cre8value

When I purchased the S8 it came with a set of snow tires and wheels, I believe Audi calls it their snow package. 19" Audi wheels with Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 mounted, the tires are almost new.

Right now, she has her stock S8 20" wheels with the Continental ExtremeContact DWS all season tires mounted, with a healthy amount of tread left.

While rated as a "high performance snow tire", I've read a lot of mixed reviews regarding the Alpin PA3s on TireRack. Some folks compare them to a mediocre all season tire in snow conditions, at best. I will be commuting through snow country, so I'd like to have the most capable tire on the car for the job.

Has anyone had experience with both the Conti DWS and the Alpin PA3s in a snow environment? Any feedback or insight you can provide? I expect to see 3+ inches of snow on a regular basis.

Thanks in advance.

Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 reviews (click reviews tab)

PA3 Survey Results

uberwgn

Cre8, are you driving the car in northern Georgia or the Yukon?

cre8value

Close, Southern Florida.

uberwgn

LOL. Come on...

So, you're embarrassed to say where you operate the car. How would you like other folks here to respond to your inquiry?

FlyTyinFool

I ran a set of DWS for 44K miles (yes, 44,000!!)

They were outstanding tires.

And, the least road noise of ANY tire I've run on. No contest.

We get a few snows a year, and sometimes a foot or more. The DWS handled fantastic, given they aren't a pure winter tire. If I wasn't willing to drive with Quattro and DWS tires, there was no good reason to be on the road.

Rain is the prevailing weather in my area. And the DWS handles that pretty well too. Dry weather performance (tongue in cheek because All-Season tires are not really performance tires) was pretty good too. i don't track the car, so I don't need a bleeding-edge performance tire. But I do like to do some "spirited" driving at times.

Now, to address your "most capable tire comment," an all-season tire is not the most capable snow tire. So, if your going to see a lot of snow/ice, or travel through a lot of snow/ice, a winter tire is you best option, not all-season.

It's a judgement call.

uberwgn

Cree8, thanks for adding "Wisconsin" to your personal profile.

Are there places in WI that are tropical and maybe don't get any snow during the year

I live in New England and had the Continental DWS on a Mercedes sedan. They are better than a summer tire in the snow, but cannot compare to a snow tire. I'd never recommend them to someone living in WI as an alternate to a proper winter tire.

If you consider yourself to be altruistic, you could wait for a snow fall, drive one day with the DWS tires, and then swap the next day to the Michelin and share your impressions. That way you help others and answer your own question

mishar

I would agree with other guys. No all season tires are match for winter tires. Especially Michelin's. I have those winter tires and they are very good for snow.

Albatrossboss

I've had great success with Bridgestone Blizzaks. They never let me down in my previous Mercedes. The city I used to lived in had deplorable road care and NEVER plowed or salted the neighborhood streets and secondary arteries and I don't recall ever getting in a situation I couldn't get out of with those tires.

cre8value

I must have phrased my question poorly. Obviously the average snow tire will outperform the average all season tire in snow. My concern was that the PA3s are so poorly reviewed and rated compared to the DWS for snow, it seemed that the DWS (an extremely high rated high performance all-season tire) would outperform the PA3 (a mediocre rated snow tire) in snow.

The PA3s are now on the S8. Actual quote from the guy mounting the tires today:
"Are you SURE you want these (PA3s) on the car instead of those (DWS)?"

If they perform sub-par in the snow, they'll be replaced with Hakka's and that'll be the end of it. Life's too short for sh**ty snow tires.

Setup->Jacking Mode + Tire Pressure -> Change Wheels did the trick, too.

I'm curious what your experiences with the PA3s in the Canadian winters are, Misha?

MP4.2+6.0

If you are concerned about keeping moving with lots of snow on the ground and often/constant bad conditions, you are probably on the right track here as far as the feedback already in hand. That is, dedicated snows.

On the other hand, still scratching my head some about the "S8" part. Some might just park it and use the SUV or what ever, if that's an option. Then you rely on the A/S's only for fair weather or getting caught briefly at start of bad weather. But, I don't automatically do that myself in my snow trip planning--switch vehicles that is. Like you, I have a " high performance" D3, and will hit all manner of snow conditions, including those that arise a week into a trip. Unlike you, I live by the coast that hardly even sees freezing all winter, let alone snow. But, the second home is in Tahoe, one of the severest weather areas in the country and that can see 1-3 feet in storms many times a year, and sometimes 200" + in a season. Also statistically and a bit oddly can be one of the coldest winter areas in the US, though usually more an overnight thing rather than sustained. Thus, the 90%+ of the miles it actually runs on dry NorCal Bay Area roads well above freezing, I don't feel like I'm driving a performance Audi using a "walker," or rather hearing the TV drone at like 80-90dB without the hearing aid/tunes cranked up.

Given my mixed use, I've opted toward "performance" snows. Used to be Dunlop M2's/M3's/3Ds; not a fitment choice in my specific wheel case so now using Pirelli Sottozero's on the D3, and the Dunlop 3D's on the Q5 where I can get the desired size. I like them because they are reasonable road performance when dry, not obnoxiously loud like a many an aggressive tread winter tire, and still have a zillion little sipes to deal with hard pack through glare ice. Relative to Michelin A/S+'s (predecessor to current generation) BTW, night and day different. Michelin A/S is pretty marginal as A/S's go for snow anyway, but the performance snows get good traction even in pretty poor icy conditions, while you literally go skating off (or much worse) on those Michelin A/S's.

Net, I would have snows if it is a primary vehicle and regularly used in marginal or worse conditions. If you need the traction for the deep and loose crap, think many of the more aggressive (still "car") tires out there, much as the thread responses were going. If instead it is more plowed road and glare ice and hard frozen surfaces, the performance snows are an option too. Having been in Germany a year ago--in the summer--when I looked carefully, interestingly I saw more than a few performance snows on a variety of vehicles. In July! Could be they just run those all the time, or that they were just burning off the quasi worn ones by summer. But it made lots of sense to me actually if what I am dealing with are desire to use the Autobahns, road ice, occasional snow, and cold pavement; Germany requires winter or A/S tires no matter what during the winter too. Having done the summer burn off of old performance snows once on my prior A6 4.2, they are sort of middling AS feel with some noise, but nothing like the stereotype Blizzaks I have run on AWD minivans where I can't wait to get them off the nanosecond I can. Not your topic here, but the point is they are still tolerable even for that, while a hard core aggressive snow tire would drive many sort of nuts if not really needed for the conditions.