1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I don't know anthing about all season tires other that I don't care for them. Most have wear ratings which are way to high, because most of the folks who buy this class of tire think that this is important. So the rubber starts off way to hard, and they last a long time and age harden much further. Then you end up with tread that likes to slide in the cold and wet and don't grip well in the wet when its warm weather either.
I have snows for our 97Passat TDI. It came with Eagle GA's. A nice touring tire that can have some manners in the snow. But here in Kansas heat they have hardened up and they suck and don't ride well now either, because of the hardening. I expect to find some new alloy wheels and S-03 205/50-16's on my doorstep for the Passat when I get home tonight. Yep that slow heavy diesel is getting max performance tires... for wet and dry braking. So I do practice what I preach. Note that the Passat and 95SET will have the same tires. The survivor keeps the tires! The passat has had 195/60-14's on steelies. So this will be a big change. I just upgraded it to Bilstien HD mono tube shocks and have replace the front brakes and rotors. The rear brakes and rotors will wait for the heat to end. But it will be 95F when I do the new wheels on the Passat if they arrive today, and I will be doing the camber to -.5 degree and the toe-in myself too. I hate working when its so hot! (Some will notice that the 205/50-16's are a bit large. 205/45's would be exact, but no tires in that size that I want and the Passat does not need a radical profile. This passat has a +4% speedo reading:(, and the 205/50's will make the speedo reading close to bang on with an estimated diameter increase of 3.5 to 3.7%. -But tires are not exactly the size that the numbers suggest.- The rims are 16x6.5, a perfect width for this tire.)
So I will avoid another tire rant...
I suggest that you web over to tirerack.com and select all seasons that fit, then look for test results and see what that tells you. Go to tire specs for the choices and note the wear rating. The higher the number, the harder the rubber and less traction. And read the customer survey stuff.
As a rule, don't expect much in the way of wider tread and rim protectors on these types of tires. If you go to a bigger tire to fill the wheel well, your braking and acceleration will be decreased and the speedo will read low. To fill the wheelwell, get lower springs. But lower springs can lead to oil pad damage and more risk of bent wheel rims from pot holes and other road problems. Some go to 205/55 for rim safety and the increase in size would mess things up much. But its not enough of a change to make a visual impact.
posted by 208.24.179...
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