Dan in St. Louis

You will get no argument from me on that issue! If I were buying tires right now I would go with the Michelin that is the top of that chart: best in rain, best in snow, well above average in all other categories.

breadbooze

You have to remember the allroad is a niche car with sales of 2-3k units annually and does not share tires with the A4 sedan. In the UK the allroads get Michelin Primacy 3 tires, which aren't much better than what we get in the states. Generally I find OE tires exist to roll the car off the lot and shift the responsibility of handling characteristics to the owner. Maybe we want sticky summer tires, or narrower winter tires, who knows. AoA takes the middle road and specs something that's passable in most conditions while costing them the least out of pocket.

bob m

But surely they can negotiate a good deal on any of their car's' tires and this goes across their entire line of cars and CUV's - including the Allroad. Winter, summer and AS tires all have their place, but why not negotiate for the top - or near top rated tires in each class. The top rated tires certainly would add - at not a lot of extra cost (maybe even a miniscule cost) to the overall safety and driving experience. Audi should not be selecting "passable" tires.

Dan in St. Louis

Quite so--but the "middle road" here is the four-season grand touring category and for the couple of bucks difference there is no reason for Audi to settle for the average in that category. If they feature B&O sound and LED headlights they need to also include better-than-average tires from the chosen category.

archrenov8

I think they go for least expensive, and more importantly, least rolling resistance, to maximize their mpg to meet CAFE standards.

archrenov8

In sizing tires for a particular vehicle, the primary criteria is overall tire diameter. Fit charts seek to maintain that diameter as a constant, regardless of wheel diameter. So as your wheel diameter goes up or down, the aspect ratio (which includes sidewall height) goes down and up accordingly.

This is why people who want to increase winter performance may opt for smaller wheel diameter for winter, to maximize sidewall height, which is favorable for winter, and go larger wheel diameter for summer performance, minimizing sidewall height which is better for handling.

If you mess too much with the overall tire diameter, you screw up the accuracy of the speedometer and odometer.

Fortunate1

I think you nailed it. Tires that come with the vehicle have to meet some minimal ride/noise/handling threshold, but aside from that, low rolling resistance is king.

archrenov8

That is why when I pick up a new car, I drive straight to my tire shop to swap out the tires for something more to my liking.

bob m

Another poor excuse, if that's the case. I'm not sure if the mid rated Contis have any better rolling resistance than the top rated tires. Maybe they do, maybe they don't, but what about safety? What about Audi's (or any car maker's) customers hydroplaning when a top rated tire could prevent that? Or braking sooner? It seems to me besides cutting corners on safety and performance, by buying mid level tires by the millions, they are subsidising/rewarding mediocrity rather than encouraging and rewarding excellence. It's one of those things that simply doesn't/shouldn't be that way.

archrenov8

I totally agree. I think that most manufacturers drop the ball in vetting tire selections. I wonder if it could have something to do with market availability. By that I mean, would the better tires be available in sufficient quantities to fulfill factory orders?