digita6

Greetings! I am almost to the end of my first week with my new S5 SB, and I'm loving every minute behind the wheel (and even just standing near it!). I just learned that I will need to relocate from Seattle to Silicon Valley for potentially a couple of months starting soon. Instead of flying down and renting a car, I thought it would be a great opportunity for a road trip in the new Audi! That in mind, I was thinking about swapping out the 20" wheels with summer tires for something a bit more seasonally appropriate (since I'm not sure what I might encounter on the drive). I've been looking at putting some 19" wheels on with the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 or Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3. Does anyone have experience with either of these, or perhaps a different recommendation? My search of the forums revealed several people have had good results with the Michelins. I would get a new set of wheels at the same time from TireRack and have them shipped to a local installer.

THANKS!

John

DaveSNJ

Given that you don't need snow tires in Silicon Valley I would just spec a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+.

farmerjones

The Sottozero 3s are the only winter tire option for the R8 (so that's what I got). I also had a set on my TT. They are definitely designed to offer a more sporty/performance oriented drive than other winter tires and do excellent in the rain when the temps are above freezing. No weird wear and I've been super happy with them. Keep in mind Micheline actually offers a tread life warranty of 40,000 miles on X-ice tires, something that virtually no other winter tire offers. I had X-ice on the TT at one point as well and they were excellent.

digita6

@DaveSNJ since I will eventually be returning to Seattle in Spring, I'd like to have some tires that would be good for winters up here as well (not much snow in Seattle proper, but can get heavy in the passes and for skiing). Would the Michelin A/S work well for ski trips as well?

njspeedfreak

I'm running the Alpin PA4 for the winter here in NJ. It's a great tire. It's tuned to be closer to a performance all season than a pure snow tire, but it's certainly capable of handling snow during the few times a year I really need them to.

DaveSNJ

Given that you might want a bit more of a dedicated option which....

...this is a great choice.

Deazy

Another tire to consider would be the Nokian WRG4 which is an all weather tire. Handles snow well and doesn't have squirm on dry roads. I run those for snows on my RS and love them. Nice and quiet too.

Nikon1

I only wish local tire dealers around me carried them! As it is, I have to order them from a reseller in MI when I order them. Someone in this area has suggested “Mavis Tires,” but both local Mavis shops looked at me as if I was from Mars when I asked if they carried them. I guess we don’t get enough “winter weather” to incite them to carry Nokians?

I will be ordering Nokian’s in the fall for my winter wheels.
— John

digita6

I had Nokians on my Subaru and they were stellar all weather tires. I hadn't even thought of them for the Audi! Thanks for the suggestion!

njspeedfreak

Yeah - about that. I would make every possible effort to avoid Mavis for any and all reasons. I've heard to many horror stories about their service and their techs. We have American Tire in my area and my experience with them so far has always been good.

I always have to special order the specific tires I'm looking for (generally the latest version of the Michelin Pilot) and the service desk is able to get them from the warehouse within a day or two. I always get that appreciative nod too whenever I bring the car in - I think they are always happy to have a customer who actually understands the importance of a good set of tires on a performance car. My impression is that they deal with a lot of high end performance car owners who come in and ask for "whatever the cheapest all season tire is".