My GLX is now equiped for winter.  Last week my pirelli 210a mounted on
steel wheels came in from T.R. .  I mounted them and have been toying with
them all week.  At first I was a bit scared by there handling and feel,
untill I took the air pressure down a few notches in the back tires.  After
adjusting the pressure and breaking them in a bit I must say that they grip
very nice around the corners, much better that I had thought.  The real
test will be snow performance, which they might see this weekend if I head
up-state NY.

I too did not like any of the wheel covers at TR, but I did find an
acceptable set at Discount tire , it's a 7 spoke look-a-like cover that is
pretty decent (for a wheel cover) paid $25 for the set.  I dont like the
fact that the steel wheels came painted in silver because they are so
visable under the covers, so I will eventually paint them black.

jim

Hey guys/gals.

Ok... snow has finally fallen in Minneapolis, and after two consecutive
days of moving around in my GTI, I have come to the conclusion that the
factory tires that came with our cars [...]

Just so if anyone else is considering ordering these, the package has now
DROPPED IN PRICE to $545 (ugly covers included) from its $590 price - 15"
steel wheels with Pirelli 210A's.

[...]

today in orange county ny (hi arthur) we had rain/sleet/snow/freezing
rain/hail all day long.  the ride into work was made alot easier by my
new tires. i went with 195-50 over 205-50. seems to be fantastic is this
stuff.  the driveway out of my complex in uphill and i powered right up
it with all this crap on the ground.  when i was coming home tonite i
even tried an e-brake slide but the rear tires dug right in. COOL.
pirelli has a fine product here.
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> Just want to apologize for "thinking" that you guys were idiots when you
> complained about your factory tires. Pleeeeze forgive me (in need for a hug
> now).

It didn't take me two years to realize that they were shitty, even though
they stayed on that long!

> Just so if anyone else is considering ordering these, the package has now
> DROPPED IN PRICE to $545 (ugly covers included) from its $590 price - 15"
> steel wheels with Pirelli 210A's.

I hear the best snow tires are the Dunlop Graspics.  This is from someone
that tried all of them (Blizzaks, Pirellis, etc.) Any experiences?
> 
> BTW Does our ABS system have a "sensitivity" warning? It seems that it
> locks up (in my opinion) WAY TOO OFTEN - I could be going 5 mph, tap on the
> brakes and it would activate... is this normal? And yes I use my brakes way
> before I really need it, so I am not stomping on them...

It's the same thing with my car too, so it's not just yours!  If I ease
them on far in advance and use barely any pressure though, they won't pump
unless I hit a patch of ice or something really slippery.  It's snowing in
Milwaukee tonight, unfortunately the GTI is clad with Dunlop D40M2s so it
will be serving garage duty until they get the roads cleared!  (Or at
least donut duty! ;-) )Yep- I'm rollin' the 86 Audi!  Once you get used to
the speed of the VR6, everything else seems like it accelerates like a
semi!

Bryan Schmidt
95 Black GTI VR6

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>My question is really for GTI owners who drive in snow.  I am curious about
>people's experiences with snow tires, specifically Bridgestone Blizzaks.  Can
>anyone recommend these tires or others from personal experience?  Also, if
>anyone has factory rims from a GTI or Jetta GLX, I would be interested in
>buying them.

Mike-
I had a set of Blizzaks on my 8v GTI which have since moved to my '84 GTI
(They're too big for the weight of that car and winter performance pretty
much stinks as a result. If anyone wants a set of 195/60-14 Blizzaks for
fairly cheap let me know!) I absolutely hate the way the Blizzaks handle in
the dry- the tread is so soft and flexible that the car absolutely has no
grip. The Blizzaks are very good in the bad weather but they don't last very
long. In my '97 8v I drove through wet heavy snow which was so heavy that
the headlights couldn't keep it melted and it was so deep that the air dam
was plowing snow and managed not to get stuck until I had to slow down to
turn into my driveway. Control on ice is also very good, which is what I'd
expect from a tire which advertises its superior ice performance. However,
unless you drive on a lot of snow or ice almost all the time, I wouldn't
recommend them. For the VR6 this past winter, I decided to look for
something else which might work better in the dry without giving up too much
in the slippery stuff. After talking to Tire Rack, I ended up with Pirelli
Winter 210 Asimmetricos in the stock size and was very pleased. Dry handling
is nearly as good (or as bad as) the Eagle GA's are, and wet performance is
definitely better. This past winter was pretty mild here in the northeast,
but I was very pleased with the car's performance in the little snow we did
have. Between the weight of the six over the front wheels, the EDL and the
snow tires, it was an excellent winter car. The heated mirrors are a nice
plus too.
Chris
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Regarding the D60A2s in the snow. I had them on my Eclipse and they were
pretty good, not as good as the SP4000s but still a pretty decent snow
tire. 

