Returning eGolf/winter tires for Miata
 

The eGolf goes back in January. More and more, my wife and I are rejecting the idea of keeping it as a 4th car. Insurance is still ~$1k, and at $13k buy-out, it's not THAT cheap. More importantly, it's kinda silly for us to have 4 cars - especially one that is still depreciating, not entirely reliable (modern VW) and a 1st year car with a bunch of new electric technology.

As a result, the plan, which I may have articulated here before, is to equip the Miata with winter tires to handle crappy winter commute days (not days with a lot of snow, just slushy, wet, gross days). The M3 would still be used in winter, but ideally only on dry, cold days to spare it from excessive sand/salt. Of course, the LR4 would always be available as the other winter car.

I'm annoyed that I cannot find a set of used winter and/or tires for the Miata, so now I am forced to drop nearly $1k on wheels and tires.

I see no reason to not step down a wheel size to 16", but I am curious as to what you guys think for the tires. Stock tires size is 205/45 R17.

I'm inclined to go with Blizzak WS80's in 195/55 R16. They are a bit narrower with really aggressive snow traction.

Other options are Michelin X-Ice XI3 in 205/50 R16.

Outside of Tire Rack, I can also get Hakka R3's in 195/55 R16, but don't know how much they are.

Thoughts about any of the above?

Didn't we just have a relevant Rumatt thread?

Sorry I don't have a suggestion on winter tires but am curious ... how much was the egolf new and what is the year and miles ?

It's a 2015 Model year with (currently) 20,200 miles. It will probably be around 21k miles at lease return.

I think MSRP new was upper 30's. $38k or so, IIRC. Our eGolf was the high-end trim with all the bells and whistles.

My lease started at the end of January and it it $280/month all-in but that doesn't include the $2500 cash I got back from the state. It was a 3-year/30k lease. We should have gone with the 7k/year lease but didn't know where my wife would end up job-wise so we played it safe.

Buy-out is $13k.

I know which tires are good. I wanted your thoughts on if you think going with tires that optimize winter traction make sense vs something slightly more sporty.

how often do you drive the Miata for pleasure. Has that changed with the M3? If you're primarily using the M3 for driving and only going to use the Miata on crappy days when the wife is using the LR4, I'd go all in on Hakkas and maximize your ability to get around in the snow.

Also with your lift and tools, it would be a 20 min job to swap them on when the need arises and if they're annoying put the other set back on for a long weekend.

The bolded statement above is true, which is why that was my line of thinking.

So I am not crazy. Thanks.

I would return the VW and get Blizzaks for the Miata... can you just work from home or avoid driving anything other than the Land Rover in the snow when it's that bad? I realize you guys get lots more snow than here and snow can be on the road for a while.

My experience is the Hakkas are significantly better than Blizzaks in bad weather. They are very loud though. A friend just put Conti Wintercontact SI on his Q5 and I was shocked how quiet they are. The reality is the Miata is super loud anyway (compared to say a Q5) and will need all the winter traction help it can get. I don't see what the Blizzaks would bring to the table incrementally that would change the personality of a winter Miata enough to give up max traction

I'd also go for best traction. But frankly, I'd hate to drive the Miata in the snow; something sets off "Death Trap" alarm bells for me...

Miata as my winter car? Yuck.

Regarding width: any time I've ever gone narrower on snow tires I hated them. They're already squishy enough - narrow makes the ride even more wobbly. EQU's been preaching the same lately.

I have R3's on the truck and I like them. They not horrible at all in the dry. I haven't driven them in snow yet.

Should have locked the thread after Josh made that comment. :)

Wow overall you got a deal plus I think $13k is also a great deal for the buy out, I know you don't want to keep it but if you did purchase it how much could you really lose over the years ...

I couldn't agree more ... these Miata's are so small to begin with and considering people really can't drive in the snow I really think I would be very nervous driving this little car in the snow.

Sorry FC not trying to be a downer but even driving my A6 which is a much bigger car I am always worried some idiot is going to crash into me. The last storm a couple of weeks ago a guy behind me almost slide right into me.

Carvana says they'd pay $11.5 for it. $13k doesn't sound great. :dunno:

To be clear, the Miata will never be a winter car to get me through "bad weather." I just know that some of the worst conditions for a car's paint are wet roads (from melting snow) mixed with salt or sand. That is the kind of weather I'd use the Miata in. This happens fairly often. If the roads are bad, I'd take the LR4. If roads are cold but dry, I'd take the M3.

I definitely wouldn't go narrow on the tires then. That helps mostly for deeper snow.

20 years ago I remember driving my mother’s Miata in the snow on a set of Blizzaks. It wasn’t so bad, death-trap wise.

I think the miata would be fine in the snow. Either x-ice (we have on the 535i) or the blizzak ws (we have on the GTI) would do the job. The x-ice is a smoother riding tire, the blizzak may have more snow traction. The 5 struggles a bit more than the Golf, but it's not FWD and no real diff unlike the GTI that feels incredibly good on the white stuff. The 5 feels ok on the white stuff, just enough traction for fun but maybe not steep hills in deep stuff. The ride & drive of the michelins is superior to blizzaks off the white.

Do it, return the e-golf as that tech will change and it will eat away at you. The miata on winter tires will be pure fun and not as dangerous as it sounds. Actually far less people die on the roads on bad weather days than on good weather days. I'm sure there are more fender benders and accidents overall but not so many deadly ones.

