Vredestein Wintrack Non-Studdable Passenger/Performance Tire

Pros: Sticky on snow, ice & wet roads. Quiet, nice looking, not bad on dry roads
Cons: A bit expensive.

(See below for my final update on this review)Why I chose them I grew up in far upstate NY. Almost Canada, really. I remember vividly about 10 years ago riding in a friend's rear-wheel drive wagon during a snowstorm, ...

Pros: Low wear rate / 90 % performance in HOT summer / Ultimate in the snow.
Cons: Hard to think of any really - not even that expensive !

Surprisingly good in 35-40 degree summer heat with little road noise - Ultimate traction in minus 15/20 degree snow and ice.
35k miles on a heavy ML270 CDI - I am just about to buy a second set !
No other tyres have this combination of All Round Performance !
I will buy VREDSTEIN for all our vehicles now.

Pros: Quiet on tarmac. Good in snow.
Cons: Slight handling loss on tarmac

The 225/45-VR-17 Wintrax Extremes were quieter than my summer Pirelli PZeros and only slightly less sharp (say 10%) in terms of handling. Driving down to the Alps we had heavy snow in the Jura Mountains the Wintracs proved their worth on one steep section in town that had almost every other car stumped, and on the high pass where an Audi Quattro was in the hedge and most other cars seemed very unstable. Never had to put the chains on, even when the snow got to 6"-8". Car was a Jaguar X-Type Estate (station wagon) 3.0L all-wheel drive (4x4) auto.

Pros: Stable at all speeds (V-rated is up to 149mph), quiet, great snow/slush/ice/rain tires.
Cons: Softer winter compound has great adhesion but doesn't corner quite as tight.

Lots of research went into my first set of snow tires on my new Infiniti G35x (all wheel drive). Two winters ago I selected Vredestein's V-rated performance snow tire and my only regret has been that they have eventually worn out (after about 35,000 miles). I would definately agree with the first reviewer about trying to find them in the United States but it is well worth the call to one or the internet distributers. These are very quite and stable at all speeds and on all kinds of snow/ice/slush. They also do an extraordinary job of maintaining traction and channeling water in heavy rain (which seems to come just a month or two before the 6 months of snow here in Michigan). I could not have been more pleased!