How does a 2003 Jetta handle in the snow?

I am needing new tires before the snow flies and I am wandering if I am going to need to buy snow tires or if I will be good with a good year round tire. I know that there is no such thing as a year round tire, but you know what I mean. All of my riigs in the past I have just run regular tires on them, but I am not too sure of the Jetta. I have only had one other front wheel drive car before and when the snow got too bad I just pulled out the old Ford and locked it into four wheel drive. I dont have the luxury of doing that anymore as that rig got parked.

I live in Spokane Washington, last year we managed to get 90"+ of snow, but that was our second largest season ever. As any other city, our budgets are getting smaller and smaller and I am not sure how well the roads will be this year.

What do you all think? Do I need to price out snow tires and a set of winter steallies, or should I be good on a new set of tires?

I drive Nokian Hakkaplittas and am very happy with them. The Jetta high centers on just a heavy unplowed snow.

I have yet to get seriously stuck away from the house. The car has spent two or three nights each year at the bottom of the driveway, when the unplowed road prevents enough momentum after being close enough to remote the garage door open.

Sometimes I drive past the house while triggering the garage door, go north to the plowed road where I can turn around and back to the house with speed at the bottom of the drive. I've even thought of putting a little winch in the back of the garage.

I'm in Nova Scotia we get our share of snow my 2003 wagon is great with all seasons fantastic with snows it also has traction control and that's also fantastic in our climate. I have seen getting caught in a snow storm when 18 wheelers were pulling off to the side and continuing the journey with resonable confidence in traction and manueuverability. My 2000 Jetta sedan is good in snow conditions but not as good as my 2003 wagon.....

My 03 JSW does not have ESP, but it does have a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta Qs that just went on again this week.

As Doug mentioned, the biggest issue with the A4 is the low ground clearance. Hurtling through the end-of-driveway snow has never high-centered my car, but I pick my battles and I've seen skidplate marks on what I traversed. Otherwise, freezing rain/sleet/snow/ice -- doesn't matter, the car goes. And, better, manages turns and stops. I credit the tires.

I think the questions you need to ask yourself are:
- How much salt do they use on the roads, and do you want that much salt attacking your alloy wheels or would you rather they rusted out cheaper steelies?
- How much do you care about knowing what's going on under the tires? I'm much fussier than most folks about knowing exactly what's going on under the rubber in all conditions. All-seasons* on packed snow and ice don't give me the feedback I want. Or, for that matter, once I get that feedback, give me the level of control I want.

All that said, if you were OK with the grip of your all-seasons, I would spend the money on a skidplate. It will cost you a little less to buy one than a set of proper winter tires. But it could cost you a lot more to fix the car if the oil pan gets a fatal ding from an ice clod or hidden branch or post or something. And a skidplate will protect your car year-round. Get the winter tires next year. I have the Dieselgeek skidplate and it's been worth it.

* The wild card here is the handful of all-season tires rated for severe winter service. The one mentioned in these forums most frequently is the Nokian WR and, now, the WRG2. Thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen another brand of all-seasons that carried that designation.

ESP, ABS and all that other crap is for soccer moms.

My mk3 is a tank in the snow nothing that New Brunswick has to offer for snow has stopped it yet.

My mk4 is just the same, going to be better this year with my skid plate.

I just traded in my 03. It did great here in the mountains in Colorado. I had the perrelli p 6's and they were fine. I was worried when I sold my jeep and went to a front wheel drive. No worries

79TA7.6 said:

I have only had one other front wheel drive car before and when the snow got too bad I just pulled out the old Ford and locked it into four wheel drive. I dont have the luxury of doing that anymore as that rig got parked.

I live in Spokane Washington, last year we managed to get 90"+ of snow, but that was our second largest season ever.
(snip)
What do you all think? Do I need to price out snow tires and a set of winter steelies, or should I be good on a new set of tires?

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That much snow, I'd vote for snow tires.

12 inches of wet new snow fell yesturday and I had a chance to try my golf with new Hak5's

incredible traction ,I had to get out of the house which is a couple of hundred yards to the road and then the road was uplowed becuz the plow was in the ditch AND no problem .

I have had hak1's,2's and now 5's ...the best yet

A set of snow tires cost less then your insurance deductible, at least ehat was how I justified it to my self.
It is a tough pill to swallow having to get two sets, winters now and year round or summers in the spring.

My Mk3 Jetta was awesome in the snow, really couldn't get it stuck, even when I came to find it buried during a really bad storm a couple years ago. I have gotten my 04 golf stuck once in some deep wet snow, in that I couldn't get into an alley. My snow tires were a bit small though (off the jetta) so that may have been the issue. Other than that, driving up to go skiing each weekend I pass many SUVs on the passes, a good set of snows is all you need.

