dbtong

good way to justify new wheels.

DMoore

There are 3 levels of chain restrictions, which can be enforced by CalTrans and/or CHP:

R-1. Chains required. Vehicles with snow tires OK, MUST CARRY CHAINS.

R-2. Chains required. Vehicles with 4wd and snow tires on all 4 wheels OK, MUST CARRY CHAINS.

R-3. Chains required. NO EXCEPTIONS. 4wd with snow tires are NOT exempt from this.

If you're in an S4, even with snow tires you're barred from R-3 travel because you can't use chains. R-3 is rarely used but I have seen it several times in 30 years of skiing in SoCal and the Sierras. My experience is that if the road is R-3, I turn around and go home. Somebody is bound to slide out and block the road anyway.

Even if you have snow tires, they can and sometimes will make you show them your chains at a check point. So I carry a set in the trunk, even though they don't fit my tires and I couldn't use them if I wanted to. It's good enough to convince CalTrans/CHP that I do have them, and that gets me through the check point.

DMoore
'01 S4

Jerry P...

I can't help out w/ the S4-specific part of your question, but can add that I live in the Bay area and basically hit Tahoe every weekend during the ski season using a 98 Avant w/ Quattro. I switch to true snow tires on 15" steel wheels before the first trip up until late spring (when Alpine closes or the chance of snow is minimal).

What someone else pointed out below (mostly dry but a mess when it snows) is true. What really drives my decision to put snows on, rather than all seasons, is not snow traction (w/ a Q your fine with most all seasons for that), but stopping on the packed snow/ice which is very common up there during many storms (especially the "wet" ones). No way any all season is any good in those conditions!

I don't drive the Audi aggressively on the street, so what I give up in dry traction most of the time is not a big deal.

Oh yeah, I've been using Yoko Guardex for the past few years. Need to replace them this year, not sure what to get, though...