2013 SportWagen TDI - "best" Snow tires?

Purchased this 2013 SportWagen TDI w/DSG back in June 2013.

Have been driving it around 15K miles/yr. I hope to reduce that number significantly going forward.

Didn't really notice any issues last winter, but we also have 4WD & AWD vehicles so we can usually plan according to the weather.

Got surprised earlier this week and was NOT happy with the factory tires on the SportWagen. Just over 22K miles on them.

Any suggestions on the "best" snow tires for the SportWagen?

I would probably just replace the current tires -vs- having a dedicated set of summer / winter tires.

I am very happy with Blizzaks ws70. Going on 4th winter season now.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2. The best snow tire for passenger cars, period. Blizzaks, X-Ices, ExtremeWinterContacts, Altimaxs, they're all fine tires, but nothing eclipses Nokian's products. Get the 205/60R16 and you can't go wrong.

I've bought Hakka R2's this year. Based on reviews from European and North American sites, Nokian Hakka 8 or R2, Michelin X-ice3 and Conti Extreme Winter Contact are the best options on the market right now

I agree on the Hakkas. But if you want to spend less the General Altimax is a great alternative. Conti Extreme Winter Contacts are good in less snowy conditions, and Michelin X-Ice are great on...ice.

The Altimax is a Gilslaved mold. Another great tire.

If you want true four-season tires, get some Hankook Optimo 4S. I'm of the opinion that it's almost always worthwhile getting dedicated Winter tires. Your current tires likely have lots of non-winter life left. Why scrap them now? What's more, your all-seasons aren't going wear out while your winters are on. You may as well have better Winter tires. Be sure to get studless-type tires on dedicated rims, and you can swap them yourself as you please.

I agree on the General Altimax Arctic tires being a good winter tire on a budget. That being said, if you do not want to have 2 separate sets of tires, the Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires are known to do well in snow, for an all season tire. The newer Pure Contacts are also decent, and should last longer than the DWS as well. Depending on the conditions you plan to use the car in, the harder rubber of an A/S tire will never match a soft snow tire in challenging winter conditions, like ice.

There is no such thing as an all-season tire aside from 1 model of Nokian

my Altimax Artic go on tomorrow.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=423908

I plan to try the Nokian WR G3, an all weather tire, I have an appointment this Saturday to have them installed. I am a little worried about the noise, I will let you know next week. Living in Southern New England they seem like a reasonable choice. A friend at work has them on his Camry and likes them, except for the noise.

I've been happy with the noise level on both the Conti Extreme Winter Contacts and the Michelin X-Ice. Neither seem any louder than summer tires. The Contis are better in deep snow than the Michelins.

Agree with IBW, I have Michelin X-Ice Xi3 snows on two TDIs and have bene happy with them. Fuel economy is not affected, depending on the road surface I can detect a very slight noise increase but nothing bothersome.

I have tried many tires, the Nokian Hak 1 series never disappointed me. I had the WR G3 lately and was so upset-they wear really fast (probably a 40k mile tire), they are terrible in dry snow or packed snow, ok in wet.
I found them an awful compromise. They handled great in dry conditions with little noise and excellent feel/feedback. Just a poor snow tire.
I had Hak-1 last 5 winters with heavy driving, and still had 7/32 remaining after 100k miles+. They were not a compromise in any respect! I have not had any of the more recent series. I found the first gen R's did wear quickly based on customer cars (2 seasons).
I have Michelin Latitude Xice on the big vehicle and they are excellent, but not likely long lasting.
Trying out some Continental Extreme Snow this year and some Wal-Mart specials (Rovello?) at $30 a tire.
Generally speaking the cheaper lines tend to be very loud and prone to choppy treads and terrible in wet/rain conditions.

my X-Ice 3's went on today - they were great in the snow and ice last year. But they restored my confidence of safely navigating dicey back roads during changing winter conditions.

There is rarely such thing as de facto "best", though some tires amy be better suited for your driving habits and environment. Why do you hope to reduce the number of yearly miles on your SW? Sounds like you have great options for winter conditions.

Another vote for the X-Ice 3, liking how they are wearing as well.

I did General Altimax Arctic's last year and was blown away by how awesome they were.

