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I was in the same shoes last Winter and decided to go with a second set of rims & tires. I went with 18" rims and Michelin X-Ice tires, and I have been really happy with them. My driving consists of not only daily work commutes, but also back roads spirited driving and the Michelin X-Ice tires really impressed me with their performance and traction.
Like a lot of others here, I ordered them from Tire Rack and they came delivered to my home already mounted and balanced with the additional centering rings and lugs needed to bolt them on the car. I have a garage here and a nice floor jack so it only takes me about 20 to 30 minutes to swap out the tires and then store the remaining set in a corner of the garage.
Tire Rack has a ton of options and lets you configure your own package that they will then mount and balance for you at no additional charge. You can then either have them shipped to your home, Audi dealer, or local tire shop for install. As for me, I went with the following set up: 18" Rims 18" Michelin X-Ice Tires
Here are a few photos of the car from last Winter with the set installed on the car.
Might also be able to find the 18" take offs from cars who were specced that way. I have got my car with the 18's since I bought in November and love having the OEM wheel for the winter (stronger than aftermarket wheels by quite a bit in my experience)
While owning a set of winter and summer wheels may seem like a costly hassle, I’ve had good luck selling my winter set when I’ve bought a new car. I just sold the winter set for the 2011 BMW 335xi that I traded in for my A5. I got the equivalent of the money back for the wheels, so the net loss was the cost of the tires which I put 27,000 miles on. If I had run all-seasons, I would have need to buy a set of this along the way, so it really was a wash.
Because I live I the Chicago area, I did a -1 to 18” wheels and tires for my A5. The pot holes are horrible here in the winter and I just don’t want to risk bent rims....which has happened to me in the past. Went with Pilot Alpin PA4 tires based on my previous Alpins for the 335xi. Very grippy with good handling in wet and dry.
I always found an extra set of wheels over a number of years to be cheaper than mounting and balancing a set of tires twice a year.
And while snows wear faster than most tires you are not using up the tread on your other set so there is some savings there.
And the safety factor of snows is priceless IMO
I always found an extra set of wheels over a number of years to be cheaper than mounting and balancing a set of tires twice a year.
And while snows wear faster than most tires you are not using up the tread on your other set so there is some savings there.
And the safety factor of snows is priceless IMO
Especially if you factor in the potential of the damage to one of the tires beads if the tech is over zealous or is using rusty equipment on the switchover.
Especially if you factor in the potential of the damage to one of the tires beads if the tech is over zealous or is using rusty equipment on the switchover.
And the PIA factor of having to take the car in 2x a year to ge it done. And trying to find an appointment when everyone else is doing likewise. No thanks, 30-40 min of my time to do it myself is worth it.
I went with 18” replicas from Costco (not available in the US) and 235/45 X-ice3.
10-19-2018, 05:44 AM
