Winter tyres: 2wd vs 4wd

[Daz Auto]

When the winter tyres were fitted to the A3 my wife said the car wasn’t driving right. I checked and the tyres were all over inflated by 5 psi. Set them to 32/29 as per the door sticker and the car was fine.

I know my winter tyres are going to feel less direct than the summer tyres and I will have to adjust my driving accordingly. That’s part of the reason I wanted to try the Verdestein. They tested well in dry conditions. So I’m hoping they won’t feel too bad.

The one thing I have noticed is how much quieter the car is. With the Michelin tyres it sounded like there was a hair dryer going, under my seat.

[mcmaddy]

I'm still really tempted by the Bridgestones A005s.

[Daz Auto]

Personally, I want the best tyres for the conditions. I just think All Season tyres are a compromise, especially on a car like my GTI. Though even on our 1.6 TDI A3 I still want the safest option for my wife to drive, especially in the winter.

An All season tyre is not going to give the best handling for summer driving or the best safety for winter driving.

We have not had any snow yet, but there has been 5 or 6 frosty mornings. There are a few videos on YouTube which show that a full winter tyre performs significantly better on ice.

For reference, the Michelin PS4 tyres on the front of my car did 18k miles. Though I do wonder would they have performed even better and lasted longer at a lower PSI.

I doubt if I would buy the PS4 again because of the noise they produce.

I have the OEM Bridgestone in the garage to use as my summer tyres. It’s going to be a long time before I need any new tyres as I currently own 10 good tyres 

How many miles should I expect to get from the Bridgestone tyres?

[mcmaddy]

I got 17k from the factory Bridgestones and the rears still had 5mm left on them. The Bridgestone A005 is officially classed as a winter tyre even though it's all season, it's got the snowflake symbol on it. I won't be using PS4s again either when they are done.

[Ryan90GTI]

I've really liked the PS4. One of the best tyres I've used.

[mcmaddy]

What pressures are you running and is it mk7 or 7.5?

[Ryan90GTI]

MK7 225/50/18 - running 34psi

[Daz Auto]

I've been doing a little more research on tyre pressure.

The Kwik Fit website says the correct tyre pressure for my car is 35 psi. This is 3 psi less than VW recommend.

I double checked the door sticker. It definitely says 38 psi. It also says 41 psi for M+S tyres i.e. winter tyres.

My Michelin tyres were worn in the centre - so obviously overinflated. It appears that VW think my winter tyres should be at 41 psi

I checked the door sticker on our Audi A3 - it recommends 32/29 (front and rear) for the 16 inch summer tyres and 35/32 for winter tyres. For 18 inch summer tyres it recommends 35/32 and for winter tyres 36/33.

I'm really confused now!

[SRGTD]

Maybe VW set their recommended tyre pressures at the ‘high end’ to help reduce rolling resistance and improve fuel economy? If so, I wouldn’t have thought any potential mpg gains would be that significant.

[mcmaddy]

For the mk7 GTi it's 36psi all round. It wasn't until the FL that VW started with the weird increase in pressures. In theory it shouldn't matter what tyre you use, you should always go by the recommended pressure but in practice as we are finding that's not the case.