Damon@tirerack.com

Have you ever tried a dedicated snow tire? If not, you should. If you think the car is good on all-seasons, you should see it on snow tires! Braking is easliy 30% better. I've tried both of my Audis both ways and the snow tires are far away better than even new all seasons.

Try them and you won't go back.

S6inNH

Yes I grew up in Minnesota and have driven 100s of thousands of miles on snow tires. In addition I raced cars on ice, quite successfully. I have a F150 4 wheel drive and the Audi with all weather is better in everything but deep snow.

In addition to the fact that it drives great with all weather, the following are my reasons for not wanting snow tires:
1. no need for off season storage
2. no need for additional wheels or twice yearly mounting of tires
3. since I don't run the S6 on a track, there is no noticeable difference between summer tires and all weather
4 If you add up your costs, you're spending money that you could use to by your next S6 sooner.

VONBOTTLE

your points are valid - every november and april i ask myself why don't i just get all seasons! - especially since i'm swapping my wife's out as well.......back to size questions - what about a 245/45/19? i'd really like to try the Hakka's and only feel it's worth it if the price is right and unfortunately to closely match the stock diameter, as i said earlier they're 50% more for a 35-40 aspect ratio compared to a 45....so, that size has a diameter of 27.7" compared to about 27.1 for the P-zeros i' have on now - that's about a 2.2% difference which is i believe in the allowable if i recall (is it 3% max?) there's plenty of wheel well room, i can always raise the suspension if necessary, so aside from speedometer readings being slightly off, are there any other downsides? i like the beefier sidewall in wintertime especially with some of the crater sized potholes that popped up last year.....thoughts?

DD1546

I ask myself the same question as this 72 yr old carries 4 Michelin Arctic Alpins on Audi 19 wheels to the tire shop to have their balance checked and have them mounted. Then we get the first ice and maybe light snow and I remember why I did it. Furthermore, even though the winter tires (not really snow tires) aren't bad re handling, I remember the handling of the P Zero summer tires on the first spring days that I carve some hilly two-lane balcktops at twice the speed limit. Its not about going, its about stopping. All cars become all-wheel-drive when you hit the brakes and lock the wheels on ice. Look at the numbers from the tests at Tire Rack and you'll see that AS tires are a compromise, especially in winter. If you buy a performance car it should perform and tires are the key component in that case. As to anybody who doesn't notice the difference between good summer tires and the best AW/AS tires, I say that you're not driving fast enough. BTW, I use 245/45/19 winter tires because I am mostly concerned with traction after the roads are cleared. If I need clearance with heavy snow I take the SUV. I just put Michelin Pilot Sport AS tires on my Corvette. These are run-flats and they ride better than the Goodyears but there is a clear loss of performance noticeable to a guy who drove SCCA 25 years ago.

DD1546

You can absolutely get by but ask yourself if you bought an S6 to just get by :-)

VONBOTTLE

i think you misunderstood me, i didn't say that i wanted "to get by", i was just agreeing that all-seasons will work fine throughout the year for most people. i've always had dedicated snows and summers on my audis - my only gripe with separates is about an hour after i've changed over wheels on both cars in an afternoon, my back is screaming at me. as for driving fast enough to appreciate summer tires, of course i do, just saying in winter i'm not traveling as much and most of my driving is around town shuffling kids to whatever practices they have, and i'm not exactly out in the country so there's not a lot of roads for me to "carve" up......anyway, if i'm going thru the effort of separates, i'm going to get the most capable tires i can (within $$ reason), so you've actually answered my question regarding 245/45/19 snows - sounds like you run them with no issue? i can't imagine there would be any negatives aside from speedo errors, i had michelin x-ice's on the C6, they were good but the traction control nannies on the car were always kicking in, very strange and disconcerting at times, i much preferred my 6 sp. A6 2.7 in the snow (i think i ran dunlop D3 or 3D snows, they were great), it was a beast with snows, i'll be curious what the C7 is like. so it sounds like i'll probably get the hakka's in 245/45 (i've found them for $875 delivered). i wish tirerack had a wheel i liked (at least reasonably priced) as i'd prefer to just get wheels and tires mounted there (as i did for the S4) instead of hauling them all to a shop to be mounted. i found a set of rotor wheels at usarim for $700 set, and they claim they fit the S6 without issue so i'm leaning towards them, there are probably cheaper ones on ebay but i'd hate to get them and find they don't clear the calipers.

DD1546

The Hakkas or Michelin X-ice are more aggressive than the Arctic Alpins so they trade more toward snow/ice traction rather than handling. Thats a great price for Hakkas. I am on my second set of Arctic Alpins and just checked their size - they are 255/40-19. The bill for the first set states 245/45-19. I would check the radius of each of the actual tire you will buy vs stock summer tire and maybe compare to that size in Arctic Aplpin 4? I had no issues but the radius differs slightly for different brands.

VONBOTTLE

well it looks like i'll probably end up going with the michelin X-ice3, really just do to price - unless i can get a confirming answer from usarim regarding their wheels actually fitting the S6, the only other dealer that carries the rotor style rim that i know will fit is hartmann, for which i was willing to pay a little extra for, they do have an option for shipping tires there and they'll mount for free, so i was pricing it out and then realized it was going to cost another $320 to ship them to me - sorry, in this day and age when every tire and wheel seller has free shipping, it's hard to stomach, so discount tire has a great price for the michelins and 19" wheels for under $1600 shipped, including new lugs ($900 less than hartmann, not my first choice in wheel, but oh well).......the wheels are Drag DR-37's - anyone have them?

AaronKamp

Since it doesn't snow all that often in the Seattle metro area and potholes are mostly a rarity, my "winter" tires are the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ on the stock 20" wheels. My main concern is water displacement and wet traction, which is pretty awesome for a performance tire, so for those in a similar situation I give them a solid recommendation. I have a set of Pilot Super Sports on aftermarket wheels that I swap out in early summer and late fall. It's not too much of a pain, since I can usually get it done at Costco on shopping run, but does require taking 2 vehicles.

ZCD2.7T

If you have Discount Tire stores in your area, have you considered just purchasing the set directly from them? That way, they'll do your summer/winter swap and rotate/balancing free for life....