OT: Need some tires for our new VW Golf Sportwagen

[smontanaro]

I am one of those people who turned in their Golf TDi during DieselGate. We wound up buying a base model 2017 Golf Sportwagen. I rarely drive the car, but my wife said it sucked during the recent first snow of the season, so I guess the OEM Bridgestone 195/65R15 tires have to go.

We live on the Third Coast, so aren't going to face a lot of severe winter driving, but it does snow, so we'll need something better than the OEM tires. What do people recommend? Where do you shop, local or online (e.g., Tire Rack)?

[Black Dog]

There are really no "all season" tires that will perform well in snow. Winter tires will.

[thwart]

When you look at the big picture, $600-$700 spent on decent snows mounted on steelies or cheaper alloys is well worth it... but only if you're planning on keeping the car for more than a couple of years, or plan on replacing it with another VWoA product with similar offset and bolt pattern.

[Bruce K]

We live here n New England andI gitsome Conti Contacts for my wife’s car.

They worked well in light snow conditions.

After more than a couple of iniches, nothing beats winter tires.

BK

[TDot]

Got a good deal on Pirelli all seasons about a month ago at Costco, but up here in Toronto. Paid 650CAD. As another poster said, all seasons are only so good in the snow.

[zmudshark]

It's not snowing this year. Buy bike wheels.

[kgreene10]

Just wanted to say that I did the same - sold back the diesel and got the base gas model. For my limited driving, it’s much more sensible.

[pbarry]

One of the best purchases I've made were dedicated winter tires. As usual, this forum had invaluable advice when asked: https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=197254

[Gsinill]

Nokian WRG3 all-weather.

I have them on my wife's X5 and on my old beater Mercedes (which is horrible in winter).
Both of them are daily drivers and the Nokians work perfectly all year long in the Chicago flatlands.

[Ken Robb]

Go to Tire Rack website and read the tests and reviews on various types/models of tires. Assuming that you are going to decide to go with real snow tires vs. "all-season" since your car probably came with all-seasons, you can order a tire/wheel package delivered to your home and mount swap them yourself.

[tv_vt]

Michelin X-Ice. Really good non-studded winter tire. Nice and quiet too.

Can order from TireRack with wheels or just as tires. Have them mounted at your favorite shop (LAS, not LBS...)

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

There are really no "all season" tires that will perform well in snow. Winter tires will.

This.

I have Goodyear UltraGrip Ice on 16's (-1) for the GTI, but I bought them for the JSW TDI. They work really well in all conditions at 32psi and wear exceptionally well for winter tires.

[572cv]

Originally Posted by tv_vt

Michelin X-Ice. Really good non-studded winter tire. Nice and quiet too.

Can order from TireRack with wheels or just as tires. Have them mounted at your favorite shop (LAS, not LBS...)

Did this too, on the west coast of Vermont. Quite good.

[Mikej]

Be aware of your TPMS -this can be a real pain when swapping tire rim combos. Some cars run off of the abs sensor, some have a signal from a battery powered device mounted in the air stem like my wife’s Subaru. This can be expensive, I was quoted $200 usd to re program wheels, this would be per season if I mounted winter tires on steelies.

[R3awak3n]

dunno what tires to recommend but the stock tires that came with my 17 sportwagen do indeed suck, even when its not snowing. Subscribed to this thread. My plan is to keep the stock wheels with winter tires and get some 18in wheels and summer tires in spring. Will be a nice setup