Busa

I have a summer toy, with good summer tires. We don't get much snow here in OH, and the SP5000's will take it all. They also happen to be better in the wet than any summer tire I've ever had. I want tires that are good for all the bad weather we get in OH, and perform decent when I get caught in the Sun

If your summer tires are good on wet, then you too are compromising dry traction. Why don't you get a set of dry tires, rain tires, and snows? Shouldn't be much of a problem to change them after watching the evening news

JP

I've used all-season tires for over 25 years here in Colorado mostly on all-wheel or four-wheel drive CARS. The last exception I recall was an overpowered Cutlass Supreme that needed 200 lbs of ballast in the trunk and studded MUD and SNOW tires (large cleats) to have any chance of grip.

I for one cringe every time an air impact wrench blasts lug nuts on to some unknown torque (yes, they can be retorqued). And have heard, "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scratch your wheel" too many times, and then watch the wheel slowly deteriorate from the wound (regarless of repairs). The hassle of balancing can sometimes be a pain in the backside also.

I put one set of tires on the A6 (SP 5000's) and usually don't push hard into corners over 168 MPH. Nor do I have a long drive to work (about 26 mile round trip), so the all-seasons are my hassle free, quite adequate, check the pressure occasionally and forget tires.

For the more agressive drivers, with the open space to enjoy it, or those who must travel during bad winter months, installing dedicated tires is probably worth the effort. For me, it is not.

Didn't mean to rant here. Just seems to me that for the average driver who does little traveling in winter, changing tires, or wheels/tires is just a wasted effort.
..../jp

jprice@CPS

No, take a different approach.. It's for "safety!"

SnowToy

My reality is that I rarely hit .8g or over 130 ( that pesky limiter...gotta chip...) For me the D5000's have worked great and I am happy. I did do the dedicated snow ( Studded Nokia's) on my old S6 while living in the mtns of Vermont but even then found that i preferred to drive intelligently on my Dunlop 8000's then give up the handling to the Nokia's....

If i lived in Mammoth or Aspen then perhaps.... but otherwise the bulk of us are likley to find a happy compromise.... just my thoughts

regards,

pablo1

there are many ultra high performance tires that are excellent in the dry and wet (significantly better than your 5000's). The rest of your argument doesn't even merit a reply.

Busa

Yes, a tire can be excellent in dry and wet. However, it's still a compromise(to a lesser degree than separate snows and all seasons). For the ultimate dry grip you will end up with a tire that's weak in the wet. I don't care if it's on this car or any car. What's your point?

Did you not see my smiley faces? I was hardly serious about 3 sets of tires.

Different people have different needs. Trying to say someone else is doing it wrong is just plain wrong. We are all making compromises to suit our needs. That was my only point.

pablo1

don't have to compromise really with a summer tires for dry AND wet. You do with all seasons. I didn't see your smiley regarding having 3 sets of tires so I apologize for saying it didn't merit a response. I wish you well with your all seasons.

TimI

My previous car was a Jetta GLX with SP8000's for summer and Pirelli Winter 210A's for winter (for sale). I'm quite capable of changing them myself, as I swap wheels at almost every autocross. However, the 5 days this winter when I needed snows did not justify the reduced handling (a little worse than my current SP5000s) for the other 100+ days of the season when I might drive into/over the mountains through snow.

My current car is a heavy A6q Wagon, for ultimate grip in snow and summer, I would have gone with two sets. However, snows wear quickly on the non-snowy roads in Seattle, and don't provide the performance that the SP5000's do. So I'd be left swapping tires for each trip to my parents, or the rare snowfall (did that with the Jetta this year). As is, I still have more traction (wet, dry, or snow) than probably 90% of the other drivers, know how to balance and use that traction better, and spent $600+ less on tires after buying the car.

Life is all about comprimises. Which one works best for you?

DLow

We may need an allroad on stilts soon...