Tires DUNLOP or Nokia

I wouldn't settle for anything less than studded Nokians if you can afford it. They'll be hard to get this late in the year, but you likely already know that. I live in western NY though, so YMMV.

Dude the stock dunlop's can't even handle muddy roads. I live down a really long one and turning out of my driveway onto the road always made the front tires spin and the diff lock up weird.

Changed over to as3+'s and it's never been better.

Stock dunlops...terrible in snow.

Winter tires...beast mode!

It's a night and day difference.

+1 for hakka's ... they also have a all-weather tire, think snowtires you can drive year round ... I've had blizzaks, xice's, dunlops, sotto's, alpin's etc and sofar the Hakka's have been as good if not the best.

I bought Nokian Hakkapelitta R3s for my MKVI Golf R before last season. These replaced Nokian WRG3s. The R3s were a noticeable step up in grip in snowy conditions last winter on the Matterhorn 225/45/R17

The Dunlop Direzza ZIII is worth looking into. A close friend has half a season of autocross and 4 time trial events (So about 17 twenty to 30 minute long sessions) on his ZIII in a 2013 NC and they still have life left. For autocross they're basically a less grippy Re-71R, but they come into their own on track.

Dunlop direzza zIII's good wear 9/10 traction never get greasy, great stiff feel and break away.

I’ve put these tires on now two different midsize cars, and have been thrilled.

Running Nokian Hakka R2 on the CX-5 and Vredestein Wintrac on the Focus same as last year. Usually don't swap until Thanksgiving though. On a related note, I think these are the last dedicated winter tires I'm going to buy. I've been running two sets for 10 years now and even in the snowier years, I don't feel like it's been worth it in this part of Ohio. The new All Weather tires seem like they've done a good job with snow/ice, yet still keeping dry/wet traction to decent levels. I've got my eye on the Michelin CrossClimates going forward.

The problem I’m trying to solve is that after about 1500 miles they’ve become very noisy. I mounted them in November last year and they were quiet at first. A while ago they began to get noisy at 35 mph but now they’re "singing" at all speeds. They’re directional tires and are mounted correctly. There’s only very slight scalloping on the right rear tire. One theory is that the rubber is wearing faster than the studs and as they project further they make noise. A Nokian dealer suggested the warming of the roads as spring approaches is somehow to blame. My wife’s Audi B5S4 has Hakka 8s and they’re older and quieter. The Hakka 9s are supposed to have an "improved " stud.