miles. I'll try to get mileage and wear numbers tomorrow. My impression is they are much better mileage, noise, pulling on rutted blacktop, erc.

 

great, thanks

 

Miles on Michelin: 13,341 = 39,362 – 26,021
Wear on Michelin: 2/32 = 10 – 8
Percent wear: 25% = 2 / 8
Indicated mileage to 2/32: 53,364 = 13,341 / 0.25

I've presently have half the miles on the Michelin that I got out of the Pirelli with only 25% of the available thread gone. They are still quiet due to not getting the tapered edge wear, some call it scallops, I don't think it is the same. This could be because I am cross rotating, unlike the VW recommended front to back only. They are not pulling on worn/rutted blacktop like the Pirelli did towards the end of their life. Two thumbs up.

To be fair, I think the Pirelli tires could have lasted to 30K and been quiet if cross rotated to alleviate the feathered edge wear. But that would still be a lot less miles than the Michelin indicate at this point.

 

Sounds like you prefer your new Latitudes over the OEM Verdes. And your Latitudes are wearing similar to my stock GY LS2s. I wish someone with LS2-to-Latitude transition experience will chime in with their impression how quality and performance of Latitudes compare to those of GY LS2s. If one has to spend almost $200 more per set of tires than it should be a good reason for doing so.

 

I probably should've checked here (always) first, but already put an order in for a 2nd set of GY LS2's for my '11.

I put 32.3k miles on them and have a maybe 3-4mm's left on the tread.

Max load is a little lower on the Latitude (2124 vs. 2337lbs) but the "would buy again" rating is almost twice that of the Eagle LS2 (6.4 vs. 3.3).

Latitudes look to be only $132 more per set than the Eagles on Tirerack right now...so good deal on those if you can get 'em that cheap relative to the Eagles.

 

Well, there is no proof that the Latitudes are any better than GY LS2s. IMO, the tirerack.com customer ratings are not worth considering as a source of serious information – just read some of the reviews there (“I don’t know too much about these tires, but I like them!” Or: “Excellent tires! I’ve put 500 miles on them so far and they are great!” As you might have also noticed, the reviews and ratings are applied to all tire sizes of a particular model and it could be not a single review by a guy driving SUV). So, I deem that a recommendation by a fellow Touareg owner might be a better bet for a good info (unless “tires fell apart after just 12K miles”, but you’ve learned afterwards that the balance and wheel alignment weren’t done). I’d say, 32.3K miles with 4 mm left is a great result for an OEM set and your second set will be even better!

 

Hope so...CC.

The other reason the Latitudes may have been a better choice is due to the steering wheel shake, which I do have, and Nooby's note above wherein it sounds like VW is, at least in some manner, recommending those to alleviate said shakes. But as there are seemingly plenty of folks in T3's w/ Eagles and no shake, I'm not able to really see that logically through...so I'll give them a chance to fix w/ a new set of Eagles and then unleash holy hell on them if I'm still shakin'!

 

Continental ExtremeContact DWS all the way.

Oops... I see Conti does not offer the 265/50R19 size in the ExtremeContact DWS product line. Too bad!

From a long-time Treg owner/driver now running my second set of Conti ExtremeContact DWS in 275/45R19, the tires are 'mucho excellente' for the Treg application.

Perhaps you could step to the 275/45R19 size and consider the Conti ExtremeContact DWS?

 

Aren’t they too wide to fit on 19” OEM rims?

 

The 275/45R19 tire size is the OEM tire size for the T2 19" wheels.

Check this out for confirmation -

Original Equipment Tire Sizes for Volkswagen Touareg 2 VR6 FSI

 

No need, I trust you. I guess what I should have asked is: are 19" rims of T2 and of T3 the same or different in their widths - because T3's OEM tires 265 vs. T2's 275. It's quite a difference.

 

..are 19" rims of T2 and of T3 the same or different in their widths? Because T3's OEM tires 265 vs. T2's 275...

Good point, maybe be sure how wide your T3 wheels are...

Tire Rack has different suggested rim widths for different brands, even in the same size.

The diameters of the Michelin Latitude Tour HP or Continental 4x4 Contact in 275/45/19 are 28.8" with a tread width of about 9.5 inches, and a suggested rim width of 8.5 to 10.5 inches. However, the Pirelli Zero Rosso 275/45/19 has a tread width of 10" with a suggested rim width of 9 to 11 inches.

