A4Scott

I'm trying to decide what I should do for winter on my new A4. It's got 18 inch Summer Performance Tires - Bridgestone Potenza S001 and I live in an area that gets some snow, but it's too cold for summer tires in the winter and I'm not sure if it's worth swapping wheels/tires twice a year. Should I go with an Ultra High Performance All Season tire and sell the Potenzas? Will I notice the difference between say a Michelin Pilot A/S 3+ and the Potenza's for summer driving?

Timfoilhat

It's relative to how you drive, the condition of the roads, your tolerance for noise, your ability to afford new summer tires every other season, having a climate controlled location to properly store your take offs, and your willingness to swap them. I had summer set on an Infiniti coupe a decade ago. I got sick of storing/changing them and listening to my wife whine about my tire expense on my family's budget. I don't drive at 8/10 though. When I switched to a Michelin Pilot AS I didn't notice any difference except for the ability to break them loose under full throttle on a spirited 1-2 upshift. That wouldn't happen with an AWD car. My favorite part was the quiet ride though.
These days I'm older an just want simple and quiet so 18s and all seasons get the job done.

StKnowhere

chych

The AS3+ are excellent tires, had them on my previous car, and they come close to summer tire performance in summers. In winters, they gave excellent wet weather performance (I live in the pacific NW, lots of cold rain), and were okay for light snow. I would not count on them for heavy snow or ice. Snow/Ice braking performance is objectively worse than a grand touring all season tire - you can look at the test data on tirerack, and is true for all UHP all seasons (all tires have some tradeoff after all). If your roads are kept cleared in the winter, then they should work fine. If you don't drive hard or take turns hard, you may be better off with a grand touring all season tire, like the Michelin Premier A/S or Pirelli P7+.

chemengin

Are these Michelin Pilot A/S considered the best all-season tires? I'm looking for tires that are good in summer and rain (no snow where I live).

chych