Snow Tires for 2009 Jetta TDI Question??

Hi Folks,
Here some interesting info from APA:
http://www.apa.ca/template.asp?DocID=298 for performance tires.
http://www.apa.ca/template.asp?DocID=297 for passenger vehicles.
I got the Toyo Observe Garit KX this year. Let's see how they work out for me this winter.

Got the Blizzaks

I Just got the Bridgestone Blizzaks on steel wheels with TPMS from Import Tire in Glastonbury CT. Better price than Tire Rack and they put them on!!

Robert recommended the Nokians, but too many $$$ for me!!

Of course first day after install and it was like 66F in Boston!!

You should have gone up to NH just like every other person from MA and scored the tax free tires. Town Fair Tire beats Tire Rack Prices. That tax idea was crazy.

snow tires

My 2009 TDI has 205/65R16 tires. Can I use 225/60R16 snow tires or will they cause problems because of the width?

JSW: I just mounted 4 Michelin X-Ice, stock size (205/55-16), currently running 43psi nitrogen (hey, it was free!)

MUCH quieter than stock Turanza EL-400s, with the softer rubber. Turn-in is understancably a bit slower, but then the grip is quite good (only rain and dry so far, ambient temps 40-50).

At 60mph +, there's a noticeable drone, from the rears. Might this be a JSW resonance issue, because of the open area in the rear? Could it be the mild lugs on the tires producing a harmonic above a certain wheel RPM?

Anyone else running the X-Ice?

tdiatlast said:

JSW: I just mounted 4 Michelin X-Ice, stock size (205/55-16), currently running 43psi nitrogen (hey, it was free!)

MUCH quieter than stock Turanza EL-400s, with the softer rubber. Turn-in is understancably a bit slower, but then the grip is quite good (only rain and dry so far, ambient temps 40-50).

At 60mph +, there's a noticeable drone, from the rears. Might this be a JSW resonance issue, because of the open are in the rear? Could it be the mild lugs on the tires producing a harmonic above a certain wheel RPM?

Anyone else running the X-Ice?

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Yes, I also got a set of Michelin X-Ice X2 205-55-16 last winter for my 09 JSW.
Didn't put many miles on them, but they did great in snow.
Don't recall any drone in rear on highway at speeds of up to 80 mph.
Haven't put them back on yet, it's been quite mild in northeast so far, but it will be time soon enough, and I'll post back after I get them back on and hit the pedal on the highway.

inkyprinter said:

My 2009 TDI has 205/65R16 tires. Can I use 225/60R16 snow tires or will they cause problems because of the width?

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Are you sure you have 205/65R16 tires? Factory rubber is 205/55R16

coolmodee said:

I have a 2009 VW Jetta TDI with OEM rims and tires at the moment. Size is 205/55 R 16 according to the tire.

I wanted to know what snow/winter tires you recommend for my car? (I live in Toronto, if that makes a difference ... I know we don't get the snow they get in Buffalo, but we still get some.) I am going to be using my OEM rims with the winter tires and going to get new rims and tires next summer.

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance
Coolmodee

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I've got Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3s on 15" Steelies on my '06. They were fantastic last winter, didn't get stuck once when "Snowmageddon" hit Vancouver last year. (Honest! We were burried under 3 feet of snow!)

One thing to think about, Sizing your rims down, and going for a skinnier tire will help you cut through the snow better.

Anyone wearing Michelin X-Ice? I've dropped my pressures to 38psi, and the drone still exists. I can't honestly tell if it's a bad tire, or just the nature of the tread. I've moved the X-Ice to my wife's sedan (she won't notice), but haven't had a chance to drive it yet.

I just put Michelin Pilot Alpin ($109, Tirerack) on the JSW, and they're silent at all speeds. I'm a bit annoyed, though, as I was driving in today's icy slushstorm, going through some packed slush/ice, and I couldn't break them loose, no matter how hard I tried I guess the fun of sliding is over for the time being.

Seriously, I'm very pleased with the Pilot Alpins. Haven't gotten the X-Ice into the slush yet...

FYI, all tires are 205/55X16.

tdiatlast said:

just put Michelin Pilot Alpin ($109, Tirerack) on the JSW, and they're silent at all speeds. I'm a bit annoyed, though, as I was driving in today's icy slushstorm, going through some packed slush/ice, and I couldn't break them loose, no matter how hard I tried I guess the fun of sliding is over for the time being.

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I'm using the Michelin Primacy Alpin 3's for this winter on my sedan and they are super quiet at all speeds =) Can't wait to try them in the slush and snow!

solartempest said:

I'm using the Michelin Primacy Alpin 3's for this winter on my sedan and they are super quiet at all speeds =) Can't wait to try them in the slush and snow!

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I have the same on mine and they are AWSOME! PA got it's first snow today and I went out just to play around, these tires were like suction cups on the road.

I just realized that the Primacy Alpin PA3 ($122) is a different tread pattern than the Pilot Alpin PA3($106). Thought I'd post this just for clarification.

Still trying to find someone with Michelin X-Ice Xi2. That's what I have that drones over 60 mph. If this is normal for the tire, I would not recommend it.

We just went with the General Altimax Arctic. I kept finding them in review after review in the top three. Locally supplied they are $80 US each (16"). The X-Ice Xi2 were my second choice and those were nearly 40% more!
I am getting them installed Tuesday December the 8th. I will review their noise level and handling versus our Michelin Primacy all season tires.

I will also review them after a few good snow/ice/packed snow drives.

