Tires Pirelli or Maxxis

I\u2019ve had no complaints with the stock 18\u2019 Pirelli P-zeros that came on the SE, especially how well they handle snow.

I switched from the momentums to the grifters and am glad I did.

PIRELLI CINTURATO P7 ALL SEASON PLUS II.

I do a decent amount of gravel or clay road driving with some but less sand too. Decided to go Pirelli Scorpion A/T plus and there's been no issues at stock hieght.

I am on my third different set of 19" M+S tires on my 2017 Golf R - and I am also a Tahoe area skier - first I had the Continental ExtremeContact DWS - they were good. Then I tried the Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus Revised Compound X -- they were better -- actually one time I went over Mt Rose in a white-out blizzard, on top of at least 2" of ice, and the Pirellis gave me great traction and handling.

I have Pirelli Scorpion A/T Plus for about a year, and 20k km (the passenger version not LT). I am pleased with them, because they have good handling. The grip on unsealed road seems satisfactory.

I bought a Trek Fuel EX this year, which comes with XR4 tires. I switched to Maxxis DHR/DHF after a month, and the improvement in grip is very noticeable. On technical climbs, its pretty easy for me to lose traction with the XR4 when I'm putting a lot of power down on a steep section. With the Maxxis tires on those same climbs, I never spin out. On the other hand, the rolling resistance is higher.

I used VCDS to recalibrate the speedo after swapping tires from Dunlop SP Sport 225/40R18 to Pirelli Pzero 235/40R18 rubber. Best I could achieve was with Distance Impulse Number 7 (stock was 6). Couldn't select a higher number, VCDS reported 8 as out of range and that was the highest option available. The difference over an extended period of testing was only about 0.5 MPH closer to what two GPS units were reporting. Meh.

The Ardent sucks by most accounts. Read this article from [NSMB.com](https://nsmb.com/articles/ask-uncle-dave-talking-tires-maxxis/) where the Maxxis rep basically says the only reason Ardent's are even made anymore is because people recognize the name. Rekon 2.4 is my vote (not a particularly wide 2.4, more like a 2.35). Some have mentioned the Ardent Race, but the Rekon has way better cornering traction than an ardent race, and bigger center knobs than an ardent race for braking traction.

If you've got the OE supplied tires on ANY trailer, I'd make a VERY strong recommendation to swap them out for a reputable brand as soon as possible.