caesar2011

Does Quattro work better with the all season tires or by having winter tires Nov-March and performance tires April - Oct?


Thanks

chicagoA6

Quattro will work better with season specific tires, but that does have trade offs. Both Winter and Summer tires will wear quicker and need to be replaced sooner than all-seasons. Then the hassle of swapping the tires and storage.

I live in Chicago and never felt that I needed Winter tires.

Mcqueen

Any car will drive better with winter tires in winter conditions. One thing that will not work is summer tires in winter conditions, so if you are opting for a sport package, it would be wise to plop down for a winter set. I'm not convinced they wear faster, but once you make the winter tire investment, the time frame for replacing the performance summer tires in reduced by the time t hey are stored in the garage.

Anyone know if my 18" winter tire set for my S5 will fit an A7???? Bolt pattern/offset ok?

caesar2011

Gentlemen, thanks for the replies. I drove the demo A7 yesterday with the 20 inch tires and the sports suspension yesterday evening. It was superb! It was like a combination of BMW's best virtues of road feel of the 3 series, with what Audi does best. No brainer decision over the X6 or the 5 series.

Although I am not ready to get the 20 inch tires and risk them getting blown out on bad roads, I loved the feel of the sports suspension, so I am thinking of getting the package with the 19 inch tires.

Does anyone have a sense of the difference in the feel of the car with 20 vs. 19 inch tires?

Thanks

derfA8L

Here's my take---

The 265x35x20 setup gives you about 2.78" of tire sidewall height, while the 255x40x19 tires provide about 3.06" of sidewall. Both will require higher air pressure to safeguard against pothole blowouts (I had been using 38 to 39psi on my 255x40x19 tires on my D3 A8L and got by OK on lousey NYC area roadways). The higher pressure obviously gives you a harder ride, so the 19" setup's added sidewall height will improve the ride quality to some degree over the lower profile 20's, while still providing good handling capability. The 265mm tire width on the 20's might add some extra cushioning vs. the 255mm wide 19's, but I think the sidewall height is more critical to the discussion.

caesar2011

Thanks!

caesar2011

Chicago A6,

Thanks. I believe in another post you said you had a car with a sports suspension. Did you use winter tires with it in the winter, or did you have all season tires?

As for costs, I think the dealer charges $150 to swap them out and $200 to store for those with no garage space, which I would guess are typical across the country.

chicagoA6

Correct. I had all-seasons on my 2008 A6 with sport suspension. For me it was the perfect combination of sporty ride and all-season drivability.

JBDinTