All-season tires for an '01 Jetta

[Quattro Pete]

195/65/15, minimum H-rated.

This is for my g/f's car that's driven in Dallas area. She's not a spirited driver. All she needs is something comfy, quiet, with good wet traction and that can also handle occassional icy/snowy conditions. They don't get a lot of that wintery stuff in Dallas, but if/when they do, I don't want her spinning out of control.

I was initially going to go with Yoko Avid H4S as I used them in Florida and I thought they were pretty good. However, from the reviews on TireRack, their winter performance isn't too good. Not sure if the Bridgestone G009 is any better in that respect. Both cost the same at TR right now ($69 each).

Can you suggest anything better in this price range. I don't care if they don't have a ton of dry grip - controling the car in the dry is usually never a problem anyway. It's the wet/snowy stuff that needs special attention.

Her last set of tires were Nokian WR which obviously handle winter conditions very well, but wear out kind of fast in high Texas heat. They're pretty expensive, too.

 

[Bobert]

A few members here like the SP Sport A2 Plus. Snow traction supposed to be good as well as comfort, is reasonably priced and is H rated as well.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?...;speed_rating=H

 

[02FocusZX5]

Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S
Bridgestone Potenza G 009
Yokohama AVID H4S

 

[sxg6]

Kumho solus KH16. Excellent price, quiet, comfortable, performed very well in the snow for me, granted they were pretty much brand new with full tread. I really love the KH16's. I had the Avid H4S's for around 40k, and they were ok, good dry grip, horrible in the snow, and just ok in the wet weather.

 

[PandaBear]

By looking at the trend pattern, KH16 will be quieter than H4S or SPA2. I have both KH16 and SPA2 in the past and the KH16 is definitely quieter.

For wet traction, it is usually the ones with the biggest trend width and depth. In that, KH16 is not as good as SPA2 or H4S.

For someone that doesn't do a lot of "spirited" driving, KH16 is usually more than good enough.

If you want something even cheaper and last even longer, Falken Ziex 512 is also a good choice, but it is like a touring tire, and definitely not as good in grip as H4S or SPA2.

 

[Mr Nice]

BF Goodrich Traction TA

 

[rpn453]

Check out the BFG Traction TA.

 

[HondaF1Fanatic]

There are 3 excellent choices in this size:

1.) Kumho Ecsta ASX - Very good budget priced UHPAS, it has very good dry grip and adequate light snow and ice grip. Only downside is that it can get loud if not rotated frequently.

2.) Bridgestone Potenza RE960 A/S Pole Position - This is far and away the best UHPAS tire available in this size, but it is also almost 2x the price of the Kumho and doesn't offer 2x the performance. It is considerably better, but if it was my money I would buy the Kumho.

3.) Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S - Good HPAS tire, but its price puts it out of the running IMO. I used to buy these when they were $25/tire less, now there are better choices for the money.

I wouldn't buy a tire that isn't from this list, I change tires as much as I change my oil and I haven't found anything better than the tires I listed above in the All-Compromise category (All-Season is really a misnomer).

Jon

 

[1sttruck]

The BFG Traction worked well on an older Taurus, they just didn't last very long. Worse were some Potenzas that the dealer took back as they were wearing quickly. Kind of pricey, but the older car is now wearing a set Michelin Harmonys, a tire that is wearing well and handles the frequent wet weather around here. For winter I expect the tires to get the car home so that I can put the winter tires on, currently studded Hakkas. The Hakkas were great, as I took the kids out to practice driving in the Taurus when the area was making national news with the pinball SUV bouncing off of things as it slid down the street. The kids and I watched Jeeps and pickups slide sideways on their mud tires, and the SUVs with the fancy performance tires weren't doing any better.

Ice is hard to do well with a non-winter tire, and as I recall Texas ended up with some ice this lat year. It may not be worth getting a set of studded winter tires so just rely upon some decent all season tires and carry a set of chains for when it gets bad.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Thanks all.

It looks like she's going to get the Bridgestone RE960. I initially told her to get the G009, but her local DiscountTire doesn't carry it. The RE960 is probably more tire than she needs though. The price comes up to about $370 total, out the door, which is actually a few bucks cheaper compared to if she were to buy it through TireRack (factoring in shipping cost and mounting/balancing). Plus, DT offers lifetime balancing/rotation, if I'm not mistaken.

On top of that, Bridgestone is offering a $75 rebate on those tires right now.

 

[Dominic]

The RE960 is a very good tire. You can never have too good of a tire.

 

[rjundi]

I concur on the RE960, I have them on a Subaru WRX and absolutely love them. Amongst the all-seasons there is no compromise with these.

I don't like mail order due to lack of support if problems. So I went to tire shops. I found that Kumho ASX was priced 75% of Bridgestone in that arena.

 

[1sttruck]

The 960 seems to have a treadwear rating of 400, which seems low for an area with lot of hot weather, and for the price considering that it's not really a sporty car and not being driven like one.

 

[HondaF1Fanatic]

Treadwear ratings are not universal despite their name. These tires seem to last around 40-50k miles with regular rotation and proper inflation. I would much rather trade off a slight bit of tread life for the vast gains in traction that this tire provides. IMO it is a safety issue to have less grippy tires on your car. It is sort of like Motor Oil, would you use one that that lasted longer and was cheaper if it left lots of deposits in your engine and caused abnormally high wear? The tires on your vehicle are the only thing actually making contact with the road and as such are one of the most important things to spend money on.

Jon

 

[1sttruck]

"The tires on your vehicle are the only thing actually making contact with the road and as such are one of the most important things to spend money on."

Then he should stayed with the Nokians as they'll do better on ice and snow, they're severe snow rated as I recall, regardless of tread life.

 

[HondaF1Fanatic]

Nokians are good all-compromise tires for places that see lots of snow. The Bridgestones will vastly outperform the WR in every condition but snow and ice (IE: 99% of the OP's use). They are better in the wet, dry, and high temps. I have owned both the WR and the RE960 and unless you want to use one tire year round in the snow belt (like Grand Rapids, MI) the RE960 is a much better tire. Also, the WR wears out much faster in the heat than the Bridgestones will, I didn't even make it through a summer on the set of WRs I had.

Jon

 

[drewjp]

Yokohama AVID TRZ

I have a set and love them. One of the best buys out there, IMO. 80k mile warranty, also.

Look at the reviews and compare the prices at TR

My second choice would probably be the Bridgestone Turanza LS-T

 

[Thatwouldbegreat]

I'm done with Kumho. The Kumho ASX tires had way too much tramlining [sp?]

The Bridgestone RE960 Pole Position is a much better tire.

 

[1sttruck]

"...The Bridgestones will vastly outperform the WR in every condition but snow and ice..."

"...She's not a spirited driver. All she needs is something comfy, quiet, with good wet traction and that can also handle occassional icy/snowy conditions. They don't get a lot of that wintery stuff in Dallas, but if/when they do, I don't want her spinning out of control."

Sounds like most any decent all season will fork fine, it's a Jetta driven like a commuter car. An all season tire is really defined by it's weaknesses, not it's strengths, and in this case it doesn't seem that she'd notice the difference between the Nokians and the Bridgestones until she was on ice and snow.

I'm just picking at the issue, and think that the Bridgestones are overkill for the cost and treadlife. Juts carry chains as they seem to get nasty ice storms in the area, where you don't get extra credit for having good tires most of the time.

 

[Auto-Union]

I am PIMPING the TRZ for apps that call for it. A girl-driver-less-than-high-performance vehicle is exactly it. Anything short of an HP car with a fast driver should benefit, from your uncle's Tauras to GF's Jetta or even a light SUV.