COAudi99

Hi everyone-

This is my inaugural post!

Current vehicle 16 SQ5 Prestige, Carbon, Black Optic, Dynamic Steer, diamond nappa. 21 in summer, 19 HSA wheels/pirelli winter scorpion.

Giving strong consideration to trading it in for a 19 RS5 SB with the sport, dynamic, black optic carbon, dynamic steer, nappa.

I live in Colorado and drive up the hill often in winter. And I tote around two young kids. Wifey drives a lexus lx570 so I don't need the utility so much but I have concerns about wear and tear in the winter as my daily driver. I'd not doubt get a plug and play set of winter tires and rims.

I like the clearance so I have given some consideration to waiting for the new RSQ3 (because the RSQ5 appears to not exist). But the utility of the SB and cargo space seem about equal if not better on the SB.

Would really like all your opinions and thoughts

ouengineer

Why do you think you need clearance? Are you driving unplowed dirt roads in winter? If not, I can't see much reason for more clearance than a standard sedan. I've been in the Front Range for 6 years now and driven in my hilly neighborhood with 12" of fresh powder (so much fun..), powered up steep hills dodging all the stuck cars, driven down several dirt and gravel roads to get to trailheads or campsites and never once thought I needed more clearance. And that's on high performance all seasons (we do usually take my wife's car with winter tires when driving I70 in winter tho). With winter tires and AWD, I would think you would be fine going most anywhere in Colorado (any place you could not go would likely also be impassable in a standard SUV as well). The only issue I've seen is street parking at a friend's house when the snow has crusted over.

COAudi99

The roads in and around Denver get destroyed every winter and the following spring (where we are now) the roads are full of pockets and holes. There are numerous occasions where I'm glad I'm in a CUV when I hit some of them. Also, in the heavy snow/ice times, its often good to have those extra few inches above the fray. I am most interested in other's perspective though as I've never driven a sedan/SB while living in Colorado. Had an SUV for the past 20 years (4runner,MDX,X5,SQ5) so I have no personal experience.

BlakeV

Well I lowered some cars in the past, some were too low like my BMW E90, now I value ground clearance and my S5 seems to be just right (now visually, I would have some urges to lower it if it wasn't leased).

James P.

I live in Colorado (south of Denver) and all of my recent cars have been Audis as mentioned in my sig. I have had no problem with ground clearance and try my best to avoid potholes but you never can miss all of them. I always put my winter tires on and I used to take my RS4 up skiing regularly and loved that it had a ski bag built in to the rear arm rest so I never needed to put a ski rack on my car. These days I normally take the Q5 skiing as it has the ski rack installed. My RS5 Coupe was great in the snow and it probably had the lowest ground clearance of all my cars. However, I tend to work from home on the worst days...

kctiger1983

FWIW: I just took a 2018 RS5 Coupe through the toughest winter in KC in years. Swapped out OEM Ultra Performance summer tires for same size (275/30/20) Conti AS DWS. Have put 6,000 miles on them since November as a daily driver. Wanted to keep OEM wheels (have powder coated black/bronze). The Contis took 6-8 inch snows, multiple occasions of sleet/ice and horrible pothole conditions. I have 2 small scratches on the exterior rims of wheels which powder coating took care of covering.

The RS5 combo of the new engine/transmission/Quattro system got this car through everything mother nature could throw at it as a DD in worst conditions seen in recent memory. Switching to AS tires was not a popular choice among other posters, but worked beautifully for me with no swapping, and utilizing the single piece, forged OEM wheels, now with the appearance I love. All three letters (DWS) are clearly visible.

I can state with confidence that the RS5 Coupe or SB CAN handle winter as a DD.

COAudi99

Thank you all for your helpful comments

ouengineer

I live in the Boulder area and vastly prefer my current sedan over a previous SUV. If you're worried about potholes, just make sure your tires have plenty of sidewall and are absolutely not runflats. Ground clearance is overrated and rarely useful.

COAudi99

Anyone use 235/35 winters on the RS5 or are most using 265/35 or 275/35?

fwd55

I'm using 235/40R19 Blizzak LM-32s on OEM 19x8 wheels, which my dealer says is what Audi recommends. They're actually 1mm shorter than the OEM 20s, negligible, but i would have preferred to raise the ride height a bit. No issues at all this winter. I think a 235/35 in either 19 or 20 would lower the car too much for winter.