DWS06 are probably the best all-seasons that work in snow. 2.5-3" is about the max though for a fwd car.. AWD you can go 5"+ and still be able to move around no problem. which is why i dont run dedicated snow tires on my STI and R.. plus i dont drive them on snow days cause i dont want to get hit. lol

i do like the DWS06's compound for the colder day driving, decent grip on my 3 cars. summers turn into plastic sub 50F. once i get the impreza hatch for the wife, im going to swap tires to DWS06 and run them year round. unless one lives in the mountains no need for snow tires (or chains for that matter) on awd cars from my experience.

i drove a jeep with all seasons in 9-14" of snow fall yesterday. not ideal but was able to get myself home after a 300 mile trek

 

I have Jeep friends so I hear about Jeep stuff...

Rental Grand Cherokees have the Quadra-Trac I system which is their lowest offering in the GC. The Cherokee's and Compass systems are even lower.

AFAIK, only Jeep and Ram (with the PowerWagen) currently offer a front locking differential in their 4x4's which is an impressive standard. Those flat out work!

However, it's sad to me that Jeep has sullied their reputation by putting those trail rated badges on stuff with systems that are closer to what you and I have on our cars. Real Jeeps are REAL impressive. Others just use the good name, and cheap badges, to sell junk.

 

Come to think of it, I drove my new 1980 Honda Accord daily for four years in NJ on all season tires without ever getting stuck. Ice was altogether different, though not bad. I once slid on ice at very slow speed and nosed into a snow bank in my apartment complex. There was no damage and my brother helped push me out.

A good thing about being retired is that I can simply stay home in bad weather.

 

Being a retired guy that is what I do. If it's too crappy out I stay home until the roads are cleared. Once you drive on real winter tires you'll have to own them from then on. LOL

The Conti's are a nice tire & better than many all seasons for winter use. But they are far from ideal. Just my .02. This just like a what oil & how often do you change it thread. No one will agree.

 

right. its not like you HAVE to have snow tires, its definitely good to have if you must leave the house. and as you said, if you have the option to just stay in on a bad day, id not bother with snow tires. the Fit does very well with snow tires, extremely poor with all seasons in snow, so this is why i have them on the GK..

i live in a snow belt state and i too just call in on really bad days. i can still work from home with my phone and ipad if required. thus i dont bother with snow tires on my GTI either.

 

yah, i wouldnt know. im not a rock crawler/off roader type but i do like driving my RC trucks and crawlers in the backyard rocks and mud with locked diffs.

 

I received a junk e-mail today from Subaru (we owned a Forester long ago) and it headlines the new 2018 Subaru BRZ tS® as "the best-handling BRZ ever".

It goes on to say that "Subaru Tecnica International engineers have improved on the already legendary handling of the BRZ. The limited edition 2018 Subaru BRZ tS features extensive performance upgrades and precision tuning based on decades of STI motorsport experience. It all adds up to the best‑handling BRZ yet" at $33,495.00.

I had no idea that the BRZ's were priced that high. Out of curiosity, are these rear wheel drive?

 

They are rear wheel drive and way, way underpowered.

Great for a first time driver to practice their skills or good if you want to use the chassis and do a major power upgrade.

They also released a ridiculously priced special model of the STI. You'd have to be a serious fan boy to have any interest.

 

You know what they say about fool's & their money. Those supposedly special editions are just there to separate them from their money.

 

yah, my kid wants a brz but i really do not want one on my driveway.. and definitely NOT getting him a tS version.

as for the STI RA.. if i didnt have an STI already and i was in the market for one, id get one. i rather not have to explain or make excuses why i didnt opt for it if i got a regular STI.

same with the Golf-R. if they came out with a Golf-RS or something, id get that instead of the regular R if i didnt have one already.

its fun to own special trims since these are toys anyways. if it was going to be just a dd, different story.. id get one that makes more sense and save the money for fun things.

 

The only thing special about these special editions is the bragging rights one gets from buying one. People buy them so that must be worth it. VW does not bring their special editions over here. If they did they'd sell a boat load of GTI Club Sports & that would make me think hard about buying one. ;-)

You can fix that BRZ wing with a sawz-all.

 

lol.. yah

they are actually tuned better too though. bragging rights i would get something much more expensive and bimmer ish. some car even non car guys would be like wow.. RA and ClubSport is more like showing commitment to a car. i think it would be fun to have.

 

ash- i seriously recommend you get the R next time. or just keep your current GTI if planning to get another GTI.

 

I'd love an R Ken. A great car that I'd love to own, but for me & my bank account I feel the bang for the buck quotient is too low. I'll be keeping my old GTI for a few more years, it's paid off & does everything I need. New cars are great, but no payments are much better for this retired guy.

 

ash- that makes sense. your GTI is definitely worth more than an R with car payments.
i hate car payments i hate loans i hate owing people too.

 

I'd like a GTI, but like ash, I'll soldier on with my '06 Frontier for a few more years at least. My wife can't believe that I'm likely to get the DSG, as we've both driven manuals exclusively for over 30 years. I think my retired bones are ready. Plus, the DSG is not a typical automatic.

When the weather warms, I need to replace the brake fluid and the coolant on the Fronty.

 

alco- for my day to day driving the DSG has been fantastic. im a MT guy so on the weekend drives i much prefer MT but if you dont go out driving just for the sake of driving as i do, you probably WONT miss MT. thing is that good. torque converter AT's suck in comparison.

 

Alco you need to drive a DSG equipped GTI to see if you like it. It's not the same as a row your own, but for me it is a perfect transmission. Toddle along in D or shift it yourself. Plus S mode is there & really makes the car come alive.

My first taste of a DSG was a number of years ago driving a friends Mitsubishi Evo Ralli-Art. I was really impressed with it back then. I wish VW would use larger paddles like Mitsu did.

 

during my commute, i use S mode when i need to turn from a stop and go up a hill/grade. i have reassurance in S mode that the car is in 1st gear even if i roll forward a bit.

very useful to prevent early shift up while accelerating up the hill, then i tap the stick back to D. basically i just let the car shift on its own 95% of the time or more. only when i need to pass someone quickly do i touch the paddles these days. its a great gearbox, very smart programming especially downshifts are right on while in traffic.

i too agree the factory paddles are a bit small.. i mounted aluminum extensions on mine and its a great improvement.

 

For the longest time, I didn't even know the GTI had paddles because they were hard to see from the outside through the side windows.

I see that my local Dealer now has three 2018s GTIs on hand, 1 S, 1 SE and 1 Autobahn. Might have to drop by just to look 'em over.