B7Night

I just got the Audi winter tire package for my new Allroad. I got the car at the end of last winter and went through two unpleasant snow storms without winters tires. The tires are 225/55 17 Dunlop SP winter sport 3D's. The owners manual says that all season tires of that size on the allroad should be 30 psi all around. I was wondering if the winters would require the same or different pressure? I get grief for having winters on an Audi, but I had them on my old A4 too. People don't get that AWD doesn't help stop your car, and the wide standard 245/45 18 all seasons don't help the situation either.

uberwgn

It's odd someone would criticize another for trying to be safe. Are you in a location where you get a lot of snow?


The winter tire will be inflated the same as the summer tire. I typically do NORMAL load + 2 psi and work from there. The information on Normal load and MAX load can only be found in the Owner's Manuals for cars sold in the USA market.

B7Night

I'm from west Michigan. We get lots of lake effect snow. Most people I know don't travel as much as I do, and driving across town is different than having to get on a highway for long distances in snow. I even changed the mind of a relative after their rwd sports car wouldn't go in the snow. If there is no difference between all season and winter in pressure, then I guess it's 30psi all around according to the owners manual, which is lower than the standard 18 inch all seasons.

uberwgn

Yeah, Michigan certainly gets snow.


I'd start with 32F and 30R...see how that is.


Be safe, Night !

Doc@tirerack

We recommend running 3 to 5 extra PSi over stock to account for (winter) temperature variations. More info here;


Winter Tech Information - Higher Tire Pressures for Winter Driving

thehedge

In a quandary this year.

My car is a 2012 A6 3.0T Premium Plus with just over 50K miles. It was purchased as a CPO and at the time came with a brand new set of ContiProContacts 245/45-18s. I live in the Boston area and have gone through two winters without any real issues during the winter months.

My previous Audi was a 2005 A6 3.2 which I ran with ContiExtremeContact DWS and I enjoyed both the ride during the summer months, as well as the handling in the winter much more than with the 2012 with ContiProContacts. Not sure if the differences are due to the tires or the car!

Anyway, the ContiProContacts are now needing replacing - probably still good for dry / wet weather but not possibly for winter snow.

Given that the majority of my driving is on decent roads, i.e. and not up into ski country, etc. the question becomes whether going with a good All Season Radial (rated for winter) or going with a dedicated winter tire for now and getting a another set of All Seasons or other for the non-winter driving.

When touring the TireRack site, it was actually recommending going with a 225/50-18 Michelin X-Ice X13 as opposed something sized in the OEM 245/45-18 size. Not sure if that also means needing different rims as opposed to just tires.

Anyway, please offer suggestions.

Thanks!

QS4

thehedge there are quite a few people out there that say dedicated winter tires are the way to go! I am one of those people too!

I've had 2 sets of Blzzaks on my 1st S4 and a set on my wife's A6. They will last 2 to 4 seasons, depending on your driving, and are definitely worth the expense. As far as the size, I trust the Tire Rack folks, so give them a call to talk it out. I use a site WillTheyFit.com to check my tire/wheel specs.

Doc@tirerack

Since you're familiar with the Extreme Contact DWS (replaced by the new Extreme Contact DWS06), then you are the best judge of what you need. The XIce tire will do a little better with snow and noticeably better in ice, but at the expense of high speed handling (not to mention changing back and forth seasonally). Our suggestion to use a narrower snow tire comes in an effort to maximize your traction in heavier accumulations. As you would expect, the smaller footprint will take away some of the lateral stability the car would need for high speed cornering so its something we only encourage if local conditions are such that you see snow accumulations hanging around most of the winter.

PeteDin206

Doug in a place like Seattle which rarely gets snow/ice but does have an occasional dusting, in addition to periodic trips to the mountain, would you go AS (likely DWS06) or a dedicated winter wheel/tire?