m332is

We get the same crappy weather in Western NY and I've done essentially the same thing... as soon as I burn through the summer tires, I buy very good high performance all seasons and run them from early/mid March unit mid/late Nov. In Nov, I put pure snow tires on the car and in March, they come off. I know give up some performance, but I've been OK with it for the street with the rationalization that what I've sacrificed during the summer allowed me to enjoy Oct, Nov, March and April without snow tires. With that said, I will say, I am enjoying the HP summer tires and may re-think it when these wear out and go summer HP again.

PGrefal

just wanted to ask if there would there be much difference with 245 as opposed to 255 size tires with the stock 19 inch rims for the all season tires as far as performance?

njspeedfreak

The Michelin Pilot Alpins handle the occasional warm days of late fall and early winter like a high performance All Season, so I'm comfortable leaving them on the car until there is no possible chance of any winter weather. For my area (NJ) that's this weekend.

But there have been times that I wondered if a 3 tire setup would be the optimal solution. Summer tires from May through mid Sept. All seasons for Oct, Nov, Dec. Hard core snow tires for Jan and Feb. Then back to all seasons for March and April. It wouldn't really cost more in tires since I'm going to burn through them no matter what's mounted on the car. I'd have to buy one more set of wheels though, and I'd be looking at 4 tire swaps per year instead of just 2. Not sure it's really worth it where I live, but if I lived a little further north or in a snow belt I would probably give it real consideration.

Glisse

Same here, tend to go long on winters, shorter on summers. The Pilot Alpins are fine in warmer temperatures (as are Pirelli Sottozero, I have both), probably wear a bit faster because the high performance all seasons presumably use a harder compound.

As per the examples below (similar with Continental and Pirelli versions), you can see that the performance winters have much more micro siping cuts to deal with ice which is almost completely lacking in any of the performance all seasons, but the basic tread block and channels have similarity between performance winters and the North American high performance all seasons. The summer performance tyres are trying to get as close as possible to slicks without being hopeless in wet conditions. Although aquaplaning is always an issue with this category - the biggest difference between a Michelin Pilot Super Sport and Sport 4S is that the 4S is apparently the 4S is more resistant to aquaplaning. Tyre width comes into that equation though.

I can understand the attraction of a high performance all season tyre to some that live in volatile climates, such as jlarke. And using one of these as a summer tyre in a location which may have a lot of lousy weather in summer makes some sense to me. And he/she is using "proper" winter tyres, which also seems a good idea.

I can't recall exactly which H rated all seasons Audi is fitting on the S4/S5, but if it is Pirelli Cinturato, these are biased to winter and are low performance in warmer weather. Not just in handling, also stopping distances. Not suitable for an S car.

It would be nice to have a large garage with multiple sets of wheels/tyres, and a pit crew that can change them each morning in 3 seconds or so depending on the days forecast





Michelin Pilot Alpin 4



Michelin Pilot Sport AS 3+



Michelin Pilot Sport 4S



Pirelli Cinturato All Season

markcincinnati

Does anyone know where the decision regarding tires are made? Is it by Audi AG or does Audi of America have any "vote"?

Many of us (I live in SW Ohio -- typically the home of "moderate" winters, in terms of snowfall, but often the home of temps below freezing) who have the desire and wherewithal to buy an "S" Audi are not fans of (and often don't need) switching tires twice annually. Some of us go ahead and specify their "S's" with the N/C all-season tire option. What we get for doing so are "H" rated "Performance" (usually Grand Touring) tires. These tires' speed rating dictates lowering the top-speed governor on an S4, for instance. to 130MPH in order to not deliver a vehicle to a customer that can "outrun" its tires. Longer tread-life and a pretty quiet tire is about the best that can be said for the GT tires Audi chooses. They're pretty good below 45 degrees and OK in light to moderate snow. They do not inspire handling confidence the rest of the time, however. Indeed, if you've ever driven an S4 with the UHP Summer only tires Audi chooses vs. the P all-season tires Audi chooses, you may well think the vehicle with the GT tires doesn't even have a sport suspension. These GT tires make an S4 feel "under-tired".

Yet, as noted above, there are greatly improved A/S tires from at least three companies that are able to be classified as UHP (usually W or Y rated). These UHP A/S tires are better than some UHP summer-only tires, but they are, overall, still a compromise. Continental, Michelin, and Pirelli (and there are, undoubtedly others) offer such tires. I have personal experience with the Continental and Michelin offerings. My 2018 S4 came with Pirelli P7's (UHP Summer only). I specifically ordered my S4 with the summer tires to avoid the "limiter" situation -- despite the fact that I very rarely crack 100MPH.

At 8,500 miles, I went with Michelin Pilot Sport AS 3+ 's (on the OEM 18" wheels) -- after the break-in period, my subjective evaluation of these "shoes" is that they exceeded the capabilities of the OEM UHP P7's.

Also, they are much quieter.

I inflate the tires with a +2 pound bias on the fronts.

We just completed one of the worst (in terms of snowfall) winters we've had in SW Ohio (although the snow never stuck around more than a day or two) in years -- I never had any issue that made me, even briefly, have the sense that I wished I had winter tires. Now that we're looking at our second upper-70 degree day, these Michelin's are demonstrating they're worthy of the name Pilot Sport. However, I do not believe these tires are for everyone -- and I certainly do believe there are higher performance, summer only tires available. These tires inspire confidence -- but I do not track my car and rarely have the opportunity to push the car "on the twisties" due to traffic and safety considerations. I often drive on the (crowded) Interstate. Thank god for traffic jam assist.

The point is the opening question: Who (and from what country do they hail) decided to equip "S" cars with either short-lifespan UHP summer-only tires (that contribute to the "S-ness" of these cars) or with long-lifespan P all-season tires (that detract from the "S-ness") when there are UHP all-season tires (from Continental, Michelin, and Pirelli no less) that, although somewhat of a compromise, do not significantly inhibit the performance of an S4, S5, etc? Why doesn't Audi choose the best UHP tires on the market regardless of the customer's selection of summer only or all-season tires? It seems the customer is given two choices: Very good and simply OK -- on an "S" car there never should be an H-rated "P" (performance) tire offered as an OEM choice.

In a time where "mass customization" is possible, we should be offered the ability to pick the type (if not the brand) of characteristic(s) for our cars -- or at least Audi needs to reevaluate its all-season program.

Jack Felipe

I hit 184 in my stage 2 b8 s4 plan on doing faster once I get my b9 in a week or so

TT-S4

LOL! Much of what you say is true.
Except for the idea that even at 85mph semi's, plural, will be tailgating you.

I live in the Chicago area, the transportation traffic congestion hub of the country.
Even on the more open, less traffic roads, like the Indiana toll roads, I-80 and I-94, I have never been tailgated by a semi, when I've been driving 85mph.
I have had the very experience at 70mph, yet those are a very limited number of semis that can do that.
And the only reason I was being tailgated by a semi is because of traffic in front of me, where a slowpoke was in the left/passing lane, and a hyped up semi trucker who thinks he can bully his way to getting every other vehicle to move out of his way.

Thankfully, as soon as a space opens, we're gone and that semi can suck on the rick wonderous fumes of a rich mix of a turbo engine at full throttle.