AndyL

I have 2014 A6 Quattro with 255/35/20 tires on them. Looking at the most aggressive tires to safely get family to/from Denver to Vail where we go every weekend. I was thinking the Nokia studded but not sure anymore as I hear lots of road noise on those.

Thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks.

fullbird

Grew up in Denver and drove to Vail a lot when I was on Ski Patrol there. I never needed studded snow tires because the Interstate is usually very well plowed. However, a good set of winter tires is a must have.
I am now in Northern Arizona and have run 245/45/18 Michelin xIce 3 and like them very much. Blizzaks were also very good.
I would also recommend 18" wheels which will give you a little more sidewall.

DanfZX14

+1 on the Michelins

Sportstick

If you want to maximize the traction, you would need to accept the trade-off for the noise of studs, if they are permitted on local roads.

If you go to the studless category, the Xicexi3 are excellent! However, some of their overall strength is their good performance on clear roads, dry or wet, in the winter. If you want a touch more snow/ice capability, and would accept an accompanying bit of fall-off on those clear wet/dry winter roads, Blizzak WS80 have more snow/ice capability.

In either event, you want to narrow up those tires for winter. We are running 225/50-18 WS80 with the narrower tread improving downforce and traction in the snow/ice.

50pascals

I am running 245-40-19 Nokian Hakka R2's on the Audi. Nokia's are the best, hands-down. I've had others when they were cheap or free, but always spend my money on Nokias.

A direct quote from a text message from my brother in NH this weekend:

"First deep snowy drive on X-ice - don't like them nearly as much as the hakka3s."

"Considering unmounting them and selling them now and putting the volvo wheels / hakkas back on"

Baloo588

Hey there we have 3 Audis here in Michigan and I go out to Denver for snowboarding alot. I would avoid Nokians and get some 255/40R19 Blizzaks Lm32 for the A6. We have those on our 2014 A6 TDI and 2016 A7 3.0T. Here are the pics below. The 2012 Audi A8L has 19 inc Michelin XICE XI3 245/45R19 which are studiess winter tires and will be better on ice vs the LM32. The LM32 are performance winters and will do better in really really deep snow vs IXICE XI3 but will not do well on ice. The Audi is really my dad's car and the A7 is mines and the A6 is my brother and we all live separately around Michigan and Chicago. I would choose XICE XI3 if you really want that tremendous traction and trade off handling or go for some performance rubber which will trade off the ice traction. Both are super SMOOTH and quiet tires and have been accumulating 25k miles already on the XICE with 75% tread left whereas the LM32 on my A7 has only 7k miles and still 80% left.

BTW we all use 20 inch rims with all seasons from spring to fall.

Baloo588

My A7 during summer with 20 inch forged OEM rims.

DanfZX14

Love the group Audi photos. Sweet rides!

Sportstick

Nice "family portrait"! Cranbrook makes for great scenery! (unless that's your home!!!)

Regarding tires, it would also help to get narrower. As well as you may be doing now, those are wider than optimal for winter tires. Also, I think we have some category mixing. The two leading winter performance tires are Michelin Alpin PA and Blizzak LM. They are a directionally improved, but half-step from all season tires to the next category, studless winter, such as XIcexi3 and WS80. Whether on ice or snow, and regardless of the snow depth, studless winter will always outperform performance winter, due to the softer compound and tread patterns. Conversely, the performance winter will outperform studless winter on the clear pavement days in wintertime. Within studless winter, XIcexi3 does better than WS80 on the clear/dry days, while the softer WS80 tradeoff will do better on snow/ice. If you're ready to "chill out" your driving style in winter but want most capability, WS80 seems the choice. If you want better dry road response, XIce might be preferred. But, I wouldn't go any lower on winter tire capability. I am not a fan of the performance winter category...trying to be the "best of both worlds", but excellent at neither, and after all that bother for a second set of wheels/tires!

thehedge

Is it safe to run the Blizzak WS80 on a newer A6 (I have a 2012 and a 2015)? I didn't think they were XL Load rated, The dealer was telling me you needed the XL on the newer A6.