What tires are you using?
 

Wondering what tires everyone is using on their A8?

For:

All-season?
Summer? (if used)
Winter? (if used)

Currently on the stock tires and will be replacing them with 20 inch Continental Extreme Contact DW come springtime.

For winter (first snow) I run 20 inch Dunlop SP Winter Sports.

These seem to be the most popular two choices.

Is the Continental really that much better than the Michelin or Pirelli?

Can't say if it's that much better.... but it is a very popular tire.

All Season Conti DSW06's in a 275/40/20

When these wear out, I'll go back to the All Season Goodyear Sport 275/40/20 which I preferred over the DSW06.

Wished Michelin made a decently priced all season tire in the 275/40/20 size.

275?

I'm running Pirelli PZero Nero GT for the summer. 245/30/22 and 295/25/22

For the winter I'm using Pirelli SottoZero 275/35/21.

Huh?

The tire size for the A8 is 265/40/20.

Why the change(s)...?

And doesn't that screw with other settings in the car - including the speedometer?

Going to a 275 from a 265 is only 10mm (2/5 of an inch) wider and 8mm taller (1/3 of an inch).

Some will say that the 275 makes the speedo read correctly :-)

The reason people run 275's instead of the 265's is tire choice. There are many more options in that size.

BTW, the optional tire on the S8 is a 275mm section width tire.

...STFA

Yep, 265 so you can use one of the Audi stock goofball sizes used on virtually no other cars, with about no tire selection and at high prices. Audi gets 'em cheaper though, w/ little doubt in my mind as part of an inside deal that was probably cut so the tire companies could get more for the poor selection replacement market. Hmmm, what's wrong w/ that picture, viewed from several angles? Or, use 275 that has lots of choices and better pricing and .... 9" wheels on car stock that can handle 275's just fine anyway, and width they already had used with optional 20's on D3, though back then in 35's. And on D4 S8 fitment are 21's on 9's, also 275, though you can find 265 sometimes in 21's sometimes fit in some markets too.

On speedo, if something is wrong, it is most likely when fit w/ stock. Car manufacturers get major fined if a speedo reads pessimistic, but not at all if optimistic. So, guess which side they err on? In plain English, S8 w/ 275/40-20's on mine right now (Conti DW summers) reads dead nuts on at highway speeds per GPS phone app. Used to read very slightly...optimistic.

Buy hey, if you love them 265's in all 5-6 or so total choices out there in the universe (one of which is only an HR speed rated tire and another of which is the Dunlop winter), the tire co's will love to take your incremental $

And yes, if you are on a lease car or expect to trade it in to dealer who would CPO, need to stick to 265's for other reasons. Otherwise...fleece me.

Doesn't mess with a thing. My 275's are the same height as my 265's side by side, even though Tire Rack shows the 275's to be a wee bit taller tire, they for sure are a bit wider however.

The 275's just look better being wider as well. As has been said, the selection of 275's is much-much better and cheaper to boot. I got sick and tired of wearing out expensive summer tires in only 20,000 miles and see no upside to using summer only tires. Winter tires of course are the way to go in the snow if you are on icy roads a bunch.

sorry, I have an S8. The stock size is 265/35/21 for the 2013. I think the newer S8's come with the 275 now. 265 is an odd ball size which is hard to find.

2014 A8L, sounds like the 275's might let me select a tire that does not sound like I have a Piper Cub airplane strapped to my front end.

I live in San Diego, we don't have rain much at all, so dry tires are fine.

Any suggestions that are quieter than stock.

Greg

It doesn't matter.
All D4 series S8's can wear 275/35/21 or 265/35/21

There's nothing magical about this at all.

I have all-season Sumitomo htr enhance c/x 255/50/19 on 2013 A8L 4.0. Very happy with the choice so far.

Thats why I got the 255/45R20 Michelin AS3 which runs fantastic and no issues with speedo error. I use separate winter tires and rims btw in size 19 inch size.

