Bought these tyres because I'm suffering the excessive rear tyre inner edge 'sawtooth' wear which haunts Passat estate owners.
Was fed up of ditching expensive tyres well in advance of the expected time so thought I might as well try a cheap and cheerful option.
Before I start I'll give an indication of what 'qualifies' me to give my opinion.
I've competed in Motorsport for over 40 years, rallying through the 80's, one make saloons series through the 90's and noughties, design engineer who has developed and tested competition cars, specifically suspension, for the last 30 years.
Appreciate the Passat is no competition car, it's my workhorse, although it is the sport version and is chipped, so it's not quite 'driving Miss Daisy'.
Also, the Event tyres are only on the rear. Not a fan of a mixed fleet of tyres but this was a test, I'm happy with the Dunlop's on the front and if anything they would probably exaggerate any failings of the rear Events.
Fist point is that these tyres are graded as G (the lowest/worst) for fuel economy and C for wet grip, which isn't bad. Problem is the companies self certify, so not centrally tested, although the test parameters are allegedly strict, I suspect strict isn't the same in all parts of the world.
Anyway, my testing has involved all driving conditions with a specific aim of making the tyres lose grip. Inducing oversteer on a front wheel drive car isn't as natural as on a rear wheel drive such as a BMW but I managed to get the back end to break away, in the wet. It wasn't too dramatic and it required a driving behaviour I'd only expect to be replicated in an emergency situation.
Road noise is absolutely fine, don't be put off by any negative comments regarding noise, they are no different from tyres 3 times the price.
Driving in the dry is without drama, including heavy braking action. This even included some ABS activated braking on a high speed bend. A little a bit of 'tail out' reaction but as in the wet, nothing to over concern.
I don't want to be critical of other reviewers, but expecting a tyre to offer grip on a wet man hole cover?? On leaves??
Find a tyre that'll deliver that, and you'll make a lot of motorcyclists very happy.
I think some of the expectations are a little high, and minds already made up, so why did you bother buying them?
If you have a high performance car, drive your car like you stole it or worse of all, think you are on the Top Gear track every time you're out, buy a different tyre, if only so you can't use the tyres as an excuse for your lack of ability.
If your on a budget, drive within the limits of yourself, your vehicle and the road conditions, they are a perfectly acceptable budget option.
All this with the caveat that they were only on the rear of a front wheel drive vehicle and I can't comment on wear yet.
If it all goes horribly wrong at some point I'll update. But these things are cheap as chips and could certainly be a tyre twice the price.
So if you're going to spend 3 times the price you'll notice a difference, if you're only going to spend double, I'd say just buy these.