# Best M+S Tires for Golf-R MKVII All Season



## billdavies (Dec 17, 2020)

We picked up a used 2016 MKVII Golf-R, as we wanted a second AWD vehicle to get to our small little shack up at Tahoe. 

I thought I had done appropriate research on "all season" tires with M+S rating because my wife did not want two sets of wheels. (Separate story there with our 1998 A4.) So I just put Continental Extreme Contact 06 DWS tires on the vehicle after some internet searching. I am pretty sure the car has 19" rims and damn, it looks like a hot hatch.

My son took it up to Donner Summit yesterday and results were mixed. The car had no trouble on plowed roads or our short plowed driveway, but he said it seemed sketchy on steeper inclines or in more than 2" of snow. While I was not there, to me this sounds like about the same as a non-AWD drive vehicle. 

I was wondering if perhaps the car has too much torque to the front wheels - we got a manual 5-speed, not DSG.

The goal here was twofold - (1) Safety and predictable behavior on snow, confidence that, within reason, the vehicle would not get stuck or slide out on a descent; (2) The ability to get thru Caltrans chain control which requires M+S tires and AWD, or else they make you have chains. Obviously the car is so low to the ground we're not expecting it to go through snow drifts, but were hoping for enough traction to get up the highway even if the plows are not there yet, as well as get to our little house. (We purchased the house near a major interstate that rarely closes, and close to the county road which gets plowed regularly - so let's just say we are *not* out in the middle of nowhere.)

Time will tell, but given my son's report wondering if I bought the wrong tires? Tire shops don't have a "try before you buy" the last time I checked, and everything I found said this was the best match for this vehicle short of dedicated winter tires. Curious what others think.


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## Swamp Donkey (Dec 4, 2020)

Hi Bill,

I'm up in Canada and drive on snow/ice for five to six months of the year. The M+S rating is not the same as a dedicated winter tire (snowflake marking). In my experience, M+S typically really don't function well on icy surfaces or in the extreme cold and are mediocre in deep snow. To address the issues you've identified, I'd suggest going to a full set of winters. I understand that your wife doesn't want two sets of wheels, but this really means that you will be compromising performance in the summer and grip in the winter. That said, the police force in my city runs Nokian Weatherproof All-Weather tires year-round and the appear to be doing just fine. 

If you do go to a dedicated winter, I'd suggest grabbing 18 inch wheels and running either Blizzak WS90 or Micheline Pilot Alpin PA4. The Blizzaks are great bang for your buck and I've run them on several vehicles. The Michelines are great but really geared towards performance. If you don't want to hoon all winter, I'd say save your money and go Blizzak.


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## ftillier (Nov 30, 2002)

Surprised that caltrans allows M+S instead of chains. I've always seen it as either chains or a tire with the severe service snowflake rating. My Michelin Pilot A/S3+ are great overall, but lean more towards fair weather performance. They aren't very good on ice, passable in snow. Michelin makes a 4-season tire now, the cross-climate, but it's a touring tire and so in summer is likely to leave you disappointed. Nokian make 4-season tires too, the WR-G4. I've used the WR-G3 SUV ones and have been pleased with the snow performance - but they're on an SUV that we don't drive spiritedly. If you want to have fun with the R, and go through the snow, I'd agree that two sets of wheels is the way to go. Other than storage, if you can swap it yourself it should be a 15 minute job twice a year - really not a huge impediment.


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

billdavies said:


> We picked up a used 2016 MKVII Golf-R, as we wanted a second AWD vehicle to get to our small little shack up at Tahoe.
> 
> I thought I had done appropriate research on "all season" tires with M+S rating because my wife did not want two sets of wheels. (Separate story there with our 1998 A4.) So I just put Continental Extreme Contact 06 DWS tires on the vehicle after some internet searching. I am pretty sure the car has 19" rims and damn, it looks like a hot hatch.
> 
> ...


There is no perfect jack of all trades tire for your needs.

The legendary DWS06 isn't that great in the snow, as it's made for light snow, not deeper stuff that a skier or snowboarder would like for a powder day.

Nokian WR G4, it works fine in the snow and ice, but the trade-off for that is due to more siped design and colder weather compound, it's not going to grip the road on the warmer days like the DWS06.

Caltrans makes you carry chains, regardless of AWD and M+S tires, in case for that R3 condition, which means everyone, including AWD/4WD with M+S tires needs to have chains on. Caltrans does not recognize 3PMS tires.

But, 235/35r19 is a tricky size, since you don't have choices to choose from in the "all-weather department". Drop down to 18" wheels and options open up.


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## billdavies (Dec 17, 2020)

BsickPassat said:


> There is no perfect jack of all trades tire for your needs.
> 
> The legendary DWS06 isn't that great in the snow, as it's made for light snow, not deeper stuff that a skier or snowboarder would like for a powder day.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the input. We live in Sacramento (90 miles from our ski area), I would say, on average, that we drive in snow and ice less than 10 days per year, the rest of the time the sun is out and we cruise right up to Tahoe. I suppose I could (and perhaps should) get some chains for the car. It is so low to the ground and wheels so huge, I am just thinking chains might be a disaster. Another choice would be to just turn around if they won't let it through.


