Tires Falken or Nokia

great tire i love it.. cheap and great grip.. just the tread life isnt so happy

Yes, the sidewall is very stiff. The Azenis is a close as you can get to a "R" compound tire. I use them for track days and am very impressed with their performance.

If you're looking for ultimate grip from a street tire then the Azenis's grip vs the Ziex will far outweigh the additional weight. If you are looking for a decent grip tire and want to get some mileage out of them then don't go with the Azenis.

FWIW, I had 225/45R17 Nokian Hakkas on my 2001 TT Roadster, and I had absolutely no problems on hard-packed snow or loose, slushy wet snow. I distinctly remember leaving a big, jacked-up Jeep with all-terrain tires in my wake at a stop light in about 8 inches of unplowed snow!

I tried both Golf GTI with 195/65-15 and the R32 with 225/40-18 last winter, and the R32 was much better to drive even if the tyres are wider. I have 225/45-17 today (winter tyres, without spikes of course!) and they are awesome. Quite, nice handling

I had some Hakka's on my 85 Vanagon, all four wheels, they were very good. Felt better in most cases on snow than the summer Dunlops did on dry pavement.

I run a 205/50/15 Falken Azenis, and its pretty sweet

When I bought my 85 Vanagon used, it needed new tires, I went with some Dunlops that I wasn't very impressed with. Plus they were summer only. In 2000 I bought some Nokian snow tires that I was very impressed with. If I held on to the van I would have probably tried one of their summer or all season tires.

We have been running the Hakka 1's now for a few days and all I have to say about them is they are the best studded winter tire we have used to date. They drive awesome in dry weather and I notice they stick to the road in turns even with studs.

They turn to hockey pucks on cold enough pavement, snow/ice aside. Winter travel on 615's is a death wish.