Dorian K

Just had our first snow in the Philadelphia region and my S4 handles well but those Bridgestones just cant stop the car.
Considering some winter tire options. I was leaning towards the Pirelli 210s or possibly Blizzaks. Issue is, if its dry out I still like to cruise the highway at 80-90. Is this viable with snow tires, and which ones are best?
Any advice appreciated.
TIA

DT-F1

I have the Pirelli Winter 210A's on my S4. They're great in the snow. More importantly, they are the first winter tire I've used that didn't seriously degrade the dry weather handling. I highly recommend them, but I've heard they're hard to find now. Check NTB. Good luck.

MarkFank

The Michelins are awesome in the snow and are probably the best in wet and dry conditions. The Tire Rack had a comparison between the Michelins/Blizzaks and the Pirellis. Check it out at tire rack's website. The Michelins are much more quiet too. The Blizzaks rule in ice but thats about it. You'll chew them up at 90 MPH on the dry. There are many posts about how great the Alpins are with the quattro and from my experience they are right.

Mike S

Re: Michelin Pilot Alpins! I agree. Much quieter and nicer in the dry and Porsche rates them #!

DMoore

I have a set of 205/55-16 on my S4. Tires are great on highway. I've commuted 600 mi roundtrip to ski. Cruise 80-85 mph, short spurts at higher speeds. No problems at all, not noticeably noisier than Bridgestone OEM's.

In snow, they're not as good as Nokian snow tires I've had on previous A4Q's, but they get the job done. I'd consider this a snow tire that's tilted towards dry road performance, but it's still more than adequate (and FAR better than a non-snow) when the road gets slippery.

DMoore
'00 S4

Chris

the Dunlop SP Winter Sport M2 do well for me

Mike

I experienced the same problem here in Northeast Ohio. I just purchased the Bridgestone WT-05's and I'm extremely pleased! They're H-rated speed wise and they handled well in 5 inches of snow last night. The Blizzak MZ-01 tread and sidewalls are just to soft for non-snow days! Good luck!

TJW

What about Continental ContiWinterContact TS 770 ? Anyone have any experience with them??

MarkFank

I know I already gave my $.02 in this issue but the snow tire question seems to come up every few days. From what I have read in this forum, in Road & Track etc, discussions with friends, and with my experiences with Blizzaks and Pilot Alpins I will try and give a quick pros and cons for the most popuar snow tires in this forum. I am not trying to be an expert on this but it seems the same comments are being repeated and I'm just summarizing.

Bridgestone Blizzaks - Hands down best perfomer on ice, great in snow, poor wet/dry performance, noisy in dry

Nokian Hakks - Killer performance in deep snow , very noisy in dry, ok wet/dry performance

Dunlop Winter Sports - good all around performing tires for wet/dry/snow, probably the least expensive. Those that own them seem to like them.

Pirelli Asimetricos & Michelin Pilot Alpins - great in snow, best performers in dry/wet, ice can be a little scary, expensive, most give the nod to the Pilots in a head to head comparison

Bridgestone RE040 stock tires - absolutely suck in snow which is to be expected. Lots of close calls and ABS issues reported in snow with them. I have only driven 50 miles on dry in them before I threw the snows on. Some like 'em and some hate 'em for summer use. I'll probably replace them with Pole Positions when they are worn out.

I hope this helps anyone looking for snow tires. You should base your choice on what driving style and conditions you spend most of your driving time in and what style best suits your needs. I think all the snows above are probably excellent tires and one should suit your needs. I chose the Alpins because the majority of my driving is done on dry/wet or slushy roads and I want to have maximum performance available. They have performed flawlessly in the snow. I had Blizzaks on my '87 quuattro and I was unstoppable in snow/ice. Hated them in the wet/dry.

If I missed anything on this please add to it. Sorry for the length and happy Audiing!

RocketJohn

Impossible to find Pirelli 210As anymore for S4... they didn't make enough!