jhoeppel

I've just picked up a 2001 180 quattro coupe (only 8,500 miles on the clock!) and need advice re: tires. This is my daily driver in the Chicago area. It comes with its original Pirelli p6000 tires on the 17" alloys... which are summer tires.

Question: What about winter here in Chicago?
I'm thinking of either:
(1) buying dedicated winter tires and wheels, which means I'll prob'ly be buying summer tires in another year, if the treadwear reports on TireRack are any indication.
(2) buying high-perf all seasons (like ContiExtremeContacts) and run them all year, kissing the Pirelli's off.

Any opinions, especially from folks in similar climates? Thanx,

~drJohn

|everso!|

and i'm taking my chances and using All-Seasons.

I have the ContiExtreme Contacts.......this will be my first winter in the TT, so i dunnno how they will fare....

but another thing to remember is that, Chicago does an OUTSTANDING job of cleaning the roads....unlike other big cities.

I think we will be fine in All Seasons....Of course winter tires will be better.....but i'm sticking with the All Seasons.

cheers

watty

I am going to run performance tires for the winter..... If it snows I will walk to work =)

SPM3TT

also in Chicago...and I agree with everso on how well the city clears the streets. But..if you encounter a side street with snow on it without any salt on it, it is very difficult to stop. The car handles extremely well in the snow so if you are going to drive with the Pirelli tires on, just leave yourself a GOOD distance to stop.

jhoeppel

I'd heard similar sentiments from an Audi salesman--that it's not so much handling in snow that's the problem with summer performance tires as stopping.

It's too bad I need to sell my 99 New Beetle (which used to be my daily driver). If I could keep both, I'd simply drive that when snow was forecast (kind of like the commercials for the old air-cooled bugs)!

Thanks for the opinions.

coasTTal

I've got 2 Passats, a Cabrio, and an 01 TT. One Passat has Bridgestone Blizzaks, one Passat has Dunlop M2's, the Cabrio has Blizzaks, and the TT has Nokians.

All of the above snow tires are very good, with the Nokians being the best of all.

The TT is worthless with the stock tires in the winter. Don't even try it.

I live in Glen Ellyn and drive 40 miles round trip in the TT each day.

Outlaw

I have the all season high performance Perelli which came with my 03 TT. So far they seem like a great all season tire. I live in MA. so they are needed.

ILLZ

I'm in the same predicament, I'm buying Kumho all-seasons and running them on the stock 17's for the winter (because I hate the performance of snows on dry pavement), and then just saving my pennies for some 18's in the spring.

sevensixtwo

You should be fine with some good All-Season tires.

However, I have dedicated Michelin Pilot Alpins for the winter. They're great on snow/ice/slush, and run great when it's dry too. I drive back and forth from the suburbs to the city every day and they've worked fine.

If you're gonna get some winter tires, I suggest getting some inexpensive rims to go with them. I didn't do this...so my stock rims have been taking a beating from getting the 2 different sets of tires swapped on them every year.

Good Luck...