Some back-story: My wife & I both have SE models that came with 17" wheels and the junk Hankook tires. We were both lucky enough to meet up with SEL owners who had installed premium touring tires just before dieselgate broke out and decided to sell their cars back to VW. So we swapped wheels/tires and two SELs went back to VW with 17" wheels and crap Hankooks, and we now have 18" wheels with seriously upgraded tires. I mention the wheel/tire swap so everyone knows that my comments are for the 18" wheel/tires.
Some generalizations: a 17" wheel/tire should ride a bit smoother than an 18" wheel tire because of the taller sidewall. And an 18" wheel/tire should handle better than a 17" wheel/tire. My observations agree with that. It's not a hard rule because of the difference in tire brands and type of tires used. Any premium touring tire in 17" will out perform the VW supplied 18" Hankooks. OK, any good top tier tire brand is going to be better than the Chinese stuff. We should all be able to agree on that.
On my car I've had Michelins, the Primacy MXM4 and the Premier A/S. On the wife's car she has Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus. The Michelin Premier A/S and the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus are dead even. Both are quieter and smoother riding than the Michelin MXM4 as that is a more high performance type tire. To me they all handle the same but the MXM4 should handle better. I don't push my cars that hard around corners so I'll never know.
Tire wear out mileage: Michelin MXM4 50k, Michelin Premier A/S 60k, Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus 70K. I would say all those numbers are correct with how my tires are wearing. When my Michelins wear out, I'm going to replace them with the Pirelli Cinturato as they cost less and last longer.
Winter tire performance. I have dedicated winter tires, Michelin X-ICE XI3 on 16" wheels. A dedicated winter tire blows away the performance of an all season tire every time. I have some Passat Wolfsburg 16" alloys for winter. For cheap wheels look for some Passat S model 16" steel wheels. The Michelin Premier A/S and Pirelli Cinturanto P7 are both all season tires and they both out-perform the Michelin MXM4 in snow, as they should. Depending on how far your daily commute is, dedicated winter tires are a good investment.
I hope this helps you sort out your tire needs.