bob hamilton

looking for info on good choice for all-weatherperformance rubber. live in ohio so need something good in snow. I tend to drive aggressively so dont want to sacrifice dry handling and wet performance . HELP!

alan t.

a lot better for winters there. I personally would get steel wheels and mount the winter tires on them and then you can put them on when you want. If this is too much of a pain for you then go the all season route. But keep in mind the all seasons won' t perform nearly as well as a decicated winter tire.

David Hess

I would recommend the Michelin Pilot Z4 has an all season tire choice that will most likely see a lot of snow. I have 20,000 miles on mine and loved them in all kinds of weather. While they will not give as much dry traction as the Dunlop SP8000E or snow traction as a winter tire they are a good all season tire. The price is the main disadvantage. About $154 at tire rack. Pierelli 7000SS is another good all season tire but not as good as the Z4 in snow. I will probably go the winter tire route, maybe the Michelin Pilot Alpine because I just moved to Utah and I love to go into the mountains. I plan on using the Z4s for after winter though. I estimate they are good for 30,000 miles. I still have around 4/32 of an inch left on mine. Well good luck.
David Hess
98.5 2.8QSTip

britoki (Brian T)

And if you get Michelins from TireRack, you get a nifty little roadside assistance kit (which all of us pre-98.5'ers want :>)

One thing, the Z4 doesn't come in the A4's +1 size, so no 225 45 17. The Pilot Sport and Pilot Alpine are both available in that size though.

I have the Pirelli 7000SS, which is quite popular since it fits, all season and it's dirt cheap. You lose performance on both street & snow, but if you want M+S at +1, it's a good tire.

brian t
97 QS AT

Hey did the wheel & tire forum switch to just wheel forum? I just noticed that right now.

scott

Nokian Hakkapalitas NRW-increadible in the snow and 95% of normal performance in dry

Rich

Bob,

I re-worded your "subject" heading there to reflect what I think you mean--you want tires that will give good grip and performance for winter as well as summer.

That means you don't want "all season" tires, as they tend to be a compromise in every season. If you're not going to be in a ton of snow there in Ohio, based on what you've said and on feedback from others here, I'd look into the Dunlop Winter Sport M2. Others have said that it actually beats the stock "all season" tires on a non-sport A4 for dry traction, and gives upgraded traction in snow. Not quite as good in snow/ice as some of the other snow tires, but much better in dry conditions, and recommended by Porsche. Probably an excellent choice if you have quattro.

Other good choices based on A4 owners recommendations include the Nokian NRW and Hak 1 (Hak 1 leans more toward snow capability, less dry handling, and somewhat noisy), and the Pirelli Winter Asimmetrico (non-ice version). Michelin also has a sportier version of its Arctic Alpin tire coming out this year that's sure to be worth a look.

You may want to check out www.tirerack.com, and the A4.org archives of the tire and wheel forum.

Rich
'98 2.8Q sport
Nokian Hak 1's

Rich

Almost forgot,

I too used M+S rated Z tires during the winter once, and they were better than regular Z rated tires for this purpose, as someone mentioned in a post above regarding the Michelin Pilots, but not so much better as to be worth risking you or your A4 when driving in a lot of snow.

Some people have been using these tires, but I guess it's just one of those things that once you've seen the light, there's no going back to the old way.

Hope to always be driving Audi Quattros, with snow tires in the wintertime....

Rich
'98 2.8Q sport