Jess

[...] 30 lines deleted

For the last 6 years I have had the Bridestone Blizzaks and absolutely 
love them.  Many on the list dislike the soft tread compound because it 
takes away from those spirited cornering sessions.  However, I will take 
the lack of performance for the few months of winter driving and trade 
it for the exceptional grip.  Through 6 upstate NY winters they have 
never let me down..

my buck-and-a-quarter...

eric


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I've got a set of the Bridgestone Blizzaks on stock rims 205/55 and they
work unreal. So far I've driven them in everything from 8inches of powder to
2 inches of sheet ice. The weather in Seattle has SUCKED the last few days.
I paid just under 500 bucks mounted and balanced. Even with the coilovers
the car ride like a champ, however need to be careful of getting hung up on
the oil pan....
Dave
95 GTI-VR6

[...] 36 lines deleted

Hey jeff...

   I have the Winter Ice A's and like them a lot.  Been through one winter
with them and have even been close to stuck.  They are great in the snow, but
even better in the ice!!!  Stuff you can barely walk on is no problem
accelorating and braking.  The only drawback is the dry handling.  They are Q
rated I believe, making them very lose on the highway above 80, but fine
around town.  

  hope this helps,

   jeff E.
   95 Vento VR6  modded....
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To: All the List Members who responded to my post.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

All of your replies meant a lot when I was looking to choose a winter tire.

I ended up buying Bridgestone Blizzaks MZ-02's, I know they might wear
sooner then the others brands.
But I want it to save my ass or atleast help me out when I needed it. They
sure did!

For all the North East list members can attest to that. We got more then 50
centimeters of snow this past weekend. It really started coming down hard
on Sat. evening... so I decided to get my first real test of the tires in.
They stopped amazing,... pretty straigth and predictable. Way better then
anything else I ever had. Anyways  ... after getting a feel for it me and
my friend went to find some empty parking lots... you can figure out the
rest....   = )

Winter Tire Reply Results

Blizzaks (old and new) 	7
Michelin Alpins		2
Nokian			4
GoodYear			1
Pirelli			1
Other			1

Regards,

George Ciordas
Import Society

Do not reply to the above address.

Please use "infoimportsociety"

Thanks  : )

Import Society
http://www.importsociety.com


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Wing Shiu, may I suggest Goodyear UltraGrip HP.  I bought them at the start of
this season for my Passat from a VW dealer offering wheel/tire combos for 500
bucks, including installation and covers.  Anyway, the tires themselves are
amazing not just for clomping through deep snow, but stopping as well.  Whatever
you buy, get the narrowest tire that can fit your wheels, and if possible, get
steel wheels too.  This will preserve your alloys for the summer months.  By the
way, I'm from Pembroke, Ont., so I know about snow.  And may I commend you for
taking a step that may save your life or someone else's-- buying winter boots
for your buggy.

Rob Cotnam

Wing Shiu wrote:

>     I know I am a bit late for asking about winter tires but it is only now
> that I can afford them so I just wanted to know which is a good brand of
> winter tires. I live in Toronto and we just recently got dumped on with
> almost 2 foot of snow so having a set of snow tire that is good on the snow
> and in the cold weather would be great. Any suggestion would be appreciated,
> thank you.

I hope you've already purchased winter tires.  We've tried quite a few on
various cars.
We installed Toyo Observe on our Corrado several weeks ago.  It's a good
winter snow tire; not as good on ice as Blizzak.
We used Michelin XMS 330 on our Legend.  They were adequate; quiet and
handle well on bare pavement.  If that's important, the Arctic should be
similar.
We have Yokohoma Guardex 600's on our BMW now; they performed better on our
Volvo turbo wagon (850).
We've used Blizzaks on a car and van.  They were remarkable on ice.  They
transformed our Previa into a dependable vehicle in winter.  As well, a
friend uses them on a Corrado, in a higher section than I would have picked.
For us it came to size available, and our need for proper handling on snow,
ice and bare roads too.
Good luck--let me know how you make out!
Dave L.
London, ON.
Corrado VR6>

>From my tire working days... I remember that the Arctic Alpines are very
good in light to normal snow and good in icy situations, well as good as a
tire could be.  They are siped like mad.  I put a set of these on my mothers
car and the car drives 100% better.  Usually "pilot" refers to more of a
performance tire but since I live where I do, I never dealt with those
actual tires.  I sold more sets of 4 tires for $100 then I did anything,,,
well the truck tires were a close second.

