Golf R winter tyres

[Shambler]

Wondering if anyone with a Golf R has fitted winter tyres? Out today in snow and the car was awful, back end constantly snapping out. Would be fun on an empty road but not with traffic about. Any recommendations ?

[EC2]

That's how Haldex works I am afraid. You get little grip at the front so it sends a load of torque to the rear to compensate which makes the car step out if it's on snow or ice. Torsen quattro on the likes of the S4/S6/RS4/RS6 does not do this FWIW.

I have an S3 so similar cars and have had a set of Continental winter tyres, something like TS830, for the last few winters. They last forever and give great grip in low temps irrespective of the road surface. They don't fully stop the car stepping out if you boot it but they help and braking is so much better.

[Shambler]

EC2 said:

That's how Haldex works I am afraid. You get little grip at the front so it sends a load of torque to the rear to compensate which makes the car step out if it's on snow or ice. Torsen quattro on the likes of the S4/S6/RS4/RS6 does not do this FWIW.

I have an S3 so similar cars and have had a set of Continental winter tyres, something like TS830, for the last few winters. They last forever and give great grip in low temps irrespective of the road surface. They don't fully stop the car stepping out if you boot it but they help and braking is so much better.

Thanks for that, Ive just ordered four Nokian DR4's from OPENEO

[RammyMP]

Shambler said:

Thanks for that, Ive just ordered four Nokian DR4's from OPENEO

I've had a set of Nokians on for the last month, quite pleased with them. I'm hoping for snow now to drive about with a smug look on my face!

[graeme4130]

I've had a few RS4's now, and the first thing I've always done is fit winter tyres when the weather gets cold
As good as Quattro is when you're pulling away or going up hill, RS4's, like Golf R's are just a heavy car with a big skid shaped footprint on wide tyres, that just don't cut through the snow and suck as soon as you have to go around a corner or put the brakes on
Best thing you'll ever fit when the temps get below about 6-7deg

[cslwannabe]

I wouldn't say 225 section tyres are that wide - our 640d was much heavier and absolutely fine running winter tyres (245 section) despite being rwd and 630Nm torque. I wouldn't have liked to attempt driving it in the snow on the OEM dunlop Sport Maxx runflats though.

I've fitted Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 to my R.

[Shambler]

cslwannabe said:

I wouldn't say 225 section tyres are that wide - our 640d was much heavier and absolutely fine running winter tyres (245 section) despite being rwd and 630Nm torque. I wouldn't have liked to attempt driving it in the snow on the OEM dunlop Sport Maxx runflats though.

I've fitted Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 to my R.

How do you find the change to winter tyres?

[SuperchargedVR6]

graeme4130 said:

I've had a few RS4's now, and the first thing I've always done is fit winter tyres when the weather gets cold
As good as Quattro is when you're pulling away or going up hill, RS4's, like Golf R's are just a heavy car with a big skid shaped footprint on wide tyres, that just don't cut through the snow and suck as soon as you have to go around a corner or put the brakes on
Best thing you'll ever fit when the temps get below about 6-7deg

The idea of winter tyres is not to cut through the snow, but rather grip it with the softer compound and sipes. They're OK on the whole but mainly only noticed in the braking. Skidding and wheel spin doesn't really reduce as much as I thought it would, so I don't bother with them anymore. And once the temps head north of 8 deg, they feel very soggy round corners in the dry.

[cslwannabe]

Shambler said:

How do you find the change to winter tyres?

I've been running winter tyres since 2005 and used them on 6 cars prior to the golf but really didn't like the feel of them at all for the first few weeks on the R. I had an earlier version of the Pilot Alpin on my E46 330Ci as my introduction to winter tyres and they were fine as were Vredestein Wintracs on a jaguar XF and BMW 640d plus continentals on a couple of skodas. Admittedly it was quite warm when I fitted them on the R back in November but it was under braking that concerned me most. Mind you almost 2k miles later and temperatures more as expected they now seem fine.

[theboss]

I put Dunlop winter sport 5's on mine (on standard 18" rims) and they are superb - even in the wet very mild temperatures we had last month they were noticably better than the OEM Bridgestones

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Sorry about the thread resurrection.

VW appear to suggest that 225/40 R18 are the preferred wheel size for the Golf R for Winter tyres, so the nice set of steelies in 205/55 R16 that I own from my old Golf GT are not going to be suitable.

What wheels are people using? I'm on 19" Pretorias for Summer tyres. Aftermarket knock-off 18" Pretoria-like wheels are available on eBay so may be an option. As is a set of OEM 18" Cadiz, although I'm not really a fan of the Cadiz looks-wise.

[NAS]

Volkswagen themselves also sell 18in. Pretoria's

https://shops.volkswagen.com/de_DE/web/zubehoer/p/...
https://shops.volkswagen.com/de_DE/web/zubehoer/p/...

[anonymous-user]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Sorry about the thread resurrection.

VW appear to suggest that 225/40 R18 are the preferred wheel size for the Golf R for Winter tyres, so the nice set of steelies in 205/55 R16 that I own from my old Golf GT are not going to be suitable.

What wheels are people using? I'm on 19" Pretorias for Summer tyres. Aftermarket knock-off 18" Pretoria-like wheels are available on eBay so may be an option. As is a set of OEM 18" Cadiz, although I'm not really a fan of the Cadiz looks-wise.

Yep, 16" isn't big enough to clear the brakes. There are certain 17" wheels that have a suitable offset, so that might be an option. I personally wouldn't entertain aftermarket Cadiz for winter weather, or any other diamond cut wheel for that matter. May be a set of 18" powder coated Team Dynamics 1.2?

[Clockwork Cupcake]

andrewparker said:

I personally wouldn't entertain aftermarket Cadiz for winter weather, or any other diamond cut wheel for that matter.

Good point. I had forgotten that the Cadiz are diamond cut.

[jwilliamsm3]

I have a spare set of michelin pilot alpin 4's in my garage that my old girl had on her mini clubman last year, i was going to sell them until i realised if i had a set of 18's for the golf they are the same tyre size.

i have the pretorias currently, and managed to lay my hands on a set of genuine cadiz wheels, but they are just flat silver not the diamond cut finish, i think they have been refurbished in the past but that makes them ideal for winter tyres!

will be getting the tyres fitted tomorrow,can't wait to get them on