If you get snow more than once in your area, snow tires are a good investment. I have a set of Hankooks (not sure what model) on my '02 Jetta. I've had better tires, but they're still pretty good. One thing you should expect though is you need to go slow. Every FWD VW I've ever owned had been great in snow/slush up to about 25mph. Anything faster and it gets unstable in the rear end. But, if there's snow on the road, you probably shouldn't be going any more than 25mph anyway.

MayorDJQ said:

One thing you should expect though is you need to go slow. Every FWD VW I've ever owned had been great in snow/slush up to about 25mph. Anything faster and it gets unstable in the rear end. But, if there's snow on the road, you probably shouldn't be going any more than 25mph anyway.

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I was watching the Jetta TDI Cup race from New Jersey on Speed Channel today. The rain had stopped but the track was extremely wet, and there were Jettas slipping and sliding on just about every corner. These were supposedly expert drivers on specially prepared Jetta TDIs, but they were running race tires and not wet or rain tires.

I drove across Colorado in a blizzard last January. I had to pull off a couple times, to wait for the snowplows to do their thing, but mostly I just drove at a steady 40-45 mph and made no sudden moves. Accelerated slowly, never braked hard enough to activate the ABS. I was running all-weather tires. But when I got to Denver, I knew better than to climb up and over the Rockies -- I headed south toward New Mexico. I had chains but didn't feel like bothering with them.

BRIDGESTONE BLIZAKS!! Size: 195/65/15

I use nothing but Blizaks on my Jetta come winter time... Studless ice and snow tires... some of the best tires you can put on a car for winter...

4 Upstate NY winters and haven't gotten stuck yet!

*Knocks on wooden desk*

I put a cheap set of Bridgestones on my '03 and had no issues with the record snow in WI last year; made it to work everyday, 60 miles one way.

The Nokian WR's have performed quite well as an all season tire. The latest version is the Nokian WR G2 TiresByWeb has them at $133ea for the 195/65R15.

TornadoRed said:

That much snow, I'd vote for snow tires.

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A newbie to snow I guess. You will be fine with all seasons. Trust me I live in Colorado and have a Jetta

There's no such thing as all season tires. They have nice little treads for warm sunny days, and wet rainy days. The treads and compound are not designed for snow or the cold.


Around here if you get into an accident without snow tires on.....you better have a good lawyer or a damn nice insurance company.

Yes. Snow tires are not mileage tires. I wince for every mile on dry pavement with my snow tires. The road tires are OEM Michelins at mid-life. I hate to think what Nokians must cost now given the volatility in their feedstock prices.

I disagree that ESP is for Soccer moms. It works great for Hockey Dads that have to deal with the elements after the games.

This system is an early warning system for any minute loss in stability. It has saved my skin on occassion when driving into black ice conditions. Benefits are as follows:

The latest generation of the electronic stabilisation program (ESP) has a series of new features:
ATCM (Adaptive Track Control Model): The car is also constantly monitored when the handling is stable. The advantage of this is that if the car becomes unstable, the system can correct it faster.
LDE (Low Dynamic ESP): Intervenes even when there are small deviations during braking even though the car is still travelling stably.
FRAD (Full Rear Axle Deceleration): Actively increases the pressure on the rear axle up to ABS intervention if the front wheels are in the ABS range, but the rear wheels are not.
Furthermore the new ESP generation includes the following functions: ABS (anti-lock brake system), TCS (traction control system), EBD (electronic brake pressure distribution), EDL (electronic differential lock), ESBS (extended stability brake system), HBA (hydraulic brake assist), EBC (engine braking control), overboost (additional hydraulic boost).

I agree that the first thing to buy is a skid plate ( a thick one).........

drrandall1 said:

A newbie to snow I guess. You will be fine with all seasons. Trust me I live in Colorado and have a Jetta

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Not a newbie to snow -- I've lived in the Midwest, in New England, and have driven across the West many times in winter. Rarely ran with anything except all-season tires, but I guess I usually waited until the roads were plowed before venturing out.

I'm not prepared to trust you because you live in Colorado. It's a fine state but simply living there does not bless you with insight or wisdom unavailable elsewhere.

All the computers in the world can't make up for a bad driver. If you can drive a mk3 with squat except snow tires. Then maybe you can move up to ESP or whatever.

Not for me. I know how to drive.

