Tire Chains, Cables, Socks, Spikes - Occasional Snow

[gtowngovernor]

Hey fam, tried doing a bit of searching but could not find any posts about this.

I live in Cali, so usually I am pretty good and do not need to deal with snow. But every winter, I like to go snowboarding maybe 5 - 10 times. Once in a while, chains / cables / some kind of extra sock is required in order for chain control to let everyone up. I do have 4Motion AWD, as well as All Season Tires (pretty sure that's how it came), but was not sure if anyone has had to put wires / cables on the tire this size with this narrow of a gap. I have 235-35-19s, and have purchased cables just in case I am forced to put them on, but I am hoping to never have to actually use them (I tried putting them on, seemed like it would be tight but would work). To be honest, I am very impressed with the performance on snow / ice even without chains, nothing could stop me lol.

Has anyone have had to deal with a similar situation? Opinions are appreciated...

 

[The Fed]

You don't need them. Ground clearance is your limiting factor, not traction.

 

[lcubed]

think about going to narrower dedicated winter tires. the additional traction devices are likely to rub against suspension components. yes, it's really that tight.

also, according to the manufacturers, the stock summer tires are likely to crack in lower temps.

with the stock tires, you'll run out of traction far before you run out of ground clearance.

 

[Canada Golf R]

Hey fam, tried doing a bit of searching but could not find any posts about this.

I live in Cali, so usually I am pretty good and do not need to deal with snow. But every winter, I like to go snowboarding maybe 5 - 10 times. Once in a while, chains / cables / some kind of extra sock is required in order for chain control to let everyone up. I do have 4Motion AWD, as well as All Season Tires (pretty sure that's how it came), but was not sure if anyone has had to put wires / cables on the tire this size with this narrow of a gap. I have 235-35-19s, and have purchased cables just in case I am forced to put them on, but I am hoping to never have to actually use them (I tried putting them on, seemed like it would be tight but would work). To be honest, I am very impressed with the performance on snow / ice even without chains, nothing could stop me lol.

Has anyone have had to deal with a similar situation? Opinions are appreciated...

I'm pretty sure your car came with summer tires like everyone else. These tires are not good in any winter conditions. I think that most folks who are driving in snow conditions buy a set of rims and winter tires. I dropped down from the 19 inch rims and tires to 17 inch rims and winter tires - cost about $1200. I have never used wires or cables and wouldn't....not sure of the damage they would cause if they break.

 

[gtowngovernor]

Unfortunately, I do not have a garage - so can't really just get 4 extra tires and just keep them somewhere (how do people do this?)... Fed, sometimes there is just a thin level of ice and they just won't let you up the mountain if you don't have something, whether it be chain, cable, or any other approved method... everyone, thank you for your input..

Also, long story short, I have 2 stock contisportcontact summer tires and 2 surecontact all season tires..


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[phobos512]

I'm pretty sure your car came with summer tires like everyone else. These tires are not good in any winter conditions. I think that most folks who are driving in snow conditions buy a set of rims and winter tires. I dropped down from the 19 inch rims and tires to 17 inch rims and winter tires - cost about $1200. I have never used wires or cables and wouldn't....not sure of the damage they would cause if they break.

(1) I know he mentioned 19s but the 18s on pre-2017 non-DCC/NAV US models were all seasons, so no, not everyone has summer tires.

(2) California has some really screwy laws when it comes to winter driving, carrying chains, using them, having or not having four or all wheel drive, etc.

(3) Californians can drive from 70 degree F weather to snow in two - four hours. It doesn't make sense necessarily to have winter tires in these conditions (I am NOT suggesting they wouldn't be useful; however they're hardly ideal). An all weather or all season tire that's known for snow performance is probably best for someone who goes to snow but that would of course damage performance 9/12 months out of the year.


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[BanditDude]

No MK7 Rs came from the factory with all seasons in the US. Base '16 cars came with Bridgestone Potenza S001 max performance summer tires. They're not safe near or below freezing, and can even crack/tear the rubber.

Ultra high performance all-season tires would be a good compromise. They wouldn't hurt performance at speeds anywhere near legal ranges and are safe for light snow. They could also accommodate snow socks when it got really ugly.

