[bean_dog_68]

Just took possession of our 23 AWD Pro S and loving it so far. We live in the Northeast US and I’d like to put winter tires on it since my wife has to commute ~ 45 miles each way to work rain, snow, or shine (she works at a hospital.. no snow days).

This is my first time putting winter tires on a nice, new car (exclusively having driven lovable old beaters so far in my life). I usually just buy winter tires that fit my existing rims and have them swapped out at a local tire shop every Fall/Spring. However it seems the preference on this forum is to buy a dedicated set of wheels for a winter setup

I’m wondering if folks can let me know:

1. Should I really get dedicated wheels for my new ID4 or is it just overkill? I’ve read about the advantages: less chance of damaging the tires and possibility to swap tires myself easily between seasons. About damaging tires.. I’ve never had an issue in ~ 10 seasons over 2 different cars (nor have I met someone in my life who has had such an issue), so I’m wondering whether this is over-blown. About swapping tires.. in principle I could do this, but if I just buy the tires from Town Fair Tire, they do free winter changeovers which seems like less of a hassle overall.
2. Assuming I do get a dedicated set of wheels, does anyone have any recommendations? I’ve seen the discussions about square vs staggered and would probably want to go with staggered just not to deviate from what seems to be the VW prescribed approach, but can someone walk me through the pros/cons with various sizes (18”, 19”, 20”), steel, alloy, etc and recommend some good models? What did you do to make sure your wheels fit the ID.4?
3. Fun bonus: what winter tires are you all using in your setups? I’d like to get something really good like Nokians so I can use this as my serious snow/ice car for winter adventures, but they seem to be hard to get locally. Would something like the Continental VikingContact be basically just as good?

 

[Manybees]

I live in New England, and I got Michelin X-Ice Snows for my 2021 AWD Pro S because they are considered low-rolling resistance tires, and because I've always had great luck with Michelin tires in general on other cars. Nokians and Conti winter tires also have a great reputation, no denying that. Can't really go wrong with any of these. And even the cheapest winter tire will perform better in snow and ice and cold weather than the best all-season tire.

As for your other question, I've never bought separate wheels for winter tires. So I didn't bother with also buying wheels for my ID.4's winter tires because my experience in the past has mirrored yours with it never being a problem. Others here who are much more knowledgeable (obsessed??? ) with tires/wheels than I am will have many passionate (and I'm sure rational ) counter-arguments to this practice, but it's what I've always done, and, like you, I've never had any issues, either. One undeniable upside of having separate wheels/tires is that they are quicker and easier to swap out every season.

Also, you will find many long threads about winter tires here if you look:

Search results for query: winter tires

www.vwidtalk.com

(And welcome to the forum!)

 

[bean_dog_68]

I live in New England, and I got Michelin X-Ice Snows for my 2021 AWD Pro S because they are considered low-rolling resistance tires, and because I've always had great luck with Michelin tires in general on other cars. Nokians and Conti winter tires also have a great reputation, no denying that. Can't really go wrong with any of these. And even the cheapest winter tire will perform better in snow and ice and cold weather than the best all-season tire.

As for your other question, I've never bought separate wheels for winter tires. So I didn't bother with also buying wheels for my ID.4's winter tires because my experience in the past has mirrored yours with it never being a problem. Others here who are much more knowledgeable (obsessed??? ) with tires/wheels than I am will have many passionate (and I'm sure rational ) counter-arguments to this practice, but it's what I've always done, and, like you, I've never had any issues, either. One undeniable upside of having separate wheels/tires is that they are quicker and easier to swap out every season.

Also, you will find many long threads about winter tires here if you look:

Search results for query: winter tires

www.vwidtalk.com

(And welcome to the forum!)

Thanks for your reply! Great to know there are others there with the same mindset as me.. reading through this forum I got the impression I was doing something wrong.

Although, I am interested to hear what the pro-dedicated-wheels folks have to say

 

[A3A]

I can’t speak to an ID4 as I’m a lurker, but as someone who has had snows on several cars I have had both separate wheels and used the same wheels.

If you bought your ID4 rather than leased it and plan on keeping it longer than a few years then it may make financial sense to grab wheels too. The cost of mounting and balancing wheels has gone up in most markets. I just paid $135 at a tire shop to mount and balance my snows. So that’s $270 a year to swap them. With separate wheels you’ll pay maybe close to $30 or $40 to have them swapped or could do it yourself with a jack.

 

[23TomEV]

Just took possession of our 23 AWD Pro S and loving it so far. We live in the Northeast US and I’d like to put winter tires on it since my wife has to commute ~ 45 miles each way to work rain, snow, or shine (she works at a hospital.. no snow days).

