Tires BFGoodrich or Nokia
I have Nokian WRG3 18's on my S3. They are traction rated so I can use them up in the mountains without chains but are also rated for \"year round\" use (with a mileage rating!) so they don't wear as quickly in typical Portland, OR winter weather (wet and just above freezing). So I use those Nov-April and my 19's the rest of the year. I'm pretty happy with the overall feel and noise level of the tires.
If you can afford it I suggest BFG. Michelin bought them, kept their price structure, but imposed Michelin quality controls on production.
I bought bf winter slaloms for my girlfriend and I this year. Live in Canada. Really bad winter. They were amazing and was not disappointed. From what I read online these were best bang for the buck.
Nokian Hakkapeliita R.
Fantastic in pretty much every way. Doesn't wear down too easy, handles snow and ice very well. I'm sure AWD helps. Might be a tad noisy on dry pavement but what snow tire isn't. Also they aren't cheap.
I have only been autocrossing for about a year, and picked up Neuspeed RS05s with 245/40/17 BFG rivals as my dedicated autocross/track setup. I have run 3 auto crosses with this setup and so far have had no rubbing issues.
Nokians on her FWD CC now. It's a beast in the snow.
BFG Sport comp 2's. $112 each, great in the dry, great in the rain. TireRack loves them as do pretty much every review I read on them before I bought a set of my own.
We've had ice and slush for the last few weeks, no problem for my TDI + 16" Nokians.
Can't go wrong with Nokians. On my '01 MK4 GTI, I used a set of Hakka 1s for 5 or 6 years; great tires. The Michelin Xice Xi2 are great too.
I have the R2 on my Golf R and I have to say I regret them. I wish I got the WRG3 that are on my wife's car. The R2 is better on unplowed roads, but sucks on a groomed road.
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