Winter tires, whos put them on?

steffen707 · Dec 12, 2012

steffen707 said:
I threw on a set of barely used general altimax tires a few weeks ago. We're suppose to get 5-7" tonight, and I can't wait to see how the TDI handles. Its been about 7 years since I had a TDI in winter.

HOLY COW, this car handles awesome in snow with the Altimax Arctics. I put the highest rated (for winter use) all seasons from tire rack, onto my wifes 02 camry v6, and while they are decent, my jetta with the altimax arctics can run circles around her car all day.

It handles deep 5-7" snow without problem, braking and take off from a stop were great. If you get into a winter accident with these, you're either a bad driver, screwing around, or somebody else hit you.

jasonTDI · Dec 12, 2012

Told you!

TornadoRed · Dec 12, 2012

If you stop on an icy hill, even Altimax Arctics won't power you to the top. You will have to back up and get a running start.

jasonTDI · Dec 13, 2012

NO tire will unless you have studs.

fruitcakesa · Dec 18, 2012

jasonTDI said:
NO tire will unless you have studs.

I have run Nokian Hak 1's and Nordman 1's with studs for years on the wagon and they always did the job on our steep hill and driveway although very noisy on the road.
This year I bought set of unstudded General Arctic Claws and put a pair on the front of both TDI's and they are so far fantastic for slush and light snow and they are well mannered on the road.
As winter progresses I will get a better idea of how versatile they really are.
but so far they are looking good.
Oh yes, they are also about $100 cheaper than the Nokia's!

sobots · Dec 21, 2012

Put the Blizzaks on today. Hoping for another mild winter.

TornadoRed · Dec 21, 2012

sobots said:
Put the Blizzaks on today. Hoping for another mild winter.

We need for the drought to be over. So even if it inconveniences everyone, even if it inconveniences me, I hope we get lots of snow.

steffen707 · Dec 23, 2012

jasonTDI said:
Told you!

True dat! Wisconsin got hit by a nice 10-14" storm last thursday, the General Altimax Arctics were sweet. I love pulling away from 4WD SUVs at stop lights. How many seasons do these tires last? Not from a tread standpoint, but is there a life expectancy for when they start to get dry rot, or just don't perform well even with sufficient tread?

I probably only drive 3,000 miles in winter, just curious if they will keep providing great traction year after year. Thanks guys.

steffen707 · Dec 23, 2012

fruitcakesa said:
I have run Nokian Hak 1's and Nordman 1's with studs for years on the wagon and they always did the job on our steep hill and driveway although very noisy on the road.
This year I bought set of unstudded General Arctic Claws and put a pair on the front of both TDI's and they are so far fantastic for slush and light snow and they are well mannered on the road.
As winter progresses I will get a better idea of how versatile they really are.
but so far they are looking good.
Oh yes, they are also about $100 cheaper than the Nokia's!

You probably know this, but for others, if you put miss-matched tires on the front and rear you could have severe handling issues. If the front grips way better and the back slides away you could have dangerous oversteer.

I know this first hand as I wanted to save some money in college and put 2 snow tires on the front and left the all seasons on the back. While driving at moderate speed around a snowy hill, the rear of the car broke loose without warning and I spun around 2-3 times down the hill. Luckily I didn't hit anything or anyone, but I learned my lesson.

TornadoRed · Dec 23, 2012

You are correct, Steffen -- all experts agree that the tires with the best tread must go on the rear axle... no matter whether the car is front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive.

jasonTDI · Dec 24, 2012

steffen707 said:
True dat! Wisconsin got hit by a nice 10-14" storm last thursday, the General Altimax Arctics were sweet. I love pulling away from 4WD SUVs at stop lights. How many seasons do these tires last? Not from a tread standpoint, but is there a life expectancy for when they start to get dry rot, or just don't perform well even with sufficient tread?

I probably only drive 3,000 miles in winter, just curious if they will keep providing great traction year after year. Thanks guys.

Got 30 K on the yukon. ready for replacement.

Mothers are at 25 K on a V6 4motion still at 8-16's.

D-Cell_Mekanick · Nov 12, 2013

After going two winters without dedicated winter tires I decided, with the white stuff falling from the sky yesterday, to purchase a new set of Blizzak WS70's. I had them mounted to my biolines. I'm now ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at me.

30Bones · Nov 12, 2013

If anyone has a lead of a set of 16 or 17's wheels and tires I'd be interested. Will be traveling to Fargo for Thanksgiving and can pick up along the route.

TornadoRed · Nov 12, 2013

Have Hakkapeliittas, now hope for plenty of snow.

pparks1 · Nov 12, 2013

I plan to get mine put on in about 2-3 weeks from now. We are just now starting to get cold...hopefully won't have any real snow accumulation before I get the tires put on.

Kevinski4 · Nov 12, 2013

30Bones said:
If anyone has a lead of a set of 16 or 17's wheels and tires I'd be interested. Will be traveling to Fargo for Thanksgiving and can pick up along the route.

One of my customers has a set of winter tires on 16" steelies for sale, but he's in Germantown, WI. Not really between IA and Fargo.

All of Us · Nov 13, 2013

Volks:

I'm still waiting to put the Blizzak's back on Liath for the winter. I may chicken out and do it this weekend if the weather cooperates. It seems like about the right time to get ready for winter. I may have to look into the possibility of going with pickle caps this winter, but I'll probably just throw the wheel covers on since I have them available and it's the easiest solution.

Dan

30Bones · Nov 13, 2013

Kevinski4 said:
One of my customers has a set of winter tires on 16" steelies for sale, but he's in Germantown, WI. Not really between IA and Fargo.

