[Kevin13]

Oh, and I should add that I have not babied these tires whatsoever. They've gone to the top of White Mountain in Owen's Valley over shale strewn dirt roads to 12,000'; regular S. California freeway driving in summer heat over 100 to near freezing winter downpours. Up highway 395 in winter and into our local mountains in the mud and snow. Not obsessive about the rotations and alignment either.

 

[noobytoogy]

I run the Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme from November to March/April.

In the UK we only have a few inches of snow for fairly short periods but I am very happy with my 235/65/17s.

I know a number of folk who run them year round too and they like them too.

 

[NC2005V8]

I tell you, opinions on how tires perform should be pretty much as objective and reliable as possible, based on hard data of how long they last, how quiet they are, and how evenly they wear, how they do in the wet, etc, but they are ANYTHING but, especially on our heavy SUVs.

I can sum up this entire post with the following: The best tires are the ones you have specific experience with as it applies to you and your habits, and it is irrelevant to anyone else. End of story.

The same tires that get great reviews and crap reviews on the same vehicle do not account for the following: how much PSI do you run? How often do you check it and how anal are you about keeping it even? How often do you rotate? Do you balance as well? What shape is your suspension in? How do you drive? What driving conditions does it experience on a daily basis? On, and on and on.

I have read tire review that were GREAT for a 3500lb Kia or Hyundai that were TERRIBLE for a 5500lb Touareg/GL/etc. 18, 19, 21, these are oddball sizes OR passenger car/CUV sizes. 20s, 22s, these are more likely to be found on TRUCKS like a Ram, 2500, etc, and thus a TRUCK size wheel offers more tire options that befit a TRUCK, aka a vehicle that weighs 3 tons and gets thrashed.

I've got 19s and it needs tires from the dealer, not thrilled but it is what it is. The same size wheel that caused nightmares and headaches on my GL450. Pirelli Scorpions for me were the worst tires ever in 25 years of driving. Toyo Versado CUVs wore evenly and were quiet, but they wore down quickly overall (hey, it was a 5500lb GL450, what do you expect?) The Touareg has Conti DWS with that god-awful aggressive, weird tread that I don't like, but Conti 4x4 contact AND sports were both out of stock at my Discount Tire, so I'm probably going with a set of these.

I got serious assurances after repeated questioning that claim they are quiet, they wear well when rotated and balanced, and customers are not coming back to complain. Fine. If they suck, I'll demand they swap them for no more cost. Here is the one thing I know about these HEAVY SUVs running non-truck size tires: You better rotate and balance the bejeezus out of them - I'm talking every 3k MINIMUM - and you better check your PSI every week - and keep them all even and aired up. After all that, you should be pleased when you get 15-20k of EVEN WEAR and no odd noises or vibrations. That's realistically all you can hope for running a non-truck sized tire on a truck-heavy vehicle.