Your Snowtires? A poll
 

What snow tires will be on your B8 A4 this winter? Do you recommend them?

Regards,

-- plA4keeps

If you drive in the snow and ice, absolutely! Car will accelarte, turn and most importantly brake better w/ winter specific tires. I went w/ Bridgestone Blizzaks on 18" wheels (245/45) and like them. Have also had Dunlop SP Sports on previous Audi's.

I have used dunlop winter sports (both in M3 and 3D form) on a few bmw's. I also have experience with hankook icebear w300's on a honda...

I really wanted to keep to the narrowest possible oem size, and found 17" oem wheels, so went with 225/50-17. For that size, the only H or V-rated tire out there were the pricey michelin pilot alpin pa3's. So far only 200 miles of dry/wet on them and they are much better in that than I expected. In fact there seems to be no added squishiness, no loss in steering precision from my 245/40-18 pirelli p7's! They basically feel like a very good UHP all-season tire for wear, noise, ride and handling. They seem to grip dry and wet asphalt very well at 30-40F. They are clearly superior to either dunlop off the white stuff. Let's hope they match them on. Car being a quattro and given the region I live in (NY/NJ), quite happy with my choice.

Toyo Garitt KX, 17". They seem quite soft (too soft?) on dry pavement but I had 18" performance tires before so they were at the opposite end of the spectrum which is why I notice a big change (and I tend to drive in a spirited way..).

There should be quite a bit of snow here this week, I can't wait to see how they handle in snow & ice.

Hi all,

I've been running Blizzaks, currently WS60, for the last few years and love them.

I'm running 16's on my 2010 A4 and yes they fit :) I bought new winter rubber last year for the Passat I had and didn't see the need to buy a whole new set up so I went and bought the 16's that Audi shows as a winter wheel - alloy.

The WS60 were amazing on the Passat FWD and can't wait to test them out on the A4. As mentioned above, the extra grip and better steering, braking etc is well worth the investment in winter tires.

Perry

Blizzak's it what I have always used and they give you so much more traction that the standard all seasons it is incrediable. The cost is not as much as you think because when you have winter rubber on you are saving your summer tires.

The way I look at it you spent big buck on your car, why not take full advantage of it with a good set of winter rubber, you will be amazed at the difference. I have been doing this winter / summer switch since 1976 and I know I have save my neck many times.

Anybody want to chime in about whether they're running 17" or 18" winter tires, why they chose that setup and any handling or performance differences they've noticed? I've got a car with the 18" sport package and am trying to figure out whether to go to 17"s or stick with 18" snows.

I am running 17" with Dunlop WinterSport 3D's. I chose the 17" because they are more narrow than the 18". I can't comment on performance differences because I don't drive aggressively in the winter.

Some Snow Tire Questions
 

Thanks very much for all the replies so far guys. I am driving a 2010 A4 Quattro Premium+ Sedan. Stock 17" ten spoke wheels w/ 245/45 all season tires.

A handful of very basic questions for you snow tire veterans...

(1) I am most likely going to pick up a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS60's. Which is the appropriate tire for the A4?

(2) Will my existing rims work w/ the snow tires?

(3) Where do you folks buy these tires? Local tire shop or online?

(4) Do you have your Audi dealer do the mounting and balancing?

(5) Where do you store your all-season tires during the winter?

(6) It is just starting to snow in Upstate, NY. The real snow has not arrived. Any reason not to put the snow tires on now?

Thanks.

-- plA4keeps

I just got my new winter tires 2 weeks ago and tried the out today in 18" of snow and WOW I love this car and these tires. I,m running 245 40 18 ws60 blizzak's they worked very well in the snow and ice very happy with the purchase.
Tom