Volkswagen Gti Tires

The Volkswagen GTI is a compact car that’s admired for its excellent driving dynamics, good cargo capacity, comfortable seating arrangement, and advanced amenities like rearview camera, post-collision braking, automatic emergency braking, rearview camera, blind spot monitoring, parking street assistance, park distance control, and lane departure warning. The Golf and GTI evolved from the long-ago VW Rabbit of the 1970s, one of the first front-wheel-drive hatchbacks of the era and the replacement for the Beetle in the VW lineup. Today’s GTI is loaded with features like semi-autonomous driver assist with adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping management, and Volkswagen’s Car2X that allows the car to communicate with other cars about traffic and infrastructure. The GTI is available with a hybrid drivetrain, and also the Alltrack package with all-wheel-drive, ruggedized suspension, extra ride height and lower body cladding.

At SimpleTire, we’ve taken the time to put together some of the best Volkswagen GTI tires based on SimpleScore, including all-season, winter, and ultra-high-performance options. With such a great lineup of tires to choose from, let’s get right to it:

1. Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack - Best All-Season Tire

Let’s start things off with the Turanza QuietTrack from Bridgestone. The Turanza QuietTrack is used as Original Equipment for a number of luxury cars and crossovers, for drivers who put a priority on a refined ride, low noise and long tread life as well as year-round performance. Bridgestone designed the Turanza QuietTrack with a long-lasting tread formulation and durable internal construction, consisting of a polyester casing with steel belts and a nylon cap overlay. The Turanza QuietTrack has a best-in-class 80,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty, which is enough for us to grant an outstanding SimpleScore of 9.6 for longevity. 3D sipes, open shoulder slots, and a network of circumferential and lateral grooves all work as a system to resist hydroplaning and boost grip in light snow – we took notice of that and figured a SimpleScore of 9.7 for traction. The Turanza QuietTrack’s tread technology, stiff shoulder, and sidewall all contribute to precise cornering, steering response, and great road manners, enough for a SimpleScore of 9.9 for handling. Maybe the strongest suit of the Turanza QuietTrack, though, is its low noise; it’s designed with non-chamfered grooves, an optimized tread pitch and in-groove ridges that all break up and cancel resonance and road noise for a serene driving experience.

2. Pirelli Cinturato P7 - Best UHP Tire

Next up we have a great ultra-high-performance tire from Pirelli, the Cinturato P7. The Cinturato P7 is engineered for drivers who like to push their vehicles to the absolute limit while still maintaining the best possible control, performance, and grip. The Pirelli Cinturato P7’s innovative tread compound offers sticky adhesion to the pavement. along with low rolling resistance, with a flat footprint and optimized tread design for a SimpleScore of 9.7 for handling. Grip in wet or dry weather comes from four wide grooves and a network of lateral grooves, easily evacuating water from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning - we give the Cinturato P7 a SimpleScore of 9.8 for traction. The Pirelli Cinturato P7 is also designed with run-flat technology, enabling a driver to keep going for another 50 miles, even in the event of complete loss of inflation pressure. That’s enough to justify a SimpleScore of 8.2 for longevity. Remember that the Cinturato P7 is a UHP tire – its softer, more pliable rubber compound will stiffen up and lose traction on colder days. Pirelli advises against using this tire if temperatures are below 45 degrees F.

3. Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra - Best Winter Tire

When the snow starts piling up on the roads, many times a dedicated winter tire is the only thing for it because an all-season tire is just not going to be able to get the job done. That takes us to the Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra, a studless winter tire that’s designed for the worst winter weather you might encounter. The WinterCommand Ultra starts off with Goodyear’s CryoGrip tread compound, engineered to stay flexible and conform to the road for excellent winter traction. From there, the WinterCommand Ultra is molded into a directional V-shaped tread pattern with active block cuts, 3D sipes and hydro-dynamic grooves that work as a system to evacuate water and slush from the tire’s contact patch and chew through standing snow and slush. That’s enough for an outstanding SimpleScore of 9.9 for traction. Those tread elements lend the Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra the same kind of control, cornering, steering response, and braking performance you’d expect with a premium all-season tire, for a SimpleScore of 9.9 in handling. While the Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra is durable and boasts a longevity score of 8.5, it’s important to remember that it’s a winter tire and not suitable for year-round driving. The softer, stickier tread compound of winter tires wears quickly when temperatures are above 45 degrees F, and tire manufacturers advise switching back to all-season tires for warmer weather. Not surprisingly, the Goodyear Winter Command Ultra is Three Peak Mountain Snowflake rated for severe winter service.

While these are the best Volkswagen GTI tires on the market today, there are plenty of other choices out there. Check out a few more tires that provide great performance and value for your Volkswagen GTI:

4. General Altimax RT45 - Good All-Season Tire

The General Altimax RT45 comes in at a pretty affordable price, but don’t let that fool you, as this is a tire we’ve been consistently impressed with in terms of value and performance. In a wide array of weather conditions, it’s a superb choice. Its all-season tread design is a proven winner and General Tire backs the Altimax RT45 with either a 65,000 or 75,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty (depending on tire size). Taking that into account, we gave the Altimax RT45 a SimpleScore of an outstanding 9.9 for longevity. Year-round traction, a forgiving ride, low noise, and predictable, consistent handling and braking performance are all strong points of this tire (SimpleScore for traction: 9.0). Road manners, cornering, and control are all great too, thanks to a network of sipes and lateral grooves plus a solid center rib that boosts steering response: we give the Altimax RT45 a SimpleScore of 8.7 for handling. General Tire’s visual alignment indicators alert a driver to wheel alignment that’s out of spec, and the words “Replace Tire” molded into the tread to display when tread depth reaches a minimum of 2/32”. A great-looking outlined white letter sidewall is available on certain sizes of the Altimax RT45.

Order Volkswagen GTI Tires Online

Buying tires online can be a stressful process, but it really doesn't need to be. SimpleTire offers a simple approach to finding the tires that are best for you and your Volkswagen GTI. Select your Volkswagen GTI below, then tell us a few more things such as year and trim level to determine your tire size. From there, we'll show you tires that fit your vehicle and are the best match based on performance characteristics, but you can also look for the best value tires, tires that are on sale or part of a promo, have the longest tread life, and much more