Who runs in the winter?

Recently purchased a 2019 R DSG and I'm wondering if I should buy a set of winter tires and rims or store it over the winter.

Thoughts?

Yes, buy a separate set of wheels and winter tires, especially due to the lake-effect snow.

Store it if you have a beater. I store a Cooper vert, my 4.0 A8 2014 with 26k miles.,I put four studded Nokians on my Alltrack and 2018 stone stock GTI. Where I live studded is THE choice!.......unless you want to walk and crash, or crash and walk!

Of course! It's a great Winter car. Get a separate set of wheels and tires. I am running Pretoria replicas. I now have the Haldex tune from UM and I can't wait to see how it will perform in real slippery conditions; it apparently works really well.

I store mine and often have a tender attached to it.

With the VAQ Diff, chassis bracing and the e-brake, much fun can be had. It would be even more fun in an R I'd imagine.

I live in Niagara on the US side so i have a pretty good grasp on what weather you deal with lol. That being said, a set of Blizzak WS80s on 17 inch wheels will be perfect for your needs.

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Dang, I specifically switched from a GTI to the R for winter driving! Drive that thing and enjoy every minute of it! Don’t store it like a collectable for the winter ... if I didn’t live in an area with real winter then I would still have the GTI.

Definitely get a separate winter tire/wheel combo to make the switch easy.

Winter drive it and love it! Thing is a beast with winter tires. Never understood the reasoning behind parking it.

QAMB said:

Winter drive it and love it! Thing is a beast with winter tires. Never understood the reasoning behind parking it.

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It’s obviously different for each person.

I traded my 2015 ED Stage 2 GTI (which was our wedding car) so my wife and I could get a 2016 R soon after our wedding as a present to ourselves. It gets stored in the winter as it has summers and was never intended to be daily driven.

We love that car so much, we intentionally give ourselves separation from it so it feels special every time we go for a drive knowing what the car means to us.

CarlosCanizares said:

It’s obviously different for each person.

I traded my 2015 ED Stage 2 GTI (which was our wedding car) so my wife and I could get a 2016 R soon after our wedding as a present to ourselves. It gets stored in the winter as it has summers and was never intended to be daily driven.

We love that car so much, we intentionally give ourselves separation from it so it feels special every time we go for a drive knowing what the car means to us.

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I totally get it and have been there. For me I drive alot of highway - dual lane 120 km/hr stuff living in the interior. I wash my car every week and every week I have at least 1 rock chip that needs touch up paint. Last week I had something hit my hood and leave 2 small dents. Also, I've had to replace 3 windshields in the past 4 years. This is all from just driving in the summer! I've realized storing for the winter is only gonna protect from rust which might be a problem after maybe 12 years of driving - maybe.



So after ~27 years of driving and having a 69 Chevelle show car for 20 yrs and numerous sport cars I've finally accepted what the roads hold. I've worked hard for my 16 R and love it but I want to enjoy it year round - even if those rock chips make me cry a little inside everytime!


My only advice from my experience is make sure you're doing winter storage for you and not for resale as it won't make a difference down the road.

The car storing is definitely not for resale. We bought the extended warranty because we want to keep it for at least 5 years, maybe more.

My wife is 6 years younger than me and 2025 is our designated “mid-life crisis” year. The R will either get traded for another fun car or get blessed by the hand of HPA