Winter tires or All-Seasons for Ski Commute?
 

I'm about to spring for an S4, and I was wondering about my tire options. The 19inch performance summer tires that come with the prestige package aren't going to do well in Tahoe during ski season.

I live near San Francisco, CA, so the temperatures don't really get that low, even in winter, although we do see a bit of rain. However, between November and April I probably drive to the ski areas and back about 15-20 times. The last 20-50 miles of driving can be pretty snowy with inconsistent plowing and salting.

Should I get a set of UHPAS tires or performance winters? Note that I'll be driving on normal/wet roads 5 days out of the week during the California "winter" season.

I know there are similar threads out there, but none quite addresses my issue. Thanks in advance for any advice!

i remember watching a few videos on tirerack.com comparing the different types of tires on different conditions. the one i saw was on an ice skating rink.

here is a video of the all season tires vs snow/winter tires

http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index...=23&tab=winter

i hope this helps and sorry i can not offer some first hand opinions but you can never go wrong with the added grip. and have you thought of just having 2 sets of wheels? it may be expensive but that is what i plan to do if i get an S4 living in Massachusetts

Ah, perhaps I wasn't clear. I'm asking for advice about my 2nd set of wheels for winter (such as it is). Definitely will be riding on summer rubber during the non-ski season. My main worry is that winter tires will suck when I'm back in the 60 degree temps in the valley where I do most of my driving.

I'd like for my winter tires to do okay in wet/dry conditions at 60 degrees as well as in snow/ice. Thoughts?

read up on Yokohama W drive V rated, excellent in warmer weather. These are what I am using this winter

I have been running UHPAS tires now for 10 years in Seattle on S4s. I do alot of skiing, they work fine. Similar situation ski area wise to you , but we also get some snow in town here.

Bruce

Mt. Rainier from Crystal Mountain ski area, 1.25 hrs from my house.
http://www.tlcpropmgmt.com/audi/P3143050-small.jpg

Beautiful picture! Different on the east coast in regards to elevation changes and weather. New England "mixed presipatation" requires aggessive winter set up.

My UHP winter tires are fine. Studless snow/ice tires would be mushy. Do you need cable chains in the trunk for the Donner pass? If you have serious snow an A4/S4 is not the right vehicle. Be careful. A high ground clearance SUV is better. Also safer in a collision.

WHTMTNS4- That picture is taken from a higher elevation than you have in your whole state. I ran studded winter snow tires on all 4 wheels on 2WD for 25 years before switching to UHPAS tires on AWD. Please explain why you think it is neccessary for aggressive winter set up where you live. An S4 does not have enough ground clearance to handle very much snow on the road.

Thanks,
Bruce

The reason he said it is that in the Northeast it is common to encounter mixed precip such as freezing rain, heavy wet packing snow with a rain component, sleet, mush, junk and whatever godawful crap you can imagine on the roads all the way from home to the hill. Winter at it's crappiest is pretty much the norm. Nice dry roads and then 50 miles of Caltrans-maintained highway with a 10 mile 2-lane at the end is kind of a different universe. (referring to the OP's loc not yours Bruce).

However as long as it isn't too deep, and you shouldn't be out in the deep in an S4 anyways, I'm not so sure that a good UPHAS won't cut it considering the AWD. However as my entire family was almost killed when I was a kid by getting head-on'd by a fully-loaded lumber truck in Claremont NH I think I'd spring for the snows in NE anyways.I ronically the fact that we had ****ty tires saved our lives, the lack of adhesion allowed us to reverse direction upon impact much more easily than if we had been glued to the road. Go figure.

Fair enough LeadToRome. However here we are transitional, we have lots of black ice. Wicked stuff with hills and mountains we have here. Any precip close to freezing is worst traction in my experience. When it gets cold, not as bad traction wise.

The rule I use is "drive within the limits of your traction". Frankly, I am not worried about me, only other drivers.

Bruce