I pulled the trigger on some Michelin X-Ice Xi2 mounted on steelies (195/65/15) w/o TPMS. The tires were already on sale at TR and Michelin was offering a $70 rebate in sets of 4. Package ended up costing me about $525 delivered. This included 20 lugs and longer valve stems. I was a little skeptical on the tread depth as they aren't as aggressive as other patterns from other makers but so far they feel pretty stable (except on slush covered roads). I really don't notice any road noise over the OEM tires. Once the TPMS light stops flashing it's not annoying at all.

I put on 195/65/15 blizzacks WS-60s on 15x6 steelies from an old passat. No TPMS, total cost all mounted including the rims and mounted ($80 bucks off craigs list) was around $470. The side walls look pretty sweet squeezed on there. When putting on the fronts there was hardly any clearance for the rotors, but there's enough room. So far I've only put 15 miles or so on them but can't wait for the white stuff to fly. I didn't notice any real change between the spedo and what the GPS said even though the 15's should be a little bigger. I torqued all the lugs down to about 100ftlb figure thats good enough to hold them on.

BTW when i had the car up on the lift, I installed 4 used splash guards from a fellow TDIClubber "Fixmy59bug", took about an hour and half, no real issues I agree that you don't need a drill except for the one pop rivet on the drivers side rear flap, over all I realy love the look with the black steelies and the flaps.

I've had my Conti ExtremeWinterContacts on my JSW for 2 weeks now. Ended up following the TireRack tutorial and got "stock" wheel size (didn't size down... that's what i get for following directions). On second day, had a TPMS sensor and one of the tires was low at 26 PSI. Topped it off and it's been fine ever since.
Drove from Mich to CT and back... icy run through PA on 80 last week but zero problems. Road noise was marginally increased at first but i don't even notice now.

Love the tires, love the traction, A+ to tire rack.

(as an aside, Discount Tire for $17/tire "insured" them which covers mounting/changing for life and any repairs. Even though i had TR discount, this'll beat the $10/tire biannually to have the tires swapped out. not a bad deal in my book)

I bought Dunlop Wintersport M3's last weekend for 350 mounted and balanced OTD just to update this thread.

The package I initially looked at fell through and the OEM tires were AWFUL in the first mild snow fall.

So far so good!

Ok.. Newb question for you snow tire veterans..

I had 17" Avignons - 225/45 17" on my '09 sedan. This is the widest/lowest profile tire I've ever driven.

I installed a set of Continential Viking SnowTech on my 15" steelies, 205/60 15". I realize the 15" tire has a lot less contact surface, however it seems if the road is somewhat dry, giving the car any type of agressive throttle spins the fronts. Is this just because of the reduced contact surface, or is this something to do with the tire compound? Is this normal?

I didn't realize how going from the wide 17's to the snows made such a difference in handling.

I've got a 30 day "ride and try" from Discount Tire. I'm wondering if I should try and come up with another $100 for Michelin X-Ice or Conti ExtremeWinterContacts.

go with the blizacks, i think they are actually cheaper and great to boot.

btw killer deal on the package with TPMS!!!

I had a 06 Golf that I traded in but I kept the winters. Will they fit on my 09 Jetta sedan? The sales guy at the Stealership said the bolt pattern was different and wanted me to leave them with the Golf.

If your Golf was MkIV based, it uses 5x100 wheels. If it was MkV based, it uses the 5x112 wheels which are the same that your '09 uses.

Does the inside of your new Jetta look significantly different from that of your old Golf?

Good for you keeping your wheels. You can always sell them and put that toward new snows for your new car

Looks like I need to get learned on MkIV vs MkV before I can say for sure.
My Golf was the last year for the Mk4 in NA and its the 2.0 model.

If they fit GREAT if not I will be selling them for sure. That ass was not getting them lol

Yep. Different bolt patterns then.

dzcad90 said:

Ok.. Newb question for you snow tire veterans..

I had 17" Avignons - 225/45 17" on my '09 sedan. This is the widest/lowest profile tire I've ever driven.

I installed a set of Continential Viking SnowTech on my 15" steelies, 205/60 15". I realize the 15" tire has a lot less contact surface, however it seems if the road is somewhat dry, giving the car any type of agressive throttle spins the fronts. Is this just because of the reduced contact surface, or is this something to do with the tire compound? Is this normal?

I didn't realize how going from the wide 17's to the snows made such a difference in handling.

I've got a 30 day "ride and try" from Discount Tire. I'm wondering if I should try and come up with another $100 for Michelin X-Ice or Conti ExtremeWinterContacts.

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Snow tires use softer (and recently) multiple compounds to make them sticky in snow/ice as well as siping and other techniques to grip. On my GTI VR6 I had Bridestone RE960 Pole Positions (awesome tires BTW) on 225/45/17 and my Dunlop Wintersport 3D's at 205/55/16. My Dunlops were quieter and 5x better in snow and ice. On dry and wet surfaces, they were nowhere near as good as my RE960's. The biggest difference I always notice is the sidwall flex going from 45 to taller tires, lots of performance loss. Also, make sure you evaluate the winter tires after you have scrubbed them in (say 100 miles) because all tires handle much differently when new due to the manufacturing process.

Oh, and I should mention, I'm running General Altimax Arctic studded snow tires now on my TDI, for the money, they are awesome, equally as good as the dunlops, have yet to try them out on pure ice, but tirerack had them for a great price and, so far, I'm impressed.

dzcad90 said:

Yep. Different bolt patterns then.

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Thanks