chach17

I'm considering my first Audi (an A4 Avant). I have a question about the Summer Performance tires included in the 18" Sports Package. Obviously these tires are going to work best in warmer weather. How are these tires going to perform in cold weather? I live in Richmond, Va. and it doesn't really snow enough to justify winter tires and I also hate the idea of having two sets of wheels and tires. This appears to be the only hangup I have with the sports package, so I'm curious to hear what the experience of others has been. Thanks.

JBDinTX

They suck in the snow. Not really bad in cold weather besides the noise. Don't drive them in snow.

Slee_Stack

Every summer tire I've ever owned has been treacherous in the snow. I really dislike summer tires in general. They wear fast, create a stiffer ride, usually have more road noise, and are more expensive.

Honestly, I just don't get why MOST buy them. For the boy racers and autocrossers, I guess there's value. For everyone else, they seem like a poor choice. Plenty of solid gripping AS tires exist as an alternative.

chach17

Can anybody recommend some all season gripping tires? I really see these summer tires as an added hidden cost to purchasing the sport package in that I'll likely need to purchase a new set of tires come winter time. I'd like to have an idea of what I'll be out when that time comes.

SCJ

I have used Nokia WR/WR2 tires on my last 2 Infiniti AWD cars. I used to flip a set of winters on my S4 Avants and then ran out of storage space when I moved and got my first Infiniti. I have never had problems during Minnesota's winters and have also seen no problems in the summer.

Huey52

There is of course an add'l cost to having dedicated summer and winter rims/tires, but the upside in a snowy climate is that you can run smaller, less expensive rims (so you won't mind as much when they get salt-etched) with higher sidewall dedicated snow tires (for better pothole shock absorption and snow grip) in the Winter and save the larger more costly rims with mega traction dedicated summer tires.

For Virginia tho' I agree with others that a quality all season tire on your sport stock 18" rims is best (Michelin being one of the best). You should be fine on the summers for the balance of this season provided you don't drive them in any remaining snow and then you can look into AS tires in the Fall for greatest peace of mind.

Slee_Stack

Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires get many favorable reviews.

NickZag

+1 on these tires. I had them on my C63 and they were great.

a4-bob

I've been running the P7s (from the 18" sport pkg) since December in Atlanta GA. Most of that time the temps have been between 20 and 60F, with a lot of sub freezing temps. No snow, in the normal sense, but a week of really awful ice. For the typical 1 day out of the year when it snows, the city pretty much shuts down since it doesn't make sense to invest in plows, etc.

I really haven't experienced a noticeable difference between subfreezing and warm temps in dry weather. Regarding driving style, I wasn't driving like a maniac but wasn't holding back either. With the ice, the P7s slid around; just like my wife's FWD w/ all seasons slid around and just like winter tires would slide around on ice - that's ice for ya.

For my region, I get more wet warm weather. If you go by the testing done on tires, summer tires make the most sense for me. I was concerned that the cold weather would be bad, per the tire tests/reviews, I was even considering a 2nd set of wheels+AS tires but was fine with the summers. When these wear out I'm pretty sure I'll replace them with another set of summer tires, but for sure not the P7s due to price.

NickZag

Several of vehicle that I've purchased have come with different types of Pirreli tires and I would call all of them all fair. They are expensive compaired to other companies that make a better product IMO. The P-Zero's on my C63 only lasted 4,000 miles