2007s6

Has anyone either changed tires and/or wheels to try to get better treadlife out of their tires on a C6 S6?

Here's the "problem". I have an '07 S6 with just over 30k miles on it and am being told I need to replace the tires (265/35/19) for the second time since I bought it new 3.5 years ago. I got 14k miles out of the OEM set of Continental Contact 2s and now 16k out of the current Bridgestone RE050As. I've heard all the reasons from the dealer and tire shop about why that's what I should expect from this setup. Regardless, I'm getting tired of shelling out $1500+ every other year for new tires on a car I drive about 8k miles per year, mostly around town (never at the track, for better or worse) and quite conservatively (IMHO). Notwithstanding the fact that it may have been the wrong car to buy for such driving, I own it free and clear and love driving the car and really want to figure out a better setup to improve the treadlife. I understand that I may have to sacrifice some performance which is fine. However, as anyone with the stock 19" wheels/tires knows, tire selection for this car is very limited at the 265/35/19 size.

I'm considering (1) either going to 18" wheels to get a wider selection of tires to choose from including some all-season models or (2) trying a slightly different size tire (ie 275/35/19) also to get a wider selection of tires to choose from.

I'm curious if anyone has done either of these things and what their results have been in terms of both ride quality and treadlife.

Many thanks in advance for all constructive feedback!

BlueCat_A6_allroad

I responded to your PM about my experience with the Conti ExtremeContact DWS tires.

jetsfan101

try 255/35/19. Theyre a good look on my A6 and audi uses that size for all the 19" rim size on a5 models

EHLO

It's all about the UTQG.
I'll second the Continental ExtremeContact DW recommendation, at 340 it's higher than the 280 you have;
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...r=19&x=47&y=12