chris9995

Ordered my new S5 today, Prestige, Volcano Red with Black leather/Chestnut Brown inserts. Auto, Sports diff & Carbon Inlays. standard 18" tires.
Now I just have to wait......
Should be here around Early Nov. just in time for me to change tires over to winter, so here's the question.
Do the Summer tires get swapped out to winter after a certain date by the factory, or when they arrive at the dealership or.. not at all.
Forgot to ask that in the heat of all my questions.

mike1174

If I were you, id sell those summer and get all season. I have separate winters and it's a pain, gotta do alignment, balancing again, etc. I think when my 19 summers are done, I'll get my 18 winter wheels and get a good all season.

Can anyone recommend a good 18 all season tire? I figure you can get a better 18 than 19 all season, is that true?

NHman

I don't recommend this. Rather plan on buying a 18" winter rim/tire setup. Once your vehicle arrives have the dealer swap it and store the factory summer setup. A full winter setup from Tire Rack will cost around $1400 USD.

All-season tires can be okay but the tire by design is a compromise. Giving up dry weather handling and braking performance to work in low temperatures. A dedicated setup (for winter and summer) will provide the best results with maximum traction throughout the year.

If you car is configured for the summer only tires (by default it is), the rubber will become very hard and in-effective in temperatures at and below 40F. Don't wait for the snow and ice.

a5sport

+1

@chris9995...All Season tires don't do anything well. Consider the money spent on a winter tire/wheel setup as just the price of admission to own an A/S5.

Fithian

I don't see why one would need to do an alignment or balancing when installing the winter wheel tire combo. I have never done that, and had no problems. It is an additional cost for the wheels, but the tire wear is shared with the summer tires. Wheels can be anywhere from $100 each to $1000 each. I tend to lean toward the $100 ones for winter tires. Winter tires cost less than summer tires and have much higher performance than all seasons, which should probably be labeled "no-seasons." There is also the convenience feature if you have room to store them and a facility to change them.

FWIW, my son just purchased a 2013 A4 Premium and is using the Alzor Titanium wheels ($140) with Hakka R tires in 225-50-17. I will probably use the same setup for my 2013 S5.

a5sport

No. If your car comes with summer tires...you get summer tires, regardless of the time of year. It's up to you to put on snow tires, or all-season tires, if needed.

mike1174

[QUOTE=Fithian;24343992]I don't see why one would need to do an alignment or balancing when installing the winter wheel tire combo. I have never done that, and had no problems.QUOTE]

I thought because the diameter is different, that alignment needs to be done to best preserve the life of the tire... uneven wear, etc..

MonzaA5

Sounds like your tire shop is taking advantage of an ignorant customer. You don't necessarily need to do tire balancing when switching between summers and winters (but you DO need to do it periodically regardless of whether you use all-seasons or separates). As for wheel alignment, you only need to do that if the car pulls to the side. Switching wheels does not make the car go out of alignment, nor does magically unbalance the tires..

Also, it seems weird to buy a high performance and then handicap it with crappy, low grip all-season tires.

MonzaA5

The overall rolling diameter will be the same provided wheels and tires are properly matched.

a5sport

"Weird"? Downright stupid. Why would anyone do that?