I have the Contis DWS and find them a bit loud. I might have to replace them soon and my preference on all the cars I've owned are Michelins but they are pricier but quieter. Not sure about the treadwear though, might wear faster if they're softer.

just checked, doesn't look like Michelin even makes an all-season on tirerack in a 275/40/20 tire. crap

Yes, I'm not too impressed with the DWS06's at all. They are wearing fairly fast, they get noisy after some miles and are spongy and need the air cranked up a bit, just not crisp in the handling dept. Don't know why they are so highly ranked on tire rack. I really liked the Goodyear Sports, but the ones I got from Tire Rack were just not round and smooth enough. I'll be getting them from the local Goodyear shop next time, the two I had them replace ran true, the other 9 from Tire Rack did not. I see Tire Rack no longer even sells them either.

I actually have the Pirelli P Zero Neros, hate them. Had them on my last BMW and they cupped, all of them!

would these work? 275/35/20

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 (W- or Y-Speed Rated)

guess the real question is whether a 35 or 40 is "better". 35s might look better because of the lower sidewall? and 275 is wider than 265, correct?

I got those tires in size 255/45R20 on my 2012 Audi A8L and they are running fantastic! No rubbing or major issues. I recommend this size over 275/35R20 which is a bit thin in sidewall height. I have those AS3 in size 275/35R20 on my 2016 Audi A7.

Will they work? Yes, they will..... but.....

That size will be an inch (give or take) shorter than the 275/40's (which are a couple tenths taller than the stock size).



I am going through a similar thing in that I just bought a new set of wheels and they came with an almost brand new set of 275/35 DWS06's. So, I'm trying to decide if I want to use them or go with the 40 series tire.



I've been told that the 275/35's will work fine, I just have to decide if I can live with the car being a little lower and a little more tire-fender gap.



The plus side is that the shorter tire will accelerate a little better..... like it needs more :-)

LOL, well, like everything else in life - there doesn't seem to be much of a consensus other than the fact that no one seems to like the Nero :p

Some like the Conti 06 - some don't

Some like the Michelin - some don't

I guess a lot of it might have to do with different driving styles.

I too am looking. Looks like I will have to 1 up to 275. OEM Pirellis resulted in road noise at 12K miles. Conti sports lasted 11K miles before I hit the friggin wearbar! :mad:

2013 A8 3.0 NWB: 20 265/40

Not My Continental Sport Contacts. They sucked! The worst treadwear I ever had. Hit the wearbar at 11K miles. There is suppose to be a decent all season Continental in a 275 size but I'm not going back as they refused to assist me with a new set.

2013 A8 3.9 NWB: 20 265/40

you got that many miles???. I hit the wear bar with just over 11K miles on my Conti sport contact 3's.

Ya, I have to to the 275 size as well. Never knew of us owners got screwed with this tire size. I have 35K miles and I am going on my 3rd tire set. Thats friggin ridiculous. Now I have to find a brand that will truly last, something that isnt very loud and has decent performance

So what would be the most comfortable (soft, smooth) riding 20" tire?

Conti?
Good Year?
Michelin?

Are you talking about these?

EAGLE SPORT ALL-SEASON - OnlineTires.com

Yes, that's them. I'd suggest going to your local GoodYear dealer if you have one close by.

https://www.goodyear.com/en-US/tires...ort-all-season

Hmm am I the only one with factory 19's? Looks like 20's are the industry standard. I did buy mine used and currently am running 245/35/19 but edmunds online specs have factory 19 specs at 255/40/19.

19's were a "base" fitment but nothing to sweat design wise. 19's are also 9" wheels as I recall, so you could push those out to 275's as well if you can find the size in a given tire. You are running a really small diameter size if down at 35's BTW. You should actually be in the 45 series sizes on a 19 in a D4 in general.

