Winter Tire Thread

[DBESTGTI1]

I personally felt like the Altimax were very noodly feeling at highway speeds. There were some area of the mountain highways that the GTI on those tires was at it's limit just to keep up with traffic around some of the sharper bends. They are great in the snow but I wouldn't buy them again.

 

[AM407]

I just bought Blizzak WS80s and am very happy with how they handle on bare pavement. Xi3s are also supposed to handle decently (H speed rating like the WS80), but I chose the WS80s because I suspect they will perform better in deeper snow and slush.

If you care about handling but don't want to go to the performance winter category, I think WS80 or Xi3 are the best options. The Continental ExtremeWinterContact is often touted as being a decent-handling tire, but I was a little disappointed. The WS80s are a big improvement, IMO, and of course you get top-notch snow and ice performance as well.

 

[XGC75]

Xi2 user here. The tires are amazingly quiet, not just for a winter but any tire. However, they suck in the snow. Packed, slush, ice, you name it. My wife's no-name all-seasons handle better in her beetle. They're okay in fluffy snow, but far from the blizzacs. Dunno. May just do these xi2's (or 3's if I can't find the 2s anymore) simply for their sound.

 

[Lucky#Slevin]

Installed new winter wheels.. 18" goals and michelin x-ice xi3..

 

[TiCoyote]

I have a 2012 GTI. I'm looking to get a 17" winter tire package. My local tire shop told me that sensors for the wheels would be $150 for a set, but I'm pretty sure that the car doesn't need sensors, is that right?

Also, the dealership told me that when changing the wheels, "be careful with the new TPMS system. They're easy to break" What does that mean?

 

[Sonny@TireRack.com]

I have a 2012 GTI. I'm looking to get a 17" winter tire package. My local tire shop told me that sensors for the wheels would be $150 for a set, but I'm pretty sure that the car doesn't need sensors, is that right?

Also, the dealership told me that when changing the wheels, "be careful with the new TPMS system. They're easy to break" What does that mean?

The 2012 model uses indirect tire pressure sensing, which means that it uses the ABS braking system, not sensors in the wheels.

 

[dmarsh15]

Had a pretty fun drive to the ski resort on some snow covered roads. This car is a beast with snow tires. It feels more planted on snow covered roads than my gfs forester with snow tires. I am also super impressed with the stability control system (esc). It is fast to respond and instantly corrects any time the back end starts to kick out. You would have to try really hard to make it spin out with esc on. However, I tried to take a shortcut up a seasonal use road, but the snow was just too deep and uphill. That's where the forester would come in handy.

 

[fflemke22]

Just had my Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 installed on my OEM Wheels. Love what these tires have done with my wife's CX-5. Looking forward to play with these in some fresh snow...just bought my 13 autobahn 2 weeks ago.


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[Wykdtron]

16 inch Momo Winter 2 Wheels with Michelin Ice xi3 tires. These things are awesome in the snow and the 16 inch wheels give me piece of mind when I hit a hidden pot hole.

 

[fflemke22]

I cringe every time I hit anything remotely close to a pot hole. Used my stock Laguna wheels.


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[Lucky#Slevin]

Long term update for anyone interested in 18" michelin x ice xi-3...

I Had these for 2 winter seasons and several large snow storms... These things are excellent in dry conditions and very good in deep snow.. They are super quiet and feel like an all season tire in the dry.. Not a sharp handler at speed but this is to be expected for a winter/snow tire.. They do handle pretty damn good I might say tho.. Just a lil soft at higher speeds when cornering.. But for winters they are amazing.. In deep snow these tires grip like crazy and offer excellent traction.. I love them in the snow.. In lesser slushy snow they don't seem to perform as great.. Kinda slippery but not terrible.. Fairly good.. But these excel in deeper snow as opposed to slushy stuff..

However I have detected a serious negative with these.. Wet rainy travel can be downright scary.. I have never felt such extreme hydro planing with ANY tire like these.. They just offer zero grip in the wet.. Not just standing water but in the rain they just slide and slip constantly.. Pretty scary to drive in wet conditions at highway speeds... In the ice they seem ok and are prob. much better then an avg. all season tire.. I did skid recently down a hill on some black ice fairly recently and not sure if any tire could have completely eliminated the skid..

Overall I love these winter tires.. They offer amazing everyday dry traction and handling for when it's not snowing and are really grippy in very snowy conditions.. Inspire loads of confidence when driving in awful blizzard conditions.. Just suffer from poor wet rainy traction and you just need to use caution if you drive in those conditions.. If your on the fence I would say buy them.. I kinda love them and I am looking forward to the I impending 3' of snow heading towards NYC!!! :w00t: :w00t: :thumbup:

 

[Squashdaddy]

I too bought the Michelin X-Ice Xi3. I had them mounted to 16x7.5 Monte Titano MT1 wheels. All done by TireRack.

As a side note, although I checked the box to have the wheels Hunter Road Forced Balanced they arrived at my doorstep slightly unbalanced. Three of the wheels were 0.5 ounce off balance. I had them re-balanced at Discount Tire at a cost of $15/wheel. I spoke with customer service at TireRack about the incident and they reimbursed my PLUS added another $15 for my inconvenience. Nice job TR :thumbsup:

However, I do still have a slight shaking/vibration between 70-80 mph causing me to scratch my head since they are balanced. Thoughts anyone?

I don't think that these are quiet tires - at least not on wet pavement. Although these are my first ever winter tires so I don't have another winter tire to compare them too. They are fairly quiet on dry roads though. Handling is ok, but I didn't buy these for that reason. I agree with others in that they aren't awesome in slushy conditions, but they are still good. We just got the biggest snow storm of the season so I really got to test them out today in deep snow. The performed very well. I even went up some hills that had 7 inches of snow. Definitely not bulletproof though. I did spin some, and got pulled left and right in deep rutted snow, but I think that has more to do with how low our cars are and the suspension setup. Bottom line, they are miles above any all season tire I've owned in winter conditions.

 

[XGC75]

The Xi3s are very quiet on dry pavement. For some reason they get loud like any other winter tire when it's wet. TBH I feel their grip in snow to be mediocre. Blizzacs would blow these out of the water in most conditions - packed snow, fluffy snow, slush and rain. But for the peace and quiet the other half of the season it's hard to turn them down for my next winter set. This is my 3rd winter on them and they still have at least another winter after this if not two.

 

[snobrdrdan]

I too bought the Michelin X-Ice Xi3. I had them mounted to 16x7.5 Monte Titano MT1 wheels. All done by TireRack.

After ALL we talked about....you still went with those (a more expensive tire), lol

The Generals have been awesome & no noise at all

As for balancing...you're not the first to complain about them being off from TireRack (unfortunately)

 

[Squashdaddy]

Yeah, yeah, Dan. I know. I'm a big fan of Michelin's though which is why I decided to go with them.

I would still like to know why I get vibrations around 75 mph even AFTER I had them re-balanced.