Wheel & Tire Advice Requested

Hey all,

I have a red 2.5L Golf that came with stock steelies. I was planning on using them over the winter and buying new tires after that, but I'm not sure if I have the patience to wait until next summer. I also do not have storage space available to keep a set of off season wheels, so I would probably (attempt to) sell the steelies anyway when I purchased new tires.

So, I'm entertaining the idea of purchasing some alloy wheels and tires soon. This is my daily driver, so I am planning on getting 17" wheels to retain the comfortable ride quality. Given that I will be using the wheels year round, and the car is street parked, I think budget alloys would be ideal.

My current top choice for wheels are the Moda MD11's. $108 each at Tire Rack


I live in Seattle, so we do not receive a ton of snow, but the weather can get below 40 degrees at times and is almost always wet from October to June. Thus, I think high performance all-season tires would be the best choice.

There seems to be a lot of viable tires choices. I am leaning towards Continental ExtremeContact DWS's. $132 each at Tire Rack


Does anyone have any experience with either of these products?

Also, if I order these through Tire Rack, which come balanced, can I just bolt them on or do I need to do something special to install them? Tire Rack's site mentions something about a TPMS reset. Is the TPMS a physical sensor located on the tires?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

The MD11 is a nice, low pressure cast wheel at a good price. In regards to the DWS, for a performance tire, it gives a very comfortable ride but alternately it has a bit less steering response than some of its competitors (m. It has the best snow traction out there for an all season tire. The 2012 Gold uses the ABS braking system for tire pressure monitoring so no new sensors are required.

TireRack sends you everything you need, you will just have to bolt them on. Lots of guys run those tires and seem to like them. Consider lowering your car with DG springs before going with new wheels. Aftermarket wheels on stock suspension look a little goofy, especially at the Golfs stock height.

Thanks for the info, Sonny. I assume low pressure cast describes how the wheel was manufactured. What are the implications of this process? Does it mean the wheel is soft?

Are ride comfort and steering response at two ends of the tire spectrum? I.e. if I want more of one do I have to give up some of the other? A comfortable ride is important to me, but if I can achieve good steering response as well, that would be nice.

I do want year-round tires, but mostly for the rain and cold. Nobody drives in Seattle when there is snow (which only falls in the city once or twice a year), so the only time I would encounter it is if I drove through the pass, which often requires chains or studded tires anyway. Would you still recommend the DWS or do you think there is a better tire for me at a similar price point?

Sonny@TireRack.com said:

The MD11 is a nice, low pressure cast wheel at a good price. In regards to the DWS, for a performance tire, it gives a very comfortable ride but alternately it has a bit less steering response than some of its competitors (m. It has the best snow traction out there for an all season tire. The 2012 Gold uses the ABS braking system for tire pressure monitoring so no new sensors are required.

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Funny you say that! I have a set of DG Springs in my closet waiting to be installed. I figured I could put the new wheels on when I have the springs installed.

J-Cooz said:

TireRack sends you everything you need, you will just have to bolt them on. Lots of guys run those tires and seem to like them. Consider lowering your car with DG springs before going with new wheels. Aftermarket wheels on stock suspension look a little goofy, especially at the Golfs stock height.

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sojo2600 said:

Thanks for the info, Sonny. I assume low pressure cast describes how the wheel was manufactured. What are the implications of this process? Does it mean the wheel is soft?

Are ride comfort and steering response at two ends of the tire spectrum? I.e. if I want more of one do I have to give up some of the other? A comfortable ride is important to me, but if I can achieve good steering response as well, that would be nice.

I do want year-round tires, but mostly for the rain and cold. Nobody drives in Seattle when there is snow (which only falls in the city once or twice a year), so the only time I would encounter it is if I drove through the pass, which often requires chains or studded tires anyway. Would you still recommend the DWS or do you think there is a better tire for me at a similar price point?

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If you go to tire rack they explain the different casting processes. Low pressure cast is better than just cast wheels.

Tire advice

sojo, I too live in Seattle. I buy and extra set of wheels and run dedicated summer and snow tires, but that's the old Chicago boy in me. Look at Tireracks survey listinng for the type of tire you want, set the sorting function to wet handling and look at the ratings. We don't get the level of snow that you need to look for the best snow tire, any snow rated tire will be better than a non-snow rated tire here, but you will drive in the rain on wet roads for six months out of the year and good rain handling is most important.

Thanks, guys! GTI2012, I wasn't aware of the survey section of Tire Rack's site until you mentioned it. It is quite informative. For Ultra High Performance All-Season tires, the DWS came in second in wet handling performance, only being beat out by the Bridgestone Potenza RE970AS. Given that the Potenzas cost about $30 more per tire, I think the DWS comes in as the best mix of price and performance.

Now I just need Tire Rack to do another sale on their Moda wheels

I think you'll be very happy with the DWS. If they are good in one weather condition it is in the rain. On wet roads they are the best tires I've ever ridden.

PS: good move on staying with 17" rims. Not only are they lighter than a comparably priced 18" (therefore better handling), tire replacement will be cheaper and, when it does snow, traction will be better as well.

It's a win all 'round.

Thanks for the reassurance! :thumbup:

fredf said:

I think you'll be very happy with the DWS. If they are good in one weather condition it is in the rain. On wet roads they are the best tires I've ever ridden.

PS: good move on staying with 17" rims. Not only are they lighter than a comparably priced 18" (therefore better handling), tire replacement will be cheaper and, when it does snow, traction will be better as well.

It's a win all 'round.

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