I drove an e46 with dunlop snows for the cold, hard winters of 2004 and 2005. It was great. I assume a modern-day miata will do as well as an e46 from 15 years ago.

The Miata front end is pretty beat-up as it is (and the car has a few dents), so it's solidly in "I don't care" territory. Might as well let that car get the abuse from salty/sandy spray.

Oh, and I checked with one of the few local places that sell Hakka's and their price for the tires-only, installed on my own rims, is almost $900. So, no. I can get a set of Michelins on alloy wheels from Tirerack for that much. I might just do that. WS80's are another $80 more due to rebates.

Currently, because the previous owner was an AutoX junkie, I guess, the car is fitted with 225 tires (as opposed to factory-spec 205's). Going with WS80's in 195 may feel way to weird to me. The Michelins are 205 and a smidge more sporty.

[quote=equ;542415

I drove an e46 with dunlop snows for the cold, hard winters of 2004 and 2005. It was great. I assume a modern-day miata will do as well as an e46 from 15 years ago.[/QUOTE]

The E46 330i was very predictable/confident in snow with proper snow tires. We lived on a hill back then, and if I planned it well enough, I never had any problems getting around. The M3 with the LSD was even better, although less clearance.

Other than the worst storms (for which you have the LR4), 205 michelins will be fine, pilot alpin if you want to drive more sportily x-ice for a bit more winter grip.

I nearly got stuck trying to get up hills enough time in the E46 that I'm squarely in the camp that Front engine + RWD + open diff is unacceptable for a snow vehicle. Slushy salty driving, sure. But real snow. No thanks.

I know it can work OK if you get good snow tires, but even then. As the tires start to wear and the grip starts to degrade slightly, you creep closer and closer to stuck-land.

Only time I really got stuck was in our old X5, with performance snow tires. I had pulled into gravel parking area in the country down by an outbuilding. It was a slight decline in very soft, slushy snow and I needed to back up and out to the main driveway. I had to dig my way out. The snows were probably only a year or two old at that point.

FC:

Here is a C&D test that rates the x-ice higher than the ws blizzak. My x-ice set is older and xi2, so it maybe a gen behind the GTI blizzak (which I'm pretty sure is the ws80).

Thanks equ. That's good to know.

I missed the link last time. Here it is:

https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...mpared-feature

Wish I would have seen this article last week. On black Friday I purchased 4 WS-80's for the frau's Sportwagon. With the $70 rebate it wound up to be $144.00 per tire, which is right in my preferred wheelhouse when looking at a partial year usage tire.

I might have considered getting the Michi's instead. But the Blizzak's are still a solid choice. Driving in snow is more about stopping and survival, than about having fun.

The Hakka's are impressive no doubt. But dropping 8 benji's on a set of snow tires? Not happening. The wife would rather have the $200 difference in a Starbucks giftcard.

And at the risk of starting another epic winter tire vs all-season tire flame war, I'm decidedly on the side of an all-season being adequate here in Indiana middle on my R32. I've cut through 8 inches of fresh powder with the Conti DSW's before with ease. At $138 per shoe that is fun enough for my tastes. And finally (and this is a biggie), I have limited storage space already housing two other sets of spare tires without adding a 3rd set to the mix.

That being said, if I were in FC's shoes I'd probably spring for the Hakka's. But it's always too easy vicariously spending someone else's money. :)

Article notwithstanding, our personal experience is that the Blizzak has more snow & ice traction. It rides/grumbles just a bit more than the X-ice and that suits the GTI just fine. You'll love them.

FC has a Landie with snow shoes, he can skip the Hakkas, I think whichever is cheaper, blizzak or x-ice will work for him. The x-ice will be a bit smoother on a sports car.

There's a brief mention of the new Miata on Blizzaks here: http://forums.carmudgeons.com/showth...582#post542582

Thanks. Yeah, I saw that, but they are Blizzak LM's, which are the sporty ones.

I pulled the trigger on the X-ICE Michelins on Saturday. I should get them this week.

Thanks everyone!

I think you'll like the X-ice. They're going to be a big mushy, but that's life.

Which width did you get?

205/55 R16

Two-part update:

1) eGolf. Apparently an inspection with an independent entity has to be scheduled for them to check the car over (for cosmetics/wear) and they gave us the earliest date of Feb 4. I had seen the paperwork and noticed we had the car until mid-February, so no big deal. Well, I checked the paperwork the other day and noticed the warranty expires on 1/31. The risk-averse person in me wants to posses this car for 0 seconds past the warranty having expired. I don't really need the car. Trouble is, the inspection appointment is scheduled after the warranty expires. Dealer said they can take the car early but they are not responsible for what happens until that inspection. VW Credit says we can turn it in and take pictures at the time. What a PITA.

2) Miata on winter tires. It's awesome. It has been frigid the last two days, and it dealt with backing up 200 feet on the sheet of ice that is my driveway like a champ. The tires combined with the LSD make it fun but able to get through any icy patches pretty easy. As I imagined, the roads are a salty, disgusting mess, so the M3 is resting pretty until the upcoming warmth and inches of rain wash everything away.

Oh and the eGolf tires blow on extreme cold even when it is dry, so no chance of using that car until tomorrow when the the ice is gone.

Pretty happy with the Miata setup.

Somewhat off-topic, but matches the title so I'm bumping and diverting this rather dormant thread. This is an article on testing Michelin PS4S, PS A/S 3+ and stock Ecopia tires on an e-golf. Interesting results...

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...ic-cars-range/