Tires BFGoodrich or Nokia

Seconding BF Goodrich G-force T/A KDW2s water doesn't phase them.

I have BF Goodrich G-force T/A KDW2 on my GTI... They are FANTASTIC in the rain. I've gone miles and miles at sustained speeds of over 100mph in the rain with no problems whatsoever.

Ride is better than the Michelins they replaced, and traction seems to be excellent, but at 50 lbs. inflation there was a little sidewall flex on fast cornering. Noise is roughly the same as the Michelins; maybe a little quieter. Gas mileage on the trip was 20.2

safest choice... the NOKIAN WR or WR G2 all-weather plus, year rounders that qualify for severe service emblem. the g2 has low rolling resistance. you can see about a 6% savings in fuel w/ this guy.

Nokian. Don't consider anything else. I have been using the Hakka RSi's for years and they are fantastic tires. With two differend FWD cars (current A3 and old Jetta VR6), I was passing sport utes which couldn't even get up hills in 4WD. The only issue is that the RSi's are very soft and don't last long. For that reason, I will go with the WR's which can be run all season. I would recommend going down to a 16" for potholes and such. Check with Rim and Wheel Works in Waltham. They are a Nokian dealer and can find you some good Rims. I bought some Ronals, but you can't buy them anymore, but in retrospect, I shoulda just gotten some cheap steelies for $50 a pop.

I run 155/80/13 Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 and haven't been stuck yet. Those tires are the best hands down and are studdable.

Just got my Nokian Hakkapeliitta R's installed. Bring it on!

generally i buy BFG or Michelin, as when i worked in a garage, they were the best wearing, least problematic, and best performing tires for my needs.... Falkens/goodyears/bridgestones wear great tires (assuming they bought the correct tire for their application) but each had their troubles... often times it was customer maintinence, people never aligned, checked pressure, or other random issues... other times it was the tires generally wearing out too damned fast, as seen with most of the newer goodyears, and on a trip to test drive for goodyear, they even told me that they were having some issues with wear... bridgestones just never impressed me for the price, as there was a BFG G-force in the mix that was always as good...

From what I can tell (never owing a set) the Nokians are the best.

I can echo the feelings of the dry pavement handling, coming around a corner with a bit of enthusiasm you can feel the car start to slide around. I'm sure once the snow and ice come the trade-off will be justified, but fairly unnerving in the dry to say the least.