Hey y'all-- I'm plotting out my next set of winter tires. I have Sottozero 3 now, and they're discontinued. I just killed one in a pothole and had to get a replacement on Letgo. I love the tires when it's not snowing, but not in the snow. Also, the fronts are down to 6/32 after only ~3700 miles.
My previous car was an E46 BMW (2wd) which was great on Dunlop Wintermax (studless snow). The GTI is the first FWD car I've driven in the snow in many years, and the Sottozeros are the first winter performance tires I've had, so I don't know for sure which is the biggest factor in my disappointment.
So who has run a GTI on both winter performance tires and studless snows? Which worked better for you?
My Sottzeros are on 17" wheels but I plan to use my stock wheels for the next set, btw, and get some Neuspeeds for the nice weather.
Thanks
kevin
"Performance" winter tires are technically "Studless" winter tires.
From the Studless you have 2 primary markets: Nordic and Central European.
Nordic are tires where they see more snow duty, without studs, such as the Dunlop WinterMaxx
Central European see less snow, and temperatures hover around freezing, more or less, so they deal with more cold rain than actual snow. They also focus on dry cornering grip, so compounds are different, as well as less siping for more stable tread blocks (less squirm). Think Dunlop SP WinterSport M3/3D/4D.
Choosing tires is a trade off, and winter tires are no different, you choose what you want to trade off and don't get disappointed in the areas where you made your tradeoffs.
I've ran:
Performance (Central European): Hankook Icebear W300 & Nexen Winguard Sport
Nordic: (firestone) Winterforce, Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSI, General Altimax Arctic, Nitto SN-2
All-weather: Nokian WR G3 (Assymetric)
...and no real classification, except they are remolded tires: Green Diamond MDT & Icelander (they have big chunks of silicon carbide distributed throughout the tread to provide grip in the snow & ice.