Given
89%
while driving a
Volkswagen Golf GTI
(205/55 R16 H) on
a combination of roads
for 17,000
average miles
After two winters and 17 000 miles all four tires are evenly worn down to 4.5mm, which means that I will need to replace them during the next winter, and I will go for WS 4D again.
Wear is one of the less-than-stellar aspects of this tire, but around 1/2 of those miles were driven on highways at 100+mph, the rest was in cities with a lot of breaking and acceleration, so I guess it is adequate.
Dry grip is fine for a winter tire, as is wet grip. When approaching its limit, the tire is extremely progressive, so reduced grip levels when compared to summer tires are fine with me.
Where these tires absolutely shine is snow, ice, and slush.
I have owned UltraGrip 7, Blizzak 25 and SnowSport 240, and these are the best of them. I have driven through half frozen snow so deep that the car ended up stuck on its axes, but the ESP never even blinked. I have driven through bends on compacted snow at speeds that I normally drive at in the wet. I had to do an emergency breaking on an icy road when the tires were already half worn and the car stayed rock solid. The tires were driven close to their speed rating for hours on long journeys, at temperatures close to -20, and never lost any of their capabilities.
I cannot recommend these enough if you want a soft, quiet tire that will have your back on snow and ice. If you are looking for more mileage out of one set and don't mind a bit of noise and harder sidewalls, I would probably go for the Blizzaks.