As a whole class though, 19's were not really the volume leader in D body type sizes (which are very large diameters overall for sedans (non-SUV's). The choice and norms ceded to be more 18s or 20's, so like the 265/40 special case for the D4's in 20's, you can get kind of "orphaned" in the 19 too. I looked at them for a winter fitment even on S8 (they fit the 400mm brakes as long as an OE compliant where design), but real world tire choices in a D4 type running diameter were again limited.

FWIW, two pages from the UK brochure there wheels have a fair number of choices, and where you see the factory spec tire fitments.

man I never thought it would be so difficult to be confident in buying a tire that will last on this car. somebody did nicely in cornering the market on these OEM tires and then you walk into the average tire shop and they freak out try to dissuade you from changing size

I would like to go to a 19" wheel/tire for a better ride - but I really don't care for any of the Audi stock 19" wheels (like to keep it stock).

The 15 spoke one isn't bad - the other two just are not to my liking.

If I had to go to 20" - the most common 20" wheel, the 10 spoke is OK - but I rather like the new 20" 15 spoke one for the 2015+ A8.


19"


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...301938a22.jpeg


20"


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...0cdbf88c2.jpeg

Yeah I have the top middle one pictured in MP's post... not a fan of the stock wheels

As for tires I normally get continental dws for all seasons and blizzak LMS I think for snow tires. I have a spare set of wheels already from my previous car so I think I'm going to go with snow tires specifically as reading someone's previous post saying we should consider the stock tires basically summer tires which is scary. I have a good amount of tread left and was riding in the rain and I didn't really like how it handled. This is my first Audi so I think Its me and I just need to adjust... but until then I'd be more comfortable getting some blizzaks on.

Thanks MP for the explanation... appreciate your contributions to all my newb moments

FWIW, below is another picture from the UK S7 brochure w/ more OE wheels. Some of these float around EBay too. Basically the S7 wheels are a direct cross over to D4 and are often interchanged; identical offsets. The tires off an S7 are an inch too small though.

S5 wheels also work well as donors with very close offsets and can be found in 9" widths and 19's. Because S5 wheels fly, then in turn so do Q5 ones, but Q5 wheels max at 8 ½'s generally, whether 19's or 20's. Could be good donors though for a winter set up, especially if falling back to a narrower tire width. Q5 wheels are heavy--from owning one--but also then maybe a decent winter donor. All of these have the current 66mm hub center and 5x 112 std. Audi bolt pattern found w any D4.

The easiest wheel to find BTW is the twin 10 spoke mounted on many D4's and some S7's. Second row, left side of my earlier UK A8 brochure pic. Those are constantly on EBay, fairly often on on AZ and various other classifieds. Better (lower) priced than most other OE wheels in good shape. For whatever reason (presumably pure style), it doesn't get a lot of interest. As mentioned before though, while it looks chunky, it is one of the handful of forged ones and is actually meaningfully lighter than most any of the cast ones yet has the better typical strength of a forged. The 20" one in polo's second picture is also a forged, though about another 2 ½ pounds over a twin 10.

I am so reluctant to go back to conti's but let's say the Extreme contacts last longer than the Sport Contact 3's, I often read so many reviews on how they are noisy. So many Conti reviews seem to have a comment on noise

I'm running Michelin PSS 275/35ZR20. Super happy with them. Car is lowered so looks great. I would like to try and go to 285/30ZR20 but inside clearance will be tight. I'll take some detail measurements and decide once I need a next set.

Can do what you want (as long as all four are the same), but that size is a full step off--35's instead of 40's on a 20" D4 wheel. I know it from the prior D3 optional 20" size. Also the C7 S7 size. Lots of tire choices in that size, but it is the better part of an inch smaller in diameter than stock at 265/40-20, or 275/40-20 where many of us have been going. Even lowered, it is sort of fighting the fender gap being increased by the diameter reduction in the tire rubber. On a D4, your speedo is likely now about 4% optimistic--and effective gearing about that much lower.