I have Michelin Arctic Alpines on the 2002 Jetta aswell as the Rabbit. Really good tires in my opinion.
I pulled a 2.19 on the stock 195/65-15 Micheline MXV4s.... and I don't I can do better with a few more practice runs.
I've cut consistant 2.1s with Dunlop SP8000s with 17psi in them. Pretty damned good for a street tire and aired up properly, they corner unlike anything else I've every used.
Dunlop SP5000 get the job done almost as goos as or just as good as Drag Radials. Proven over and over for solid 1.9 - 2.0 60' times...
I don't know about the Dunlops, but my fiance's Protege had a set of Pilot Alpins last winter, and they worked nicely. Dry handling was also very very good. I'm sure they don't give as much grip as a lower-speed rated tire, but they were still very safe and very stable in the snow.
A friend of mine who lives outside of Chelsea, MI has a Saturn SC2 that rides on Pilot Alpins in the winter. He says those tires are pretty darned good and perfect for the kind of snow that falls around Ann Arbor
These are good tires. I have 225/50/16's on my 2000 Passat GLS Wagon. I have about 8,000 miles so far - Wear is good, Grip is very good, Feel is good, Wet Grip is very good, breakaway has not happened so I can't comment on that. They do make some noise - if you listen you will start hearing the whine about 40-45 MPH, but it does not increase linearly from there, just kinda levels off. If you have your tunes playing you'll probably never hear them. My wife did not notice until I brought it to her attention. I had Dunlop SP8000 on for the first 38K and these tires are very good also. So far I like the FM901 just a little better, they are a little more firm on ride and feel through the steering and easily better in the wet. Turn in is more crisp with the SP8000's, but with the Passat Wagon the ratio is quite fast (probably for the lame stock tires) so I actually like the FM901's better. I can be more precise. I recommend them.
I am running 225/45/17 Dunlop FM901's. You should try a run or two with your tires at about 28 - 30 psi. See how that goes first. Then try two runs at 22-25 psi, If you see your 60' improving, and your high end not hurting too much, you can try a little lower at 20 -22 psi.
I've had both now (99 with Michelins, 03 with Contis). I agree, I think the Michelins \"look\" more sporty (for lack of a better term), but for driving performance, so far I find them fairly equivalent (which is not suprising since they get extremely similar ratings at tirerack.com). Both suck in comparison to the Bridgestones I had put on my 99 tho. (IMO)
Dude. Ran the michellins, ran the Kumhos and twice have run Dunlop SP5000s .. run the dunlops. They're sub $100/tire, grip much better than the kumhos both wet and dry, take longer to wear and are just all around a better tire. Far better than the michellins, for a fraction of the price.
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