General Altimax on my my 01 Golf TDI, 05 WRX and now on my JSW. Great tire, unbeatable price to usability ratio.

snow tires

Hands down .blizzak ws80

Any opinions on alternate sizes for the stock 17" JSW alloys ? I'm interested in using a 205/50R17 snow tire in the place of the 225/45R17 standard size.

A tire calculator indicates a very small speedometer error and the clearance should be better than a 225.

timbat said:

Any opinions on alternate sizes for the stock 17" JSW alloys ? I'm interested in using a 205/50R17 snow tire in the place of the 225/45R17 standard size.

A tire calculator indicates a very small speedometer error and the clearance should be better than a 225.

Click to expand...

I found a set of 16" TDI wheels and mounted Firestone Winterforce tires at a very reasonable price. Using the recommended 16" tire size for TDI the diameter is about the same as the 17" which I run in the summer on my Sportwagen.

My favorites have been the Blizzak LM-60 (but my God are they expensive now) and Good Year Ultra Grip Performance 2. I've also had a set of Dunlop Wintersport 3D that were pretty good.

Some that I really didn't like were the Firestone Winterforce. Very sluggish and squishy feeling, loud, and not particularly good in snow or ice.

In the 1970s, when I lived in snow country and had to be out on the roads every day, my choice was a set of Semperit snows all the way around. L-shaped tread blocks, winter-friendly compound, deep tread. Had to order them through a Saab-Jeep dealer. No longer available, AFAIK. Friends still living in the area really like the Altimax. These are people who drive in snow from November through April. Have also heard good things about the Cooper WeatherMaster RT2 but have not used them myself. Discount Tire Direct sells them.

I have used Firestone Winter force snow tires on every car or truck I have owned over the last 15 years. Yes it is true that you need to reduce your cornering speed with a dedicated snow tire. Its give and take. These tires give your car awesome snow traction that will take you home. These tires are absolutely fantastic in deep snow. Last Winter we got hit with a freak 8 inch snow storm one afternoon. I live on a very hilly road in North West CT. As I was driving my TDI up the unplowed road my little Golf drove by not one but two Range Rovers and two or three 4x4 pick ups that were all stuck and all the drivers who were walking their way home stopped turned and starred at the little TDI that could!!

Get the Winter Force tires. I paid $96 each from www.tirerack.com

Good luck with whichever tire you buy.

I bought a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 for my JSW, downsized to 205/55R16, and installed them about 3 weeks ago. While they are a little bit "squishier" than the OEM Contis, they are far quieter than the Hakkas and Winterforces that I have run in the past on different vehicles. I have heard many good things about the Blizzaks' winter performance, so I am optimistic as to how they will do once the snow really starts to fly!

General Altimax Arctic user here. On my second set.

JTRI said:

I plan to try the Nokian WR G3, an all weather tire, I have an appointment this Saturday to have them installed. I am a little worried about the noise, I will let you know next week. Living in Southern New England they seem like a reasonable choice. A friend at work has them on his Camry and likes them, except for the noise.

Click to expand...

I had them on my wife's last vehicle. They are excellent in the snow for an all season tire; but the aren't as good as a dedicate snow tire. Tread life was reduced compare to all season. I probably was going to get ~40k miles out of a set but I already knew that from reading reviews. If you need one tire for all season that include snow driving I would recommend them.

For our JSW I am probably going to buy a set of Hakka as designated snow tires.

I did get the Nokian WR G3's this weekend. The noise is no louder than my old Conti's. Now I am just waiting for it to snow.

I would highly recommend NOT using Firestone Winterforce tires, with or without studs. The tire design is from the 1980's. Although they may work better than a summer or some all season tires, especially if studded on ice, they just can't match modern designs. This is even more apparent in dry or wet conditions (not snow or ice) as the Winterforce tires are slippery enough to be dangerous. For the same price as the Firestone's, you would be much better off with a set of the Altimax Arctic's with or without studs. While I don't think that the Generals are the best winter tire out there, they are very hard to beat for the price.

Dadskier said:

General Altimax Arctic user here. On my second set.

Click to expand...

Got these on today with a set of VW oem steelies the dealer was selling cheap.

I've been using Pirelli Soto zero winters for the past 6 years and very happy with them. These are H rated and very good in all types of roads from ice and snow to dry roads with a long life.
I can out maneuver pretty much anything on the road including awd cars and suvs with these tires on my wagon.