Two days before Christmas I called around to get some snows for my '90 Carat. A national tire store recommended either passenger snows or oversize snows.... When I got my '90 Carat last year it came with 4 new generic radials. A few days after I bought the van, I was doing 45-50 mph in a summer thunder storm with heavy duty cross winds.... was blown half a lane to the left after going under one overpass and the next overpass half a lane to the right. Two days later stopped by Valley  Imported Auto in Canton, Conn. to let them check out the van. Peter (owner and superb VW mechanic) told me to get rid of the passenger radials and recommended a set of Continental Contact tires. WOW what a difference. Cross winds I still hate with a passion, but hey, I'm driving a box. Anyways, called around and was told I could get heavy duty 185-14 snows, but would have to wait. Then went to R&N Tire and Auto in East Granby, Connecticut. They said that they would get back to me the next day. Very
 next day (Friday), they called..... they could get me a pair of Nokia Hakkapeliittas (sp?) snows by Monday. SOLD.... Monday morning they called an said thet the tires were in. Added studs and that afternoon had them put on (they even cleaned the alloys!). Their advice "Don't drive too aggressivel for a few days so the studs will set in the tires... but then you're driving a Vanagon so you probably won't be doing wheelies will you?"

The Nokias are great. The Carat is an auto and the low torque is like driving a standard and starting in 2nd gear. My previous van was an air cooled '82 Vanagon with a standard trans. Had oversize truck snow tires in the rear. The Carat with it's185's in the front and rear handles a lot better than the '82 did with it's oversized snows... and I have heat!!!!!

Greg

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