Change the stock tires. Trust me. Noise difference is night and day. I have no idea what Subaru was thinking with those particular Yokos. I mean, just read the reviews:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=AVID+S34D
I changed mine to some new high quality Pirelli's not even 1k miles after I got the car and holy cow what a difference in traction/stopping-power and noise. Had to do so out of my own pocket since the dealer didn't get convinced by my explanation of the poor tire choice Subaru made. Anyhow it was worth it, I feel a lot safer on the road now and every bump is smoothed out very pleasantly.
Had the OEM Bridgestones until ~28k miles. They were ok, squirrly in wet especially as they aged, not great in snow. Replaced with Continental PureContact w/EcoPlus. Had them until about 70k miles. Great tires, handled everything better than OEM and one of the best wet tires I have ever owned. Good in snow and a solid dry handler as well. Still had 5/32 but decided to get rid of them now and get use out of a new set through the winter and for the next 2 years of ownership until I plan on parting ways with the car. Now have had the Pirelli Cinturato P7 for a few months and 4k miles. I would rate them more or less equal with the PureContacts when they were new but I would give a slight edge to the PureContacts all around, they seemed slightly more sporty while not giving up much up in ride quality. They are both quiet and good performance grand touring tires that fit the character of the stock Passat very well. Very similar tires with the P7 having what seems to me to be a slightly softer sidewall compared to the 2 previous tires where those did not show any squatting in the sidewall around 32-34 psi. If I was to do it again I would buy the Continental PureContacts. I just liked them a little more than the Pirellis but you really can't go wrong with either. I am certainly not upset I tried the P7s and still think it is a nice tire.
Have a set of Antera 343 18" wheels for sale. They have Pirelli P Zero Nero tires on them I'm selling these personally Tires quite new, under 5k miles on the wheels and tires.
It is pretty good with snow tires. Sometimes I disable ASR AND ESC so the car under steers less. But it is a huge improvement over my MK VI with snows.
being an Audi Technician I would say Conti Pro or Cross Contacts, or Pirelli P7 due to their even wear and descent grip on crappy weather.
They've offered just as much snow/ice traction as the Blizzaks that I had previously used but it's the wet and dry weather traction where the Pirellis really shine and that's really important to me since the roads are mainly dry in the winter unless you venture up to the mountains.
I believe those were what I had on a Mustang GT. I know they were Pirelli P Zeros but can't remember any more specifics. They were great tires. Had 30k miles on them when I traded in the car and they still had quite a bit of life left.
I thought the Pirellis were smoother and quieter than the Dunlops (all new cars here), but now that I am reading about how bad they become, maybe I am better off with the Dunlops
I had Pirelli Winter Carving Edge tires on my MK6 for four winters - they sucked!
I had Pirelli winter tires on my '11 Tiguan. They sucked right from the get go. No traction.
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