The diameter of the Michelin Latitude Tour HP or Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetrico in 265/50/19 is about 29.5 inches. The Pirelli Verde N0 is 29.6 inches. However, the Tour HP has a tread width of 10" while the F1 and Verde N0 have a tread width of about 9.5 inches. The "non N0" version of the Verde (the tire not recommended for a Cayenne) has a width of 10.1 inches. All have the same suggested rim width of 7.5 to 9.5". However, the 4x4 Contact in this size is the same diameter and suggested rim width, but has only 8.7" of tread width.

The stock (T1) Atheo 19" wheel is a 9" wide wheel with an offset of 60. Some of the OEM wheels (at least those made by BBS) have their width and offset stamped on the outside of the wheel, right next to the valve stem.

I believe some of the T3 19" wheels are 8.5" wide with an offset of 59. Check if yours are marked on the outside, otherwise they may only be marked on the inside. In that case, get out your brake dust solvent and try out that shiny new jack. Good practice.

 

I would be more worried about the height rather than the width. They would be 3/4" shorter.

 

Overall tire diameter -

275/45R19 = 27.8"
265/50R19 = 29.5"

Difference = 1.7" = 5.76%

This diameter difference would have a significant impact on various systems - odometer, ECU, transmission, navigation, etc.

Tire shops will not install a tire size that exceeds 2% from the specified OEM size.

Agree that the 265/45R19 is NOT an option for the 265/50R19 replacement.

 

I have managed to work a good deal on some Michelin Latitudes from my dealer. $1300.00 out the door. I am a little calmed by the fact that my dealer has a Road Force balancer according to the Hunter Website. I think I can reason with them to run the tires more than once and make sure they are balanced properly as well. Discount was at about 1450 and they are in so much of a hurry that the guys would probably not take the time to run the wheels multiple times to insure balance. Tirerack was 1312 unmounted.

 

Shiney new jack? Shiney new jack?

He'll only have one if he ordered the now optional spare wheel, otherwise it's a tin of goo or the tow truck!

 

I do not know how Touareg is sold in the UK, but all US Touaregs do come with jacks - though of rather Kampfpanzer grey color than of a shiny chrome finish. Perhaps there is still some grief over the outcome of the Jutland battle affecting the way Touaregs are packaged for UK?

 

So do you get a spare wheel as well?

 

If all the jacks that accompany the T3 look like Kampfpanzer battle tanks, I might tolerate the irritating LED DRLs.

 

Conti ExtremeContact DWS 275/45R19

Oops... HUGE transposition error in above calcs!

Specs say the 275/45R19 tire is 28.7" in diameter. NOT 27.8".

Serious apologies!

Thanks to Panama Jack for calling this out!

New overall diameter calcs -

265/50R19 = 29.5"
275/45R19 = 28.7:
Difference = 0.8" = 2.71%

Still exceeds the 2% overall diameter difference allowance from the OEM tire size to which most tire shops will adhere.

Still say the 275/45R19 is not a viable replacement size for the 265/50R19.

With slightly taller sidewall, the 265/50R19 probably delivers somewhat better ride quality than does the 275/45R19 tire?

 

Conti ExtremeContact DWS 275/45R19

Oops... HUGE transposition error in above calcs!

Specs say the 275/45R19 tire is 28.7" in diameter. NOT 27.8".

Serious apologies!

Thanks to Panama Jack for calling this out!

New overall diameter calcs -

265/50R19 = 29.5"
275/45R19 = 28.7:
Difference = 0.8" = 2.71%

Still exceeds the 2% overall diameter difference allowance from the OEM tire size to which most tire shops will adhere.

Still say the 275/45R19 is not a viable replacement size for the 265/50R19.

With slightly taller sidewall, the 265/50R19 probably delivers somewhat better ride quality than does the 275/45R19 tire?

Why not the DWS 255/50-19? It's 29", the same as the stock 18" 255/55-18's.

 

I went from 28.8" 275/45/19s to 29.5" 265/50/19s and noticed a slight improvement in ride quality. But the smaller diameter 19" gives the T1 6-speed more pop off the start line. Once underway there is little difference otherwise.

From the 265/50/19 summer tires, I went to 255/60/18 winter tires, which are just over 30 inches diameter. I never tow my boat during the winter, so I do not think the transmission will have any problem. Acceleration suffers slightly, but I am not really a hot rodder, so no big deal. The issue with tires more than 3% oversize (and their increased weight/centrifugal force) is increased braking distance and possibly more issues with balancing them. Did someone say, steering wheel shake?

My understanding is the T3 8-speed has a lower first gear, to compensate for no separate "low" gear. So, 8/10ths of an inch more diameter (i.e., the 265/50/19) is probably a better combination for the T3's gearing.

I read about people running 30.5 to 31.5 inch diameters, and I think for off-road rock crawling, that is possibly not such a bad idea.

It is hard to find a perfect tire for all seasons and reasons.