Tire recommendations, 2003 Jetta TDI

[dcjkrueger]

Need to replace tires on my 2003 VW Jetta TDI, 366,000 miles. I average about 30,000 miles per year, mostly highway driving in Northern Ohio. I am on the road early mornings in the winter on snow / ice covered roads. Traction is critical in bad driving conditions. Wearability and comfort are secondary. What would you recommend ? Thanks !! Dennis the " Menace "

 

[jmodge]

I've run General ArticMax from October into may for probably the last 6 years, on my car now. I can't believe how a dedicated snow tire can wear like Iron and still grip. I wouldn't doubt they quit making them because they work too good. In your conditions, I'd definitely have dedicated ice and snows.
The other tires I've run are Yokohama Geolander AT's. I drove those through a nasty winter the first year I had those. They worked really good on ice and snow brand new, but I went with the General's after that for winter. Nothing works better on ice than a dedicated tire. Cheaper than wrecking a car.
Those are the only tires I've run on my car since I've owned it other than the Cooper snows that came on it. And those were only for the first summer I had it.
Both sets wore even and drove and handled well, though I'm not spoiled on luxury.......it doesn't take much too be considered smooth in my book. Dollars well spent are more important to me.
205/70/15's BTW

 

[oilhammer]

The General Altimax RT45 has an all season rating, and it looks like it would be decent enough for a FWD car in most winter conditions, but obviously not as good as an actual snow tire.

They are not the quietest tire, and thus probably not the most fuel efficient. They are the successor to the RT43, which is still available in some sizes but not the 195-65-15-91H that your car uses.

We sell a lot of them here, they seem pretty decent. I'm normally a Michelin guy myself, but they seem to discontinue so many sizes and models that for the older stuff you simply cannot get much of anything anymore.

 

[pedroYUL]

I've been somewhat impressed by Nokian WR G4. Only used them in an Audi A4 Quattro for part of one winter, and now I have another set in my Passat, great traction so far, but I need more time in the winter with them to fully endorse....of course one of the best dedicated winters are Nokian Hakka, so I have high hopes for these.

 

[John Wesley Hardin]

Well where I live in S. Texas paving is the Eight wonder of the World or Ninth. They run down one lane with hot tar rolling then drop pea size gravel right behind it , then steam roll it down into the tar all at the same time ! A convoy of rolling trucks laying gravel. So when under construction your getting pelted by gravel for a few days. Then once its done it feels like your driving on washboards. Its a roar in your ears till you finally find real asphalt. Semis run down this stretch which puts ruts down the highway. When its dry youll never notice , but when it rains it puddles. You hit these waterholes at 70mph and there could be a major accident in your britches or elsewhere. haha. No exaggeration. Any tire recommendations for this ? Im thinking wagon wheels or steel wheels

 

[dcjkrueger]

The General Altimax RT45 has an all season rating, and it looks like it would be decent enough for a FWD car in most winter conditions, but obviously not as good as an actual snow tire.

They are not the quietest tire, and thus probably not the most fuel efficient. They are the successor to the RT43, which is still available in some sizes but not the 195-65-15-91H that your car uses.

We sell a lot of them here, they seem pretty decent. I'm normally a Michelin guy myself, but they seem to discontinue so many sizes and models that for the older stuff you simply cannot get much of anything anymore.

Thanks !!

 

[Rob Mayercik]

FYI, you can also run 205-60-15-91H, that's what I've done for all but the first 53K miles on my car. Speedo/odo won't even be off.

I am about 8K into a set of the RT45s, I'm happy so far with them. NJ didn't get enough snow this winter for me to have any data on winter traction, but the RT43s they replaced did all right for what I saw the last couple years.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

I've run Michelin Cross Climate 2s on my Jetta Wagon for the past few years. They are better than all-seasons in the snow, but not the same as a true snow tire, despite having a severe snow rating. I got Nokain WR-4s for My son's Golf. He's driven that more in the snow and says they're pretty good. The Nokians are also very smooth riding and quiet. And they're round: When my guru mounted them two the wheel/tire setups didn't need any weight!

 

[STDOUBT]

I was able to get the Crossclimate+ for my 15"s, they had to order them in.
Really like this tire. It's wet here a lot. They did great in our recent ice storm too. Albeit sloooowly.

