Winter tires, whos put them on?

cwarner

Veteran Member
Joined
May 28, 2008
Location
Michigan
TDI
2000 Jetta also have a 2001 Dodge ram /Cummins
I'd not knock a brand based on a single tire. OEM spec tires are generally cheap POS tires.
After doing a lot of research I am finding that out. The tires we had issues with where OEM.

I did end up ordering some General Altimax Arctics.
 

frugality

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Location
Spring Lake, Michigan
TDI
none, 2016 GTI
Just got done installing my snow wheels. Looks like snow is in the forecast for Thurs/Fri here. Not sure if it'll stick around, but I figured I might as well switch 'em over.

This is season #2 on my 16" Continental ExtremeWinterContacts. I just took the car for a quick test ride to refresh my memory....and yeah....they're a LOT quieter/smoother than my Continental all-seasons that came stock on the 17" Goal wheels. Thankfully they're close to shot, so I'll be looking for new summer/all-season tires next spring.

Turned off the TPMS with VCDS. One of these days I'll have to poke around and see if I can find a how-to for doing the passive ABS-based TPMS coding.
 

Woookie

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2011
Location
Eagan
TDI
1997 Jetta TDI
NOKIAN Hakkapeliitta FTW.....if you buy any thing else epic fail on your part
 

isonic

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Location
St. Paul, MN
TDI
2003 Golf 4door 5spd
NOKIAN Hakkapeliitta FTW.....if you buy any thing else epic fail on your part
:rolleyes:

Starting winter # three with the Altimax Artics. Still a great 63 dollar tire. We shall see how they hold up this year. Putting down a few more ft/lbs than the first two years.
 

jasonTDI

TDI GURU Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Location
Oregon, WI
TDI
20' RAM 3500 CCLB dually HO/Aisan. 2019 Cherokee 2.0T
Nokians are GREAT tires, just 2x's the cost.
 

McCarron

Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Location
Chicago
TDI
2012 Golf TDI w/ Tech Package
Beware Chicagoans my Rial Milanos and WS70s finally shipped today from TireRack and that means snow is either around the corner, or not coming at all. I have to thank the weather gods for being nice during my order delay, it's been unseasonably warm all winter and fall so far.
 

D-Cell_Mekanick

Veteran Member
Joined
May 23, 2009
Location
Sandwich, IL
TDI
2015 Honda Civic SE
After diving in today's surprise snow, I think I will be getting another set of winter tires! Just not happy with the Potenzas on the slick streets.

Now to decide on what tires to buy. The Altimax, Blizzaks, or X-ice? Altimax is the least expensive at $109, the Blizzaks are $133, and the Michelin X-Ice are $136. Both the Blizzaks and Altimax have a $50 rebate Visa card and the Michelins have a $50 & a $70 Visa cards. Decisions decisions decisions. What do you guys think?

Edit: after further research I've found the Generals for $86.26 each! Discount tire has in the recent past price matched for the tires I just put on our Expedition. I'd assume they would also price match these prices. The only other thing I may do is just go and buy Michelin MXV4 instead of designated winter tires. How to these tires handle in the snow/ice covered streets? Looks like I can get a set of these installed with tire certs for about $650.
 
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frugality

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Location
Spring Lake, Michigan
TDI
none, 2016 GTI
The only other thing I may do is just go and buy Michelin MXV4 instead of designated winter tires. How to these tires handle in the snow/ice covered streets? Looks like I can get a set of these installed with tire certs for about $650.
Two winters ago, when my previous snow tires were shot, I went for a winter on a brand new set of Michelin Primacy MXV4's. I was amazed. They were really good! The old 'all-season' MXV4+'s that came on my Mk4 Golf were awful in the snow. They were made for low rolling resistance and handling, so they had a continuous rubber strip, and had less siping. The new Primacies do not have continuous tread strips -- they are all divided/siped. This makes for better traction. However, they have a bit more rolling resistance (down 1-2mpg on the Golf) and felt a little more 'floaty', especially on grooved pavement or metal bridge decking. But that's the trade-off for improved traction. I was surprised at how well they did in snow....and that was after 5 seasons on a set of Dunlop Wintersports. With the new Primacies, I didn't feel I wanted snow tires. How they do as they wear, though, I don't know.