I drove my 03 through Ottawa winters with their heavy snow, ice and slush but I was using Kumho I'Zen WIS tires on steel rims - on all four wheels. The car handled extremely well and the tires are rated 91 H.

You can get the General Altimax Arctic tires for $57.00 each from TireRack but they are only 91 Q, still not bad and are really going to go that fast in the snow? The Dunlop Graspic DS-2 are around $10.00 more and it goes up from there. Good performance snow tires actually have excellent anti-hydroplaning and good rubber compounds for grip on ice and wet slushy roads, its not just about snow....

buy some snows

Nokian WR are the only severe service rated all weather tires. Thus, the only true "all weather" tires. Handles beautifully in the snow.

I would not wish to try to brave CO winter roads without dedicated snow tires (November to late April). Most 'all-season' tires are NOT, in my experience.

Snows are louder, softer, eat a few MPG, but very much worth it...

Where I live, you need your snow tires from mid Oct - mid May. My '02 Jetta handles all but the tightest of turns without sliding. The front wheel drive pulls you out of a slide nicely. Without the studded snow tires I couldn't be that bold.

ESP is definately not for soccer moms as someone noted, it works great. We had a record total 110" of snow here last winter, I drive Cooper All Season 60k rated tires, drive 40,000 miles a year and have yet to see a ditch or trouble in three winters with my '03. I would chew up the 15,000 miles of good rubber on a set of Nokians in one winter. Sorry not worth $800 for a set of tires if you know how to drive in the snow (I've been doing it for 34 years) .

Doug Huffman said:

I hate to think what Nokians must cost now given the volatility in their feedstock prices.

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Okay then, you don't want to ever look at this link

TiresByWeb has WR G2's at $133ea for the 195/65R15.

TBW lists all the Nokian sizes/types and many other brands. Haven't witnessed major price volatility but then I wasn't looking either

I do know I paid 4x ~$105 for a set of WR's ~30(?) months ago so >25% increase but(!) the G2's have the latest/greatest tread design (it is cool looking, is it not?) and all that there new technology rolled into that price

TBW gave/gives(?) a $5/tire discount for mentioning TDIClub (and amazingly fast delivery).

ABS, ESP etc

NB_TDi said:

All the computers in the world can't make up for a bad driver. If you can drive a mk3 with squat except snow tires. Then maybe you can move up to ESP or whatever.

Not for me. I know how to drive.

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Henry Ford would be proud hehehe.

If there's one thing I've learned over the past 6+ years of hanging aroudn car forums, it's you'll NEVER get anyone to agree about tires and especially snow tires...

Although we don't get a ton of snow here in PA/NJ, I'm currently running snow tires (just put them on last night, in fact). The current ons are Pirelli Wintercarving directionals. I've also had Blizzaks, which were great but wore quickly and were not very good in non-snow conditions (most of my Winter driving, these days...).

The first year I had the car (2003), I was still running the OE Energy's, which actually proved to be pretty good in the snow. I mistakenly climbed a hill in 10" of snow that I had no business being on, but like the little engine that could, it just plugged away in 1st gear, slowly climbing the hill with almost no go-pedal input.

IMHO, the ESP option was a waste of money. Any more, as soon as I'm driving on slick roads, I turn it off. I've found I can control the car better knowing when and how it will slip vs. the somewhat random intervention of the computer. YMMV.

One advantage of running snow tires during the winter is being able to run a more specific summer tire. I just put the finishing touches on a set of Dunlop SP8000's that I've had on my BBS's for the last two seasons. Now I get to spend the Winter debating on what will replace them in the Spring (I want Goodyear GS-D3's, but they're kinda pricey).

I might switch to a all-season tire next when the snows wear out. Mainly because I have since purchased a 4x4 Dodge Cummins. This is not because I think the truck will be better in the snow (other than really deep snow, it'll probably be worse), but for the simple fact that should something happen out of my control, the truck is more expendable (easier to replace) than my TDI. I would much rather be in the truck should someone slide into me when stopped. Also this mgiht free up cash to spend on my Spitfire (which also needs tires)...

In a perfect world I'll run:

Goodyear GS-D3's in the Summer (awesome dry and wet traction - we have them on our MINI S and they've amazed us with how long they've lasted under some pretty aggressive driving).

A long wearing snow tire with good dry performance for the Winter when I get caught w/o the truck (so far, we're happy with the Pirellis and we have them on the MINI as well).

And my 4x4 truck with W965 Blizzaks for truely crappy conditions. (these are the tires I plan to get for the truck since it only gets driven a few thousand per year total, so a bit of summer use doesn't concern me).