This is my first time putting winter tires on a nice, new car (exclusively having driven lovable old beaters so far in my life). I usually just buy winter tires that fit my existing rims and have them swapped out at a local tire shop every Fall/Spring. However it seems the preference on this forum is to buy a dedicated set of wheels for a winter setup

I’m wondering if folks can let me know:

1. Should I really get dedicated wheels for my new ID4 or is it just overkill? I’ve read about the advantages: less chance of damaging the tires and possibility to swap tires myself easily between seasons. About damaging tires.. I’ve never had an issue in ~ 10 seasons over 2 different cars (nor have I met someone in my life who has had such an issue), so I’m wondering whether this is over-blown. About swapping tires.. in principle I could do this, but if I just buy the tires from Town Fair Tire, they do free winter changeovers which seems like less of a hassle overall.
2. Assuming I do get a dedicated set of wheels, does anyone have any recommendations? I’ve seen the discussions about square vs staggered and would probably want to go with staggered just not to deviate from what seems to be the VW prescribed approach, but can someone walk me through the pros/cons with various sizes (18”, 19”, 20”), steel, alloy, etc and recommend some good models? What did you do to make sure your wheels fit the ID.4?
3. Fun bonus: what winter tires are you all using in your setups? I’d like to get something really good like Nokians so I can use this as my serious snow/ice car for winter adventures, but they seem to be hard to get locally. Would something like the Continental VikingContact be basically just as good?

I live in the Buffalo, NY area. I've had my 2023 AWD Pro S for about 7 weeks now.

My vehicle came with Pirelli Scorpion tires. I did not put winter tires on it. This car has been incredible in deep snow, ice and slush. It is extremely stable and sure-footed. I have not had any traction issue with just the stock factory tires.

 

[bean_dog_68]

I live in the Buffalo, NY area. I've had my 2023 AWD Pro S for about 7 weeks now. My vehicle came with Pirelli Scorpion tires. I did not put winter tires on it. This car has been incredible in deep snow, ice and slush. It is extremely stable and sure-footed. I have not had any traction issue with just the stock factory tires.

Interesting! I'm in the Boston area and we've almost certainly had less snow than Buffalo. Yet my wife and I both feel like the ID.4 is more difficult to stop than any car we've driven before, and this is on relatively light snow/ice. This might make sense and could be chalked up to personal driving styles/previous experience - all the cars we've ever owned prior have been small/light hatchbacks, and the ID.4 is quite heavy. In any case, I think we'd both be more comfortable getting a set of winters based on our experience so far. For us it's more of a "better safe than sorry" situation since there may be times where my wife has to drive into work during very hazardous conditions.

 

[23TomEV]

Interesting! I'm in the Boston area and we've almost certainly had less snow than Buffalo. Yet my wife and I both feel like the ID.4 is more difficult to stop than any car we've driven before, and this is on relatively light snow/ice. This might make sense and could be chalked up to personal driving styles/previous experience - all the cars we've ever owned prior have been small/light hatchbacks, and the ID.4 is quite heavy. In any case, I think we'd both be more comfortable getting a set of winters based on our experience so far. For us it's more of a "better safe than sorry" situation since there may be times where my wife has to drive into work during very hazardous conditions.

Absolutely agree. Do whatever puts your mind at ease and is safest for your family.

It is a heavy vehicle and it was an adjustment figuring out stopping distance. I traded in a Honda Pilot for it.

Good luck. Stay Safe.

 

[nntw]

Just took possession of our 23 AWD Pro S and loving it so far. We live in the Northeast US and I’d like to put winter tires on it since my wife has to commute ~ 45 miles each way to work rain, snow, or shine (she works at a hospital.. no snow days).

This is my first time putting winter tires on a nice, new car (exclusively having driven lovable old beaters so far in my life). I usually just buy winter tires that fit my existing rims and have them swapped out at a local tire shop every Fall/Spring. However it seems the preference on this forum is to buy a dedicated set of wheels for a winter setup

I’m wondering if folks can let me know:

1. Should I really get dedicated wheels for my new ID4 or is it just overkill? I’ve read about the advantages: less chance of damaging the tires and possibility to swap tires myself easily between seasons. About damaging tires.. I’ve never had an issue in ~ 10 seasons over 2 different cars (nor have I met someone in my life who has had such an issue), so I’m wondering whether this is over-blown. About swapping tires.. in principle I could do this, but if I just buy the tires from Town Fair Tire, they do free winter changeovers which seems like less of a hassle overall.
2. Assuming I do get a dedicated set of wheels, does anyone have any recommendations? I’ve seen the discussions about square vs staggered and would probably want to go with staggered just not to deviate from what seems to be the VW prescribed approach, but can someone walk me through the pros/cons with various sizes (18”, 19”, 20”), steel, alloy, etc and recommend some good models? What did you do to make sure your wheels fit the ID.4?
3. Fun bonus: what winter tires are you all using in your setups? I’d like to get something really good like Nokians so I can use this as my serious snow/ice car for winter adventures, but they seem to be hard to get locally. Would something like the Continental VikingContact be basically just as good?