Rob S.

Rob,

I have outfitted both my folks cars with the Artic Alpins and they find them
great. The problem is that my folks have a Tercel and an Accord, so my frame
of reference is not the best in terms of their winter tire performance.  I
do know that the Pilots are the 'performance' version (Not trying to be
sarcastic). I was jsut curious as to Monica's performance on a VR6 and why
she didn;t go for the Pilots.

Steve

PS If you sold these tires, do you know if they are available in the proper
size for the GTI? Or would you suggest a minus one size, ie 195/60R15?

I have some 195-50-15 Pirelli snow tires on my Scirocco and they are
excellent.  I'll actually have to go out and see what model they are because
I needed some winter tires (went to my old workplace) and they were there
used with about 3/4 tread on them.  I just grabbed them and threw them on my
car so I can't remember the model.  It wouldn't hurt you to go with that
size either because a narrower tire is better in winter conditions.

Rob S.

Rob,

I currently use 205/50R15 Toyo G-03's. They're pretty good as a snow
tire/slush tire, but their ice performance is not the best, even though they
have "crushed walnut shells" in the rubber to aid ice grip. However, they're
still better than the all seasons that I had used.

Anyways, I have to start looking around for new tires for next year winter,
as the Toyo's tread depth is getting low, so I thought that I would ask
around with people who are currently using other types. I am thinking that
the Michelins are looking the best at the moment.

Steve
PS My friend who has a 944, used the P210 ice tires and found them quite
good as well.

I have the Yokohama Guardex 600 on my winter beater and they made a huge
difference. Before I put these on, the cars traction control/AWD activation
light would flash all the time in the snow. Now I really have to step on it
really hard or do something really crazy to get the light flashing. Takes
away some of the fun though!

Later,

Enrique

I'm running Pirelli Winter 210 snow tires (205/50/15), and they're
great. Drove them through slush and rain and snow to and from Wisconsin,
and they had great traction. Plus, on smooth highway, they're still very
grippy and not all that much louder than my summer Sumitomos. All in
all, a great winter tire. I highly recommend them. 

--Griff

Unfortunately I do not know for sure what size the Arctic Alpins are, as I 
bought them *very gently* used from a fellow lister... but they do fit the 
stock BBS rims.  I notice, however, that they have a higher profile than the 
stock tire size and sometimes rub against the wheel well when going around a 
sharp turn (nothing major).  They perform great on both snow and pavement 
(within reason) and like any tire do not prevent 100% of slippage whether it 
be on snow or ice.  But compared to the stock tire or even my all-seasons 
*wow* what a difference!

I was looking for a good winter tire.  It was either the Artic Alpins or 
Bridgestone Blizzaks.  I found two reviews of the Pilots and Artic Alpins on 
Tirerack (below).  I know they used to have customer ratings of the Artics 
but they have since disappeared!

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/michelin/mi_pilot_alpin.jsp

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/michelin/mi_arctic_alpin.jsp

gc4nvirginia wrote;
>I'm running Pirelli Winter 210 snow tires (205/50/15), and they're
>great. Drove them through slush and rain and snow to and from Wisconsin,
>and they had great traction. Plus, on smooth highway, they're still very
>grippy and not all that much louder than my summer Sumitomos. All in
>all, a great winter tire. I highly recommend them. 

I'll second that.   I've run the Pirelli 210 Asymetrico snows
for 3 winters running.   I tried Dunlop SP4000 A/S tires part
of the first winter and hated them.   The Pirellis have
taken me everwhere I want to go, both on pavement (130mph)
and in the snow.  They're not as grippy in the snow as something
like a Blizzak but we don't really have snow on th ground that
many days out of the year here.  But they make up for it by
being very competant in the dry and wet, without wearing quite
as fast.  They've discontinued the 210As and
replaced it with the Snowsport 210's.   Hopefully they'll
maintain the same performance level.

http://www.houseofthud.com/rintintin/snowplow.jpg

        ian