 

[T1MMBOJONES]

I've run General ArticMax from October into may for probably the last 6 years, on my car now. I can't believe how a dedicated snow tire can wear like Iron and still grip. I wouldn't doubt they quit making them because they work too good. In your conditions, I'd definitely have dedicated ice and snows.
The other tires I've run are Yokohama Geolander AT's. I drove those through a nasty winter the first year I had those. They worked really good on ice and snow brand new, but I went with the General's after that for winter. Nothing works better on ice than a dedicated tire. Cheaper than wrecking a car.
Those are the only tires I've run on my car since I've owned it other than the Cooper snows that came on it. And those were only for the first summer I had it.
Both sets wore even and drove and handled well, though I'm not spoiled on luxury.......it doesn't take much too be considered smooth in my book. Dollars well spent are more important to me.
205/70/15's BTW

i had those on my 03 wagon also. it was amazing how much better it handled in snow. i had blizzacks on my gmc safari in my youth but it was awd so it handled snow well to begin with, on the wagon it was a whole new car. my current jsw has some goodyear all seasons that it came with, sorry car isnt in front of me so exact model is unknown. ive put 50k on them, have no idea how old they were when i got the car but they still have plenty of tread, not awsome in winter but not terrible and 50+k speaks for itself. i will likely get another set when they finally wear out.

 

[T1MMBOJONES]

Well where I live in S. Texas paving is the Eight wonder of the World or Ninth. They run down one lane with hot tar rolling then drop pea size gravel right behind it , then steam roll it down into the tar all at the same time ! A convoy of rolling trucks laying gravel. So when under construction your getting pelted by gravel for a few days. Then once its done it feels like your driving on washboards. Its a roar in your ears till you finally find real asphalt. Semis run down this stretch which puts ruts down the highway. When its dry youll never notice , but when it rains it puddles. You hit these waterholes at 70mph and there could be a major accident in your britches or elsewhere. haha. No exaggeration. Any tire recommendations for this ? Im thinking wagon wheels or steel wheels

tracks maybe?

 

[Zak99b5]

Not to hijack this, but....

I'm looking for summer tires to replace the sh!tty Coopers on my car now. I have Nokian Hakks for winter, so I don't need all-seasons. However, there's not much out there in the 15" size. I've only found like Pirellis that are $350ish a pop for summers. Then there's a bunch of all-season tires, of course, but really no UHPs. Am I just missing something, or am I doomed with the 15" wheels?

 

[oilhammer]

Just a few of the many 195-65-15-91-H choices:

Michelin Defender (pros, long life, good quality, cons, likely not the quietest, probably not the stickiest... the 820 TW rating pretty much guarantees a pretty hard compound).

Toyo Celcius II (pros, low price, decent medium TW of 560, cons, may not last as long, quality could be spotty)

Yokohama Avid Ascend LX (pros, decent price, high TW of 800, cons probably similar noise/traction of the Defender and possibly not as good of quality)

Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus (pros good quality, decent medium tread, likely decent traction, low rolling resistance rated, cons, somewhat pricier)

Bridgestone also has a new Turanza Quiettrack, no experience with those but they look similar to the Defender

Continental ContiproContact (pros, decent quality, sticky, cons, lower tread life, also like to flat spot if car sits)

Continental also has a Trucontact Tour, which is a higher TW tire, no experience with those

... and of course the General Altimax RT45 mentioned above.

There are also plenty of others... Goodyears (which I would never recommend) as well as all the Korean junk from the Trio of Fail (Kumho, Nexen, Hankook) as well as countless other Chinapop house label brands that change monthly that I'd also never recommend.

 

[Zak99b5]

I did like the Conti DWSs I had on my old MkIV GTi, so maybe those. I was hoping to find something more performance-based tires, but it looks like grand touring is really the only option.

 

[pedroYUL]

My wife has General Gmax AS, which are great and don't break the bank, but those don't come in 15"

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

I'm looking for summer tires to replace the sh!tty Coopers on my car now. I have Nokian Hakks for winter, so I don't need all-seasons. However, there's not much out there in the 15" size. I've only found like Pirellis that are $350ish a pop for summers. Then there's a bunch of all-season tires, of course, but really no UHPs. Am I just missing something, or am I doomed with the 15" wheels?

Basically, no summer tires. Get a set of 16s and then you have many choices. I like Dunlop Direzzas. Sticky, but not crazy wear numbers. If you get some 7" rims you can use 225/50-16s.

 

[John Wesley Hardin]

tracks maybe?

Great idea rubber tracks