13s4

nothing - until you drive the allroad on summer performance tires. while I did not notice it while driving the stock tires I noted much less sidewall roll during aggressive cornering and the firm tread blocks on the summer tires have less "squish" on roll out which actually dropped my 0-60 times by 0.3 sec's.

to some this makes no difference and is not worth the cost, to each their own.

lastly dedicated performance snows yield a vast improvement over all-seasons in snow or ice. again this may be immaterial if you don't get snow or have the option to stay home on inclement days.

Hatched78

The most drastic benefit of the season appropriate tires is not so much in the "go" but more so in the stopping distance. Of course, if you are taking your car to the track, they help with all aspects of handling, but for everyday driving, being able to stop from 60mph sometimes 30 ft sooner can make all the difference in an emergency situation.

bnewton89

Do you lose any ground clearance by going with a summer performance tires of the same size as OEM (245/45-18)??

While only High Performance All-Season tires Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 Plus looks like an interesting option.

Dan in St. Louis

Nothing in particular is "lacking" in the sense of being poor, but so many of the performance parameters are just average in the "Grand Touring All-Season" class. Overall, 10th choice of 18 contenders. (Ignore the new BF Goodrich at the top of the chart--no data yet so it really should be at the bottom.)

bob m

Ok, I was more referring to the OEM all seasons to the other all seasons. Yep, summer tires do give better performance - especially in aggressive driving and braking. Snow tires - absolutely drive them in the winter months in NJ.

bob m

Gotcha; thanks for posting. I also see that price is not really a determining factor regarding ratings. What I don't understand is why wouldn't Audi (being a luxury and performance based brand) offer the best touring tires they could contract for? Instead of settling for a middle of the road tire. Surely, as noted the better the tire, the better the road handling and safety. I really don't understand the corporate mindset.

Dan in St. Louis

The last I heard auto manufacturers were paying about $6 each for general-purpose tires. Let's quintuple that for inflation and "Grand Touring" tires and assume $30. Yeah, go figure.

bob m

Huh? On my A4 and Allroad as well as Macan, the tires were all known brands and models, not off brand no-name tires and quite up there with price.

Dan in St. Louis

Yes, but we only buy 4 at a time, and they can contract for 400,000--all to just a few delivery points, on a known schedule.

bob m

Ok, I get the low price, but I can't get my head around the fact that they don't chooses the more/most highly rated tires for their line of cars. Again, Audi promotes performance and handling and the tires are that interface.