Whats the price and condition? For the right price I have zero issues going for a road trip this weekend

duwem · Nov 14, 2013

Picked up a set of used snows and mounted them on my stock alloys.

Not on the car yet, but excited to try them out in the snow.

Last summer I was on the worn out tires that the car came with. Only snowed a few times though so made it through the winter.

T100TDI · Nov 23, 2013

I have my WinterSports 3D on my Jetta. I bought a tire and wheel package from TireRack. This is the first year of having winter tires on my car so I was unsure of when I should switch them over. I possibly should have waited another couple of weeks but I'll know for next year. The forecast here has been cold and wet. With the occasional warm up to 55. My main concern for wear is going to be a trip back and forth to Kansas City for thanksgiving which is about 300 miles round trip in mid to upper 40 degree weather.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

frugality · Nov 23, 2013

Got a new set of 16" Michelin X-Ice 3's installed a couple days ago.

So far they've only seen a dusting of snow. But it looks like my mileage has dropped a few mpg. I'm guessing the tire shop put the air at ~35psi, and I've always run them at more like 40psi in the winter.

In the previous 3 years, my mileage actually went UP when I put my previous Continental ExtremWinterContacts. Going from 17" all-seasons to 16" Contis resulted in my mileage improving for a bit, until it got colder.

TornadoRed · Nov 23, 2013

Fuel mileage has increased about 1.5 mpg with the Nokian Hakkas compared to Michelin Defenders. I'm pretty happy about that, especially since the fuel is now more winterized than back in October.

All of Us · Nov 30, 2013

Volks:

I put the Blizzak's on Liath today. I figured I'd better take advantage of this warm weather while I can. I was surprised when I checked my records because last year I put the winter tires on the car on 11/29. For some reason I tought I installed them at least 2 weeks earlier than that.

Dan

MichaelB · Dec 6, 2013

Mine have been on for two weeks now. It only lightly snowed once but the cold rainy weather has been handled better than with my summer tires I think. How does one compare without changing tires every day?

Seatman · Dec 6, 2013

TornadoRed said:
If you stop on an icy hill, even Altimax Arctics won't power you to the top. You will have to back up and get a running start.

I'd say that really depends on the type of ice, temperature and how steep the hill is, I've set off up hill no bother sometimes whereas other times like you say you need a run at it.

As for snow tyres in general and making comparisons with regular tyres there aren't any, it's night and day. I like the uniroyal rainsport 2's but even they seem pretty dismal compared to my snows in anything below about 6 degrees C or so.
I live up in the hills and have a lot of variations to contend with sometimes, sheltered areas that don't get any sun at this time of year where you get very patchy ice, drifts, wet and dry, icy and dry etc. Been through the lot and I just wouldn't ever consider not having proper winters on the car at this time of year.
They're just awesome.

Graham Line · Dec 6, 2013

Had drifts of up to one inch in Portland OR today. People were creeping to work, and then leaving early.

frugality · Dec 7, 2013

MichaelB said:
Mine have been on for two weeks now. It only lightly snowed once but the cold rainy weather has been handled better than with my summer tires I think. How does one compare without changing tires every day?

It doesn't necessarily need to involve tire-swapping. My previous Golf's Michelin MXV4+'s were awful in the snow....slip-slidin' all over, ABS kicking in more often at stops, etc..... Switching to snow tires made a noticeable difference.

The other way you will know is when you get 6 or 8 inches of snow, and you're zipping along in the left lane, passing everyone who is cautiously creeping along, and you'll be thinking, "What's up with them? Sheesh. It's just a little snow. Oh, yeah, they probably haven't enjoyed snow tires before....." Just be careful when stopping, because you can get rear-ended by those folks, when you are capable of stopping more quickly. I still try to stop very gently in order to give the person behind me all the space they need to be able to stop.

I just spent the last week with a co-worker from Bulgaria. He was paranoid about driving a non-snow-tire equipped rental car here. Everyone has snow tires there. But apparently plowing is less prompt there than here. (And he also was very confused about driving an automatic car....that was fun to witness....)

MichaelB · Dec 7, 2013

frugality said:
It doesn't necessarily need to involve tire-swapping. My previous Golf's Michelin MXV4+'s were awful in the snow....slip-slidin' all over, ABS kicking in more often at stops, etc..... Switching to snow tires made a noticeable difference.

The other way you will know is when you get 6 or 8 inches of snow, and you're zipping along in the left lane, passing everyone who is cautiously creeping along, and you'll be thinking, "What's up with them? Sheesh. It's just a little snow. Oh, yeah, they probably haven't enjoyed snow tires before....." Just be careful when stopping, because you can get rear-ended by those folks, when you are capable of stopping more quickly. I still try to stop very gently in order to give the person behind me all the space they need to be able to stop.

I just spent the last week with a co-worker from Bulgaria. He was paranoid about driving a non-snow-tire equipped rental car here. Everyone has snow tires there. But apparently plowing is less prompt there than here. (And he also was very confused about driving an automatic car....that was fun to witness....)

I guess what I was trying to say was I never tried to drive under the conditions that I listed because I already had the winter tires on and the the oem 18" wheels with the continentals were already off and in the garage . Same for my previous car a 2010 Jetta SW always had the winters on before the weather turned sour. Sorry for not being clear. I have been running winter tires that I put on around Thanksgiving for the last 15 years or so.

Kevinski4 · Dec 7, 2013

Finally got around to installing my new Cooper Weather-Master ST2s. Bring on the snow!

MichaelB · Dec 7, 2013

Way to go Kev. Wisconsin winter bring it on! What size are they? Don't they kinda stick way past the fender wells or is that just the photo?

Winter tires, whos put them on?

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