Tips to check if your Volkswagen’s winter tires are still in good condition

It’s winter soon, and its therefore time to think about winter tires. The condition of your winter tires plays a critical role in how your Volkswagen vehicle behaves in winter driving conditions, your peace of mind and ultimately your safety on the road. Having the right winter tires on your VW, even if it is a model with 4Motion AWD, will make every winter drive more enjoyable, and make life considerably easier for you over the next few months. That said, even with quality winter tires, it is very important that your winter tires be in good condition when you install them on your VW in the next few weeks. We thought we would help you determine if that is the case with the following tips.

Tread depth is your number one winter tire quality indicator

To be effective, your winter tires have to have a tread depth of at least 4.8 mm when you install them at the beginning of winter. Tires lose their effectiveness when the tread depth is less than 4 mm, but if you want your tires to last all winter long, having a tread depth of 4.8 mm is the minimum at the start of the season. Anything less than that and your VW will need new winter tires before spring.

The best way to determine the tread depth is to use a special tool to measure the depth. These are fairly affordable, but you can also use the wear indicators on your tires. The other thing you can do is take a simple quarter and put the caribou nose down into a groove. If you still see the caribou's nose, you probably want to think about replacing your winter tires.

Now, tread depth is certainly the best way to determine if your winter tires are still in good condition and effective for the upcoming season. That said, we would also recommend that you take a look at other variables as well.

Replacing your winter tires with a new set means that you will go through winter with your Volkswagen offering the highest level of stability and confidence and peace of mind on the road. That is what you want out of your Volkswagen, if you felt like last winter, you weren't getting that and you noticed a decrease in the performance of your winter tires, don't hesitate to have them replaced.

Winter tires can still lose their effectiveness even if their tread depth more than 4.8 mm. After about 30,000 km, most winter tires will no longer be effective. If you had your winter tires for three or four seasons, now might be a good time to buy a new set of winter tires for your Volkswagen.