 

[MonkeyMD]

Here you go
https://youtu.be/lZruohbsDHQ

On a more practical note
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2016/01/snow-traction-when-you-need-it/index.htm

 

[ATR]

Unfortunately, I do not have a garage - so can't really just get 4 extra tires and just keep them somewhere (how do people do this?)... Fed, sometimes there is just a thin level of ice and they just won't let you up the mountain if you don't have something, whether it be chain, cable, or any other approved method... everyone, thank you for your input..

Also, long story short, I have 2 stock contisportcontact summer tires and 2 surecontact all season tires..


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Get all four corners matched.

Having a summer tire on anything touching frozen ground is bad. Snow or ice even worse.
Here's a good video that demonstrates what happens after tires are miss matched:
Https://youtu.be/LhW18xHKkbg


If you must have a single set of tires that sees both snow and also summer weather high performance all seasons geared towards 3 seasons but also built to take light snow.

My suggestion would be the Michelin AS3 plus or Continental DWS 06.

 

[The Fed]

Unfortunately, I do not have a garage - so can't really just get 4 extra tires and just keep them somewhere (how do people do this?)... Fed, sometimes there is just a thin level of ice and they just won't let you up the mountain if you don't have something, whether it be chain, cable, or any other approved method... everyone, thank you for your input..

Also, long story short, I have 2 stock contisportcontact summer tires and 2 surecontact all season tires..


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I've been in Florida too long And I forgot you live in Californicateyou.

I missed how or why you have mismatched tires.

Is there an "approved" tire that's not a dedicated snow tire there? Or don't they go that far?

I have 19's, but the tire diameter should be the same as your 18's. Which means you only have a slightly narrower tire. Did you try turning the wheels all the way to either side to check for rubbing? And hitting a pothole or other type of depression might cause the struts to compress enough to make the cables hit the fender or the inner fender liner. That would certainly cause a boo-boo. And, of course if the cables come loose...

I remember years ago there was/is an aerosol you can spray on your tires for traction. The chemical builds up a rough surface on the tire and wears off on a dry road. I think there was a even setup where you install a nozzle near the tires that runs via a hose to the car. I think it was electrically activated by a push button.

 

[TheWombat]

I can attest that the '16 base R came with the summer tires mentioned above. I purchased mine about one year ago, in January, and driving home it started snowing. It took a few days for the drop-ship from TireRack with the winter wheels/tires to arrive, so I tried not to drive at all until then! Even with a single flake of snow around, and temps at 24F or so, the tires were abysmal in those conditions.

 

[The Fed]

I can attest that the '16 base R came with the summer tires mentioned above. I purchased mine about one year ago, in January, and driving home it started snowing. It took a few days for the drop-ship from TireRack with the winter wheels/tires to arrive, so I tried not to drive at all until then! Even with a single flake of snow around, and temps at 24F or so, the tires were abysmal in those conditions.

I've found I cannot spin the wheels in the rain by flooring it. I have the Conti 5Ps'. Hopefully, the car will never see snow. But I have lived in snowy area with a GTI. It did not do very well in the snow with a tune and all seasons.

If I lived in a snowy area now and wanted a tune it would be a JB1/4 since you can quickly set it back to stock yourself with their accessory cable.

 

[ATR]

Another option is the nokian WRG3. That's what I currently have mounted on the OEM wheels. In 225 40 18.

They beat many winter tires in the consumer reports test. They also completely out performed the Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 that came with my gti in every way. Truly a all weather tire

More info about the WRG3 here:
https://youtu.be/MetiRGsGvGA
https://youtu.be/0JfEcVZvQEA

 

[gtowngovernor]

Thanks everyone for your inputs! I had damaged 2 of my original tires with about 3K miles on the car, so had to get 2 new ones (yes I am ashamed...) what's funny is that BigOTires told me that the tires I had were over $250 a pop, so I got the cheaper ones, which are actually all season... (the SureContact instead of the ContiSportContact). I'm such a noob that I didn't not even know that there are summer vs all seasons (I thought that there were only winter and non-winter lol)... now I know better. Not sure how I would go about matching all 4 corners without spending another $500..., my tires have less than 10K miles on them each, so will have to think (unless there is a way to swap these tires for other used ones, but with this rear size I don't think it would be possible..)


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[The Fed]

Your tires won't last that much longer anyway. I hope you put the all-seasons on the front, where you have the most weight over the tires.