Good everyday performer, and reasonably priced, too.
Written: Jun 29 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Durable, haven't had a flat yet, good winter handling
Cons: Not for the performance oriented
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| elsquatregats's Full Review: Goodyear Eagle LS Passenger/Performance Tire |
I've now had my 1999 Volkswagen Golf for a little over a year, and have been running Goodyear Eagle LSs on it the whole time. This tire has proven to be reliable, fairly durable, and is one of the less expensive tires available in the size I now have mounted.
When I first purchased the Golf, it was equipped from the factory with a set of 5 195/65 R 15 Eagle LS tires. These provided an excellent ride for the car, and reasonable handling, enabling it to grip most interstate offramps at over 50 miles per hour without escalating into that whine that tells you the sidewall strength has given out and you are now driving on that same sidewall.
In tight city cornering and acceleration, however, the 195/65 R 15's provided unacceptably little grip, and I found that after 5500 miles of admittedly hard driving, the front pair had worn through nearly half it's original tread. It was at this time that I upgraded to 16-inch Volkswagen alloys (the same kind that are factory supplied with the GTI GLX) and 225/50 R 16 Eagle LSs. Despite the high cost of 16 inch rubber, this has proven to be a great choice for me.
In 16,000 miles on the 16 inch LSs, I have registered less than half the wear I did in 5500 with the smaller tires. I expect, based on the way they have been wearing, to get about 40,000 miles out of this set. Why? The extra grip I was lacking with the smaller tires is fully present in the 16 inch version, so less wheelspin occurs under the same forces.
I've been pretty satisfied with the larger LSs. They offer a good combination of wet, dry and winter handling. Throughout the past New England winter, I was very comfortable with the amount of grip I was able to get out of the tires. In fact, there were many situations where my front wheel drive Golf left four wheel drive utility monsters in the snow. I can't allow the tires to take all the credit for that, but they were definitely partially responsible.
I had some experience with the Eagle RSA when I was driving the Beetle, and I must say the tire provides much better dry handling than the LS. I am in the process of getting RSAs all the way around, despite the sacrifice in wet handling, but the LSs are proving to be more durable than I bargained for, so this will take a while.
I would recommend the LS to anyone looking for a reasonably priced tire that provides sufficient grip for casual driving wet or dry. It is relatively inexpensive, and you will find you get better mileage out of a standard sized set than I did. It's not the best tire for all applications, but it does a fine job for everyday commuting and light performance work.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
elsquatregats
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Member: Daniel Hartman
Location: Worcester, MA
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 34 members
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