drhaller

Hi,

I have the Nokians on my 2001 A6 2.7T and the Blizzaks on the 2008 A4 Avant.

The A6 is only about 100lb heavier. Both are automatic and quattro.

All tires have very little wear and if anything the Nokians have more wear.

The Blizzaks simply do not measure up to the performance of the Nokians... on ice, slush, packed snow or deep snow. Although I adjust my driving to the road conditions I have to "double down" when driving the A4. You can drift at will in the A4.

My wife always wants to drive my car - which is fine since I work from home.

At first I thought it was the lack of wheel well room on the A4 and caused by snow packing and the treads not clearing but I have had a chance to drive on ice a few times this year and the Blizzaks simply suck at everything.

Should I simply retire the Blizzaks and get another set of RSi's? I am actually thinking of swapping the wheels on the cars for an experiment.

Here is some of my research:

Opinions: Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi VS Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60

: Marathon Automotive

/dan

Gary@Tirerack.com

What are the actual tread depths on the current tires? Also, the WS 60 is a two generation old tire sold about ten years ago. Tires have come a long way in the last decade.

mishar

That's real scientific experiment. Everything else is guessing and opinions. So do it and come back with the result.

stuffinder

I've been averaging 35K mi yearly since 1970 on the edge of "lake effect" snow near Syracuse NY. I'm a firm believer in snow tires on all four wheels and have run nearly all the highly rated brands. Since discovering Nokian's about 25 yrs. ago have used them almost exclusively. They have always been at the very top of the heap performance wise. Each new design had been a noticeable improvement. The Rsi tire you mentioned is now 2 generations old, having been succeeded by the R & now, R2. My 1st AUDI ourchased 5 yrs ago came with a fresh set of Blizzak LM2 performance snows. I was not happy with the squirmy dry/wet road performance. I found a great deal on a set of Vredestein Wintrac Extreme's. I'd always had good experience w/Vred's in the 60's/70's on Beetle, 356 & Peugeot 504's so tried them. They are the best handling snow tire I've ever used. Snow capability roughly on a par w/Blizzaks but not as good as R's I later put on my wife's '99 A6. I put a set of Nokian R2's on my '95 AUDI S6 Avant shortly after they were introduced and their snow/ice capabilities exceed anything I've ever used. Dry/wet handling is improved as well. IMHO the best non-studded snow tire available! If I had a really high-performance car I'd probably seek out the Vredesteins but for DD use the Nokian R2 is hard to beat. I replaced my wife's oil-leaking, ctrl arm eating '99 A6 w/'06 A6 Avant and dropped down to 225/55/16 R2's (from 245/45/17) and it's a tank in the snow. I liked the '06 so much I bought an '07 A6 Avant. Since we already had a snow tank I put a set of Nokian WR G3's in stock size on it. (245/45/17) I believe the WR G3 is the only "All Season" to earn a snow rating. It's amazingly good in the snow but not up to the R2. The handling is somewhat better of course. Unless you're in really snowy/icy conditions I believe it would be adequate year round on most AUDI Quattro's.

ex-quattro PETE

Which makes you wonder how old the OP's tires are.

drhaller, tread depth isn't everything. Over time, the soft rubber compounds on most winter tires will harden which will diminish their snow handling capabilities. I am currently observing this on my General Altimax Arctic which are now on their 6th season, but still have majority of their tread left.

ichtus

nowhere near stuffinder's experience on the winter tires, but I am very very happy with my decision to buy Nokian Hakka R2 over Blizzak and Xice. Made some comments in the B8 forum, but they def do inspire confidence when driving. I am only at 750 miles, but am hoping the wear on the tires are as good as many have posed (supposedly better than Blizzak).

I am in Chicago, so things have been light as far as snow goes, but I took the A4 out for a joy ride during our last big snow (18-20 inches). Was ridiculous how much traction I had. As hard as I tried, I could not get the traction control to go through several inches of slush and snow. I think the snow clearing my car was more of an issue than the traction.

It has been in the teens for several weeks now, with temps in the negative at night. My wife's SUV with all seasons has def had its issues on ice since the tires are essentially a rock. I drive the family mobile on the weekends, and I have experienced and felt slips on ice when navigating through the neighborhood and errands...I think I decided I am going to try the WR G3 SUV Nokians when these A/S wear next year.