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

billdavies said:


> Thanks for the input. We live in Sacramento (90 miles from our ski area), I would say, on average, that we drive in snow and ice less than 10 days per year, the rest of the time the sun is out and we cruise right up to Tahoe. I suppose I could (and perhaps should) get some chains for the car. It is so low to the ground and wheels so huge, I am just thinking chains might be a disaster. Another choice would be to just turn around if they won't let it through.


The thing with chains are:
1) the tire and wheel aren't the best for getting chains (or cables) on without suspension (strut) interference
2) chains are likely going to rub on the alloy wheel (damaging it cosmetically)
3) Autosocks, not sure if Caltrans recognizes it as a chain or not (you'll have to check) and they are a PITA to put on
4) Externally mounted chains like Konig K-summit are quite expensive (they mount to a lug bolt)

Here's a K-summit for example:
8D1626A5-8E61-4415-8BB8-BB389B649982_zpswimatpxd by thisistan, on Flickr


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## 70+ (Oct 1, 2021)

billdavies said:


> We picked up a used 2016 MKVII Golf-R, as we wanted a second AWD vehicle to get to our small little shack up at Tahoe.
> 
> I thought I had done appropriate research on "all season" tires with M+S rating because my wife did not want two sets of wheels. (Separate story there with our 1998 A4.) So I just put Continental Extreme Contact 06 DWS tires on the vehicle after some internet searching. I am pretty sure the car has 19" rims and damn, it looks like a hot hatch.
> 
> ...


I switched to 18" because of the much wider choice of all season tires. I am in MD and we occasionally get a decent snow and my R works great on Pirelli P Zero Plus all seasons as long as the snow is not deep enough to bottom out the car. Now I haven't driven it in the mountains - just on flat land.


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## Grumpy Hiker (Feb 4, 2011)

70+ said:


> I switched to 18" because of the much wider choice of all season tires. I am in MD and we occasionally get a decent snow and my R works great on Pirelli P Zero Plus all seasons as long as the snow is not deep enough to bottom out the car. Now I haven't driven it in the mountains - just on flat land.


I am on my third different set of 19" M+S tires on my 2017 Golf R - and I am also a Tahoe area skier - first I had the Continental ExtremeContact DWS - they were good. Then I tried the Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus Revised Compound X -- they were better -- actually one time I went over Mt Rose in a white-out blizzard, on top of at least 2" of ice, and the Pirellis gave me great traction and handling. This year I switched to the VREDESTEIN QUATRAC PRO. They are significantly better in terms of snow traction, and quieter. So I feel I found the right ones for me.


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## Senior Member (Jul 2, 2016)




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## cycler (Jan 6, 2022)

I put the Michelin Crossclimates on my 2018 Jaguar first week of Feb 2021. I got them on sale from this one website (I forgot the name) and paid around $170 or $175 each delivered plus tax. They were 225/45/18s. Pretty decent tires compared to the Michelin pilot sport all season tires I had on 2 BMW's. Handled nice in the rain. I wasnt pulled to the left or right when I drove through large puddles on the highway. They handled pretty well in the snow. I wasnt disappointed with them. As for summer, I was surprised that handled much better than I thought they would. When I bought them, I didnt realize the reason they were so discounted was because they were close outs. The new Crossclimate Plus or Crossclimate + tires came out in 2017. Michelin must of had a certain life cycle for the originals. And continued making the Crossclimates while making the Crossclimate Plus tires until their life cycle end date. By the end the inventory was high and they were sold as close outs when I bought them. I actually liked them more than some of the reviews that were out there. 

Then the Crossclimate 2's came out Sept 2021. I just put them on a new set of 18x8.5 forged wheels I bought for my 2022 VW Golf GTI Autobahn. Living in Long Island and working in Brooklyn. The roads are horrible. So I replaced the 19x8 wheels and summer tires that came on my car. We had a snow store two weeks ago and I was getting stuck because of the summer tires. So far since the snow storm we had rain storms, ice storms as well as a lot of snow that remained. All the snow that remained was where cars parked. The plows pushed the snow that way. A lot of cars were stuck and had to be dug out. But a bunch of snow remained. I was able to drive through in and out of parking spots with lots of snow like a tractor. Twice I had to move back and forth in order to get out. But I did that even when I had my awd Jaguar and other cars sometimes. They are snow rated and are supposed to be a leap above the Crossclimate plus and an even bigger leap over the original Crossclimates. Here is a video where all season tires were tested in 2021. The Michelin took 1st place. Although these reviews are subjective. Watch this video if you want to see how other tires handled in different conditions as well as the Crossclimate 2's


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