All season tyres are not fit for *real* winter driving.  They are passable if you are going to puts around in the City once the streets have been cleared, but will be of little use on the already tractional challenged Vanagon if you are intent on driving in snow.

Several newer, non-studded winter tyres (i.e. Nokian) have rubber/material compounds which stick pretty good on ice and packed snow  - the tyres also clear well which is very important - without compromising handling on dry/wet roads.   Even here in Canada where it’s winter almost half the year, jurisdictions have banned / are banning studded tyres due to the damage they cause on road.

On the LT, and on the older VWs when they were snow driven, I use non-studded Nokians and keep a set of chains under the rear bench just in-case one does get stuck.

> On 04-Nov-2016, at 11:44, Mark McCulley <markmcculley@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> If it were me I would go with a good set of non-studded winter tires. And
> if I didn't expect to encounter a lot of winter weather, just wanted to be
> prepared in case there was a snowstorm, then I'd go with all season tires
> and some good chains. Studded tires are noisy, don't handle as well as
> regular tires, and can only be used during certain months in most states.
> 
> On Wed, Nov 2, 2016 at 3:19 PM, Dennis Jowell <dennisjowell@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> Does it make sense to install 4 studded m&s tires for the winter on my 2wd
>> 88' Westy camper? Last winter I slid all over the place with fairly new
>> RO8' tires on the Westy. There was only about 1/4 of wet snow on main
>> street St. J Vermont. We are still planning our trip to Yorktown Va. After
>> thanksgiving. I want to have a safe trip. Any thoughts!
>> 
>> Dennis J
>> 
>>