When I was buying winters for the GTI 5 years ago, it came down to X-Ice3 or WS80. From what I read, X-Ice3 would be a bit better on bare/wet pavement, about the same on ice, not quite as good in deeper snow, and worse in slush. I went WS80 and was happy enough.
This time around, WS90s are brand new design, and X-Ice is what, 6-7 years old now? Didn’t even consider them.
Picked up the WS90s a couple weeks ago, but probably won’t put them on for at least another week. Curious to see how they perform, but I’m happy to keep my Michelin A/S 3 + on as long as possible.
Oh, and date of manufacture on the WS90s was week 24 of 2019, so fresh fresh.