Strife1013

Looks like Audi has started to use Hankook Ventus S1 EVO2 summer tires on the 17' A4 with the sports package also on the 17' S4 as well. As soon as my car comes in I am switching the all-season Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ for the fall and winter and plan to use these for late springs and summer weather.

My question for the people that have them what are their initial thoughts on the performance? Do you consider them to be great summer tires? What's your overall impression of them? There really isn't any reviews on tirerack.

I've read lots of good things about the Michelin Sport 3+ which is why I went with those. I've never done the whole summer and winter tire set up before, be interested in what that will be like. I'll be using the 19" rims for both and just take the tires to Costco to switch them back and forth, $15 per tire install...not too bad.

Hankook*Ventus S1 evo2

SYMAWD

They are excellent compared to the all season Cinturato P7s on the A4. I haven't driven the Pilot Sport A/S 3+, but the Hankooks seem to have similar limits to Conti Extreme Contact DWS.

zillerkaz

Haha, I have the Cinturato P7 on my AWD B9 with adaptive suspension and the tires are definitely the weak link. They are "OK" in sporty driving but they sure do complain loudly and skip a lot. I'm in SoCal so as soon as these are done, I'll probably go with summer tires year round... we get very little rain here and summer tires usually handle rain better anyway.

Anyway, I actually had had good luck with Hankook tires in the past. I don't think they're as good as pilot super sport and the like but they aren't bad at all in my experience.

dseag2

Michelin Pilot Super Sports are my tires of choice, but I find the Hankooks that came on my A4 provide a great balance of handling, ride and low noise.

adg44

The Audi specific Hankook is the best performing tire for the A4 aside from a cup tire. There is no need to look anywhere else. The 18" version will provide the best performance, and under braking (where 80% of your brake distance is because of your tire) it will stop from 100km/h (62.1mph) in under 33 meters (108 feet).

Question to the OP, since you live in Denver and already have summer tires, why not go for a high-performance snow tire rather than an all-season?

Strife1013

The reason why I didn't go with winter tires is because of the type of weather we get in the fall and winter. I've always used all season tires and never had an issue with them here. We don't get snow like people get on the east coast. I just feel like we don't get that many bad snow days and if we do I stay home from work

Oh and I just looked at a pair, they are wayyy more expensive than all season tires too.

HyperS4

Just food for thought. I had the DWS on both my S4 and 13 S6. Once that wore out I put on the A/S3+ on both my 14 S6's. On my 16 S6 I had the newer DWS 06.

The original DWS was a great tire in wet and snow but it had its limits in the dry. The A/S3+ fixed those faults and was absolutely brilliant in the dry. Unfortunately they sucked in the snow compared to the DWS. They also wore out sooner than expected. The new DWS 06 was the best combination of the two. I would honestly recommend that tire over anything at the moment.

MedicDante

I live in NYC on the east coast, I'm assuming its not a good idea to get the 19" summer tires over the 18" All season tires? I just prefer the Rims on the 19" as opposed to the 18".

Are summer tires really that bad for winter?

Top1105

I switched from the factory Hankook S1 EVO2 to the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ because I wanted an all season tire.

To me, handling and braking improved slightly. Ride is about the same, but road noise is slightly worse, but just barely.

Strife1013

I like the 19" rims over the 18" ones so if that means I have to buy another set of tires so be it. After all it's something I'm going to have to buy sooner or later anyways, just eat up the cost now for rims that I really like.

Yes, summer tires are not made for snow conditions. They are built to perform on warm dry roads. You'll lose traction and breaking power. For the sake of everyone around you please use correct tires.

I know it sucks dropping a grand on new tires when you buy a new car but it's better than driving up your insurance rate because of an accident. Also you can try and sell those summer tires if you don't plan on using them. You should be able to recoup at least half of the price of new tires.