TheNit

I've always got Nokians for winter tires (R5s on A4 and A6) but recently got a 2024 A4 Allroad.and am leaning towards Continental. My problem is that in Canada they have the Viking Contact 7 and the TS 850P and I am having trouble determining which would be more appropriate for the Allroad. Lately we haven't been getting deep snow but more hard-oacked and icy roads, if not wet or dry. Do owners of the Allroad go performance or regular winter tires?

mikeru

I run Blizzak WS90's in winter. For the rest of the year I run the all-season's that came on it.

TheNit

So, regular winter tires?

mikeru

Haha yeah. Blizzaks are studless winter tires. Arguably as good as Nokians but a lot easier to find and cost less.

https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire...s90/245-45R18/

TheNit

Nothing wrong with Blizzak. I was just asking about regular winter tires (Blizzak, Nokian, Continental Viking Contact 7) versus performance winter tires (Continental TS 850P, Michelin Alpin, Bridgestone LMs) on a A4 Allroad.

SDakota

I use Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2s which are normal winter tires and I have no complaints. They perform great in South Dakota and Colorado winters and aren't that noisy on dry highways.

mikeru

My bad. Performance winter tires (seems like an oxymoron) weren't something I really even thought about until now. We can get snow at any time during the winter where I live so they're not something I'd even consider for my Allroad. I don't see it as a performance car, and I want the best winter tires I can get that are within my budget. But now you have me second guessing keeping the S5 parked for the winter. We can get the occasional nice day at any time during those months. And the summer tires on the car are useless when the temps get much below 50 degrees.

142 guy

Performance winter tires usually have a speed rating higher than studless winter / ice tires. If you really need the speed rating, then you need the Performance winter tire. If you don't need the speed rating then the performance winter versus the more common studless / ice tire is about the performance bias that you want. I haven't checked the latest test results; but, 3-4 years ago the performance winter tires were biased to cold weather less snow / wet / better dry handling and the studless tires were biased towards ice / snow traction performance. Straight ahead acceleration and braking tests indicated that the non performance studless winter / ice tires consistently performed better on straight ice and snow. Wet braking and steering performance not so good. From personal experience with the Michelin X Ice snows on my A4 alroad and Blizzaks on my old Honda Pilot I can confirm that wet surface braking on the studless winter tires is compromised.

Where I live the urban traction issue is usually hard pack snow with an ice cover or just straight good old black ice. In terms of avoiding rear ending the car in front of me and accelerating away from a stop sign non performance studless winter tires were the best choice 3-4 years ago for those conditions (if you didn't want the noise and short life of studded tires). The tires have probably changed in the last 3 years so check the latest performance comparisons. The performance gap may now be less significant.