In the link, you'll notice a VW dealership selling a 'square' winter tire package.

Canadian link, so don't faint at the pricing.

But if a square package is being sold by a vw dealership... I'd be very comfortable going with it.

https://www.vwofnewmarket.com/winter-wheel-packages/

 

[Ahab]

Interesting! I'm in the Boston area and we've almost certainly had less snow than Buffalo. Yet my wife and I both feel like the ID.4 is more difficult to stop than any car we've driven before, and this is on relatively light snow/ice. This might make sense and could be chalked up to personal driving styles/previous experience - all the cars we've ever owned prior have been small/light hatchbacks, and the ID.4 is quite heavy. In any case, I think we'd both be more comfortable getting a set of winters based on our experience so far. For us it's more of a "better safe than sorry" situation since there may be times where my wife has to drive into work during very hazardous conditions.

Is your ID.4 wearing the Pirelli Scorpions? Or something else, like, say, Bridgestones?

 

[bean_dog_68]

Is your ID.4 wearing the Pirelli Scorpions? Or something else, like, say, Bridgestones?

Pirelli Scorpions. I've honestly never been impressed with Pirelli all-purpose tires, on any of my cars...

 

[matt awd pro s]

I put Blizzaks on dedicated rims. Blizzaks are the most recommended choice in my mountain town that gets 200-300" of snow a year. I went with dedicated rims since the local tire shop will swap them twice a year for free since I bought from them versus paying $200 a year to have the tires mounted / balanced twice a year. Pay themselves off in a few years. Also went with a square setup on 19" rims at the recommendation of the local tire shop. They said that by going with the narrower tires (matching the front) that the smaller footprint allows the tires to dig deeper into deep snow and that at this time of year we are not exactly racing around anyway so we would not miss the extra tread contact. Don't know how accurate that is but the result is that the car has handled perfectly in some pretty nasty conditions this past week.

 

[fiehlsport]

I'll meet you in Albany if you're interested in running the Pirelli winter tires for sale in my signature.

 

[joao balao]

I lived in Buffalo from 21-22 with my RWD FE with Bridgestone Alenzas. Felt like a death trap in snow- couldn’t get up the driveway and slid through some stop signs. I got a set of used 18inch after market wheels with blizzaks that I used last year and this year and it handled like a champ. I moved to NE NY- Potsdam- aka Baja Ontario- and traded in my 21 for a 23 AWD with the Pirellis. I noticed much better winter traction with them but did end up switching to my winter wheels since I had them. I’m a fan of dedicated winter tires, but the other member from Buffalo would certainly have relevant experience to the performance of the pirellis as the snow up here has been nuts this year.
To sum up, I have had no issue with my 18 inch sq set up and love the traction. My efficiency is bad in the winter but I doubt my tires are the culprit.

 

[bean_dog_68]

I lived in Buffalo from 21-22 with my RWD FE with Bridgestone Alenzas. Felt like a death trap in snow- couldn’t get up the driveway and slid through some stop signs. I got a set of used 18inch after market wheels with blizzaks that I used last year and this year and it handled like a champ. I moved to NE NY- Potsdam- aka Baja Ontario- and traded in my 21 for a 23 AWD with the Pirellis. I noticed much better winter traction with them but did end up switching to my winter wheels since I had them. I’m a fan of dedicated winter tires, but the other member from Buffalo would certainly have relevant experience to the performance of the pirellis as the snow up here has been nuts this year.
To sum up, I have had no issue with my 18 inch sq set up and love the traction. My efficiency is bad in the winter but I doubt my tires are the culprit.

This is awesome info. Just to confirm, you have no clearance issues on your 18" setup with the 2023 AWD? I've seen limited confirmation that this will be compatible with the 2023 AWD model so I've been a little hesitant (although I doubt anything has really changed from 21/22).

Also, what are those wheels you're rocking?

 

[joao balao]

No clearance issues. I found the tires and wheels as a set in an ad for an Audi q5 so guessing that might be a good thing to search by either used or for compatibility. They’re sport edition brand but I couldn’t tell you model specific info. I’m not a wheel guy so I also can’t comment if that’s a good brand or not. One hiccup was that that the id4 lug nuts are not compatible. I was supplied with the original set for them, but originally forgot to tell the wheel place to swap them and my car vibrated like the balance was off. So if you get a used set, I would see if you can get all the hardware too.

 

[Stinsy]

Just took possession of our 23 AWD Pro S and loving it so far. We live in the Northeast US and I’d like to put winter tires on it since my wife has to commute ~ 45 miles each way to work rain, snow, or shine (she works at a hospital.. no snow days).