I now have Continental ExtremeWinterContacts on my JSW. When I did my research on them last year, they seemed similar in reviews to the X-Ice. I love my Contis better than the Dunlops -- the Dunlops made more noise and were squrimy. These Contis, though......I can't tell the difference between them and an all-season in terms of ride/performance! They're quiet, less squirmy, etc. I would expect the X-Ices to be similar. I'd buy the X-Ices if I wanted good overall ride and good general snow/slick conditions. I'd buy the Blizzaks if I was more interested in the deep-snow performance.

The Generals are well loved around here, though, and look to be a great value.
 

D-Cell_Mekanick

Veteran Member
Joined
May 23, 2009
Location
Sandwich, IL
TDI
2015 Honda Civic SE
Thanks for the info frugality! I'm not sure what I want to do. My tires have a decent amount of tread left might get another 15-20K miles or another summer out of them if it were summer. But the cost to dismount and mount them might be more than the remaining tread life is worth. I knew I shouldn't have sold my winter wheels! Just needed the space and at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. I'll probably just get the MXV4's and be done with it.
 

DTTJ

Active member
Joined
May 9, 2011
Location
Iowa
TDI
2000 Beetle 2000 Golf 2dr
Mounted mine today, but haven't installed them yet,it's been too nice around here to put the wear on them. I got 2 new ws70s for the front & had 2 Dunlops left for the rear, I might get a little oversteer but that just makes it more fun.
 

MN_TDI12

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Location
Triad, NC
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI DSG w/Nav
I bought a set of WS-70's and put them on the stock rims the day after Thanksgiving. We haven't really had enough snow to properly test them out but from the little we did get Friday, I can say they are significantly better than the OEM ContiProContacts. No more squirrely feeling when hitting a patch of snow on the highway. I will say they seem to be wearing fairly quickly though it doesn't come as a surprise based on the many reviews I've read about them. Too early to tell for sure.

Note, I also jumped up to a 60 sidewall over the stock 55 as they were ~$15-20 cheap. Plus, the little extra ground clearance may come in handy. Haven't really noticed any significant change in mpg. Might be slightly better.
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
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Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
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2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
Note, I also jumped up to a 60 sidewall over the stock 55 as they were ~$15-20 cheap. Plus, the little extra ground clearance may come in handy. Haven't really noticed any significant change in mpg. Might be slightly better.
The taller sidewall profile translates into fewer revolutions per mile, meaning all else being equal you should see more miles per gallon. Not really, but the odometer will be slightly less accurate than before.
 

MN_TDI12

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Location
Triad, NC
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI DSG w/Nav
The taller sidewall profile translates into fewer revolutions per mile, meaning all else being equal you should see more miles per gallon. Not really, but the odometer will be slightly less accurate than before.
By that logic, your mpg's would go down quite a bit. Fewer miles racked up on the odo, same amount of fuel burned.

I have this all accounted for in my speadsheet. As I said, minimal difference b/w tires.
 

All of Us

Ian's Dad
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Brookfield, IL
TDI
2015 NMS Passat SE TDI "Gin" 2006 A5 New Jetta TDI "Graycie" and 2003 A4 Jetta GLS TDI "Liath"
Allan:

What the heck are snow socks? Maybe I have been living in a submarine, but I've never heard of those before.

Dan
 

Joe_Meehan

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Location
Ohio USA
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NB TDI, 2002.5, Silver
Since it is almost 60 degrees today, so I am in no hurry. It also helps that I am retired and even if it suddenly dropped to sub zero and strong winds and snow, I would not have a problem. :D
 

isonic

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Location
St. Paul, MN
TDI
2003 Golf 4door 5spd
After diving in today's surprise snow, I think I will be getting another set of winter tires! Just not happy with the Potenzas on the slick streets.

Now to decide on what tires to buy. The Altimax, Blizzaks, or X-ice? Decisions decisions decisions. What do you guys think?
I would go with what ever you can get the best deal on. All three are great choices and will work better than not having a snow tire. I have Altimax's. Are they the best? IDK but they are the least expensive and have performed well for me.
 

woofie2

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2004
Location
Republic of Southern Illinois
TDI
Former TDI owner
I would go with what ever you can get the best deal on. All three are great choices and will work better than not having a snow tire. I have Altimax's. Are they the best? IDK but they are the least expensive and have performed well for me.
in the area of little snow, I found the Bridgestone G009 performance all season tires were pretty darn solid in the winter. I will probably get a set of performance all season tires on a second set of rims, but not likely dedicated snow tires, as snow tires are just too soft and unresponsive in dry conditions.
This is based on having had blizzaks, Michelin All season tires(stock MVX4 and Hydroedge) and Bridgestone all sesasons on my MKIV jetta in different seasons. The bridgestone tires were the only ones I did not get stuck in the parking lot at work with and we had more snow and ice that year.
 

ChiTDI

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Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Location
Chicago IL
TDI
'02 Jetta
I put them on after Thanksgiving and yank them end of February. Have done so since 2002 and now I'm wondering how safe are those puppies? Blizzaks. Next winter will be ten years. What do you think?
 

jasonTDI

TDI GURU Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Location
Oregon, WI
TDI
20' RAM 3500 CCLB dually HO/Aisan. 2019 Cherokee 2.0T
Past half tread they are an all-season.

I'd never keep a tire longer than 5-6 years. They can have some fatal flaws as they are. Especially if you pull them on and off a set of rims every spring/fall.
 

ChiTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Location
Chicago IL
TDI
'02 Jetta
They're mounted on steelies, but I think you're right and will look for a new set next fall. No point in deliberately putting on relatively safe tires.
 

woofie2

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2004
Location
Republic of Southern Illinois
TDI
Former TDI owner
They're mounted on steelies, but I think you're right and will look for a new set next fall. No point in deliberately putting on relatively safe tires.
even swapping tires after 3-4 years you run the risk of dry-rot, tire separation and other issues that can occur from tires sitting for 9 months out of the year.
(this can be minimized by storing the tires in a cool place in the summer away from light, such as in tire bags in the basement)
 

Doug Huffman

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Apr 7, 2000
Location
Washington Island, on the other side of Death's Do
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Jetta Wagon 2K3 Silver gone to new home
I just finished putting the snow tire-wheels. We'll park at the airport in GB for three weeks in February and I'd hate to have had normal weather happen here while I'm tanning there - and then have to slip'n'slide home.

When the Michelins are gone then I'll probably get Nokian All Weathers. The roads here aren't getting any better.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2001
Location
Kalkaska Mi.
TDI
Jetta, 2006, Campanella White, Anthracite Int. DSG, Pkg. 1; New Beetle, 1998, Yellow, black leather Int., 2013 Passat TDI SEL Night blue, grey Int. given back to VW (well, not given... ;) ) 2018 Tiguan; first gasser in years
Well, I finally bowed to the inevitable and put the snows (Green Diamonds :cool:) on the Beetle. With blizzard warnings up thru tomorrow and the NWS calling for ~20" of the white stuff, I'm thinking it'll get worse before it gets better (Spring!) so time to Winter-up and go! Be safe, slow down and stay away from the snowplows! Happy New Year all.
 

manual_tranny

Smyth Performance- Intern
Joined
Jan 5, 2010
Location
New Bedford, MA
TDI
2001 Golf @182K; 2000 Jetta @290K
Bump.

We hit something like 56 degrees here Thursday.

Who'll be the first to put their summer wheels back on?
January 1st and it's 44 deg F here in Flint Township.

I bought Shizzler's used 15" wheels and Yokohama snow tires recently and installed them a couple of weeks ago. They're very comfortable, absorbing bumps very nicely. On the other hand, I haven't gotten to actually drive through any snow yet... :mad:
 

Sbeghan

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Joined
Jun 3, 2009
Location
Triangle, NC
TDI
03 Jetta Wagon 5spd 390k mi
Got a question for you guys. We don't get much snow down here so I'll mainly be buying these to go skiing with, in which case I'll probably be hitting the mountains during a snow storm. Or for freak blizzards where I'll be the only guy able to drive. :D

I can get the Altimax Arctics for $292 shipped or the Hakkapeliitta 5s for $431 shipped. I hear the Hakkas have much better handling and will last longer. Should I spend the money and get them? Or if I'll only be keeping them around for the occasional bit of snow or roadtrip should I get the Arctics?
 
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