I like Kal-Tire because they offer Nokian tires. I switched about four years ago and will not use anything else in the winter or for my all seasons.
I run the 205/55 snow on them from Nokian.
Have Haka R2's on my TDI and they are hands down the best winter tires I've driven, noticeably better than Michelin X-Ice XI3's on my wife's Golf7.
I have the R2 and actually just had to use them while my Prets were in the shop.
As far as driving on dry pavement goes, the R2s are great--very quiet, good economy (I lost maybe 1mpg?). Main drawback is that they are very soft and race mode with R2s feels like comfort mode with stock all-seasons.
Wife now has Hakki 8 that she ran last year. no complaints, very aggressive studs
My suggestion is that the R2 is the best when it comes to not becoming really noisy after a few years (the Nordmans on my Jetta are pretty noisy). I have R2's on the Alltrack and had them on the Eurovan (it now has the Rotiiva AT's on it and those thing are the best Nokians I've ever had for all year use). So, skiing up in VT and driving through big snowstorms and ice, the R2 works just fine.
Nokian's are essentially the best you can buy. If it's anything related to winter driving, the Finns know how to do it.
I had Sumitomo HTR ZIII tires on my Mk5 Rabbit. They were $82 each for 225/45/17. They grip incredibly well, quiet and comfortable and were good in the wet. Couldn't recommend them enough.
I have it on pretty solid authority that Sumitomo htr z3's are essentially Michelin pilot sports as far as grip goes with 75% of the tread life magic, for roughly half the price.
Love them in deeper snow and slushy road but the trade off on dry pavement is HUGE. With the Hakka, my car is dancing all around. I hate that...
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