This is my first time putting winter tires on a nice, new car (exclusively having driven lovable old beaters so far in my life). I usually just buy winter tires that fit my existing rims and have them swapped out at a local tire shop every Fall/Spring. However it seems the preference on this forum is to buy a dedicated set of wheels for a winter setup

I’m wondering if folks can let me know:

1. Should I really get dedicated wheels for my new ID4 or is it just overkill? I’ve read about the advantages: less chance of damaging the tires and possibility to swap tires myself easily between seasons. About damaging tires.. I’ve never had an issue in ~ 10 seasons over 2 different cars (nor have I met someone in my life who has had such an issue), so I’m wondering whether this is over-blown. About swapping tires.. in principle I could do this, but if I just buy the tires from Town Fair Tire, they do free winter changeovers which seems like less of a hassle overall.
2. Assuming I do get a dedicated set of wheels, does anyone have any recommendations? I’ve seen the discussions about square vs staggered and would probably want to go with staggered just not to deviate from what seems to be the VW prescribed approach, but can someone walk me through the pros/cons with various sizes (18”, 19”, 20”), steel, alloy, etc and recommend some good models? What did you do to make sure your wheels fit the ID.4?
3. Fun bonus: what winter tires are you all using in your setups? I’d like to get something really good like Nokians so I can use this as my serious snow/ice car for winter adventures, but they seem to be hard to get locally. Would something like the Continental VikingContact be basically just as good?

1. Absolutely fit winter tyres in winter! Any time the temperature is below 10℃ (50℉) you're better off on winter tires. And definitely buy a 2nd set of alloys. Makes swapping them an hour's work assuming you have a nice flat driveway and suitable trolley jack. While genuine "iD4" alloys are a rare find, there are plenty of VWs and some Audis that have the correct sized wheels and therefore a used set of genuine OEMs should be easy to find.

2. I usually go 2 sizes smaller on winter alloys compared with summer. My A4 had 19" summer so I went 17" on the winter set, My A6 had 20" on the summer set so I went 18" on the winter set... The thinking is that I'm more likely to be skidding into a curb in winter (even with correct tires) so I can do with the extra bit of sidewall. However the iD4 comes with very conservatively-sized summer wheels so I'll probably go for a set in the same size or one size smaller. I might for for Tiguan-sourced 7j alloys (one inch narrower than the iD4 standard for better traction in deeper snow). In Germany most people go for steel wheels in winter but that has never been my style (and you can get used OEM alloys in smaller sizes cheap enough from people who've upgraded to aftermarket.

3. I've used a range of winter tires over the years. They've all been pretty good. Special mention for the Nokian WRD3 that gripped perfectly when it poured down with rain on frozen ground. You literally couldn't stand up, other cars with winter tires couldn't get off the carpark, yet the Nokians gripped as if it was normal tarmac. Also Bridgestone Blizzaks win all the wet-weather tests so if you get more wet weather than snow/ice they could be the best choice.

 

[piGuy]

My 2023 AWD Pro S came with Kuhmo Crugens. Anyone else with the same tires have any opinions?

 

[Forestlight]

I live in New England, and I got Michelin X-Ice Snows for my 2021 AWD Pro S because they are considered low-rolling resistance tires, and because I've always had great luck with Michelin tires in general on other cars. Nokians and Conti winter tires also have a great reputation, no denying that. Can't really go wrong with any of these. And even the cheapest winter tire will perform better in snow and ice and cold weather than the best all-season tire.

As for your other question, I've never bought separate wheels for winter tires. So I didn't bother with also buying wheels for my ID.4's winter tires because my experience in the past has mirrored yours with it never being a problem. Others here who are much more knowledgeable (obsessed??? ) with tires/wheels than I am will have many passionate (and I'm sure rational ) counter-arguments to this practice, but it's what I've always done, and, like you, I've never had any issues, either. One undeniable upside of having separate wheels/tires is that they are quicker and easier to swap out every season.

Also, you will find many long threads about winter tires here if you look:

Search results for query: winter tires

www.vwidtalk.com

(And welcome to the forum!)

Thank you for this commentary. I, too, have been considering this question so it is helpful to hear your experience.

 

[Bob4687]

I’m very happy with Michelin x ice, sized per the original tires on this 2022 AWD ID4 pro. And in yesterday’s snowstorm, when those felt a bit waffly in deep snow, the z-chains did great on the rear tires.
The TPMS thought I was losing air in one rear tire, but no, it has made that mistake twice before with the stock tires.

 

[limeyinusa]

My 2023 AWD Pro S came with Kuhmo Crugens. Anyone else with the same tires have any opinions?

We have them and they are awful in snow/packed snow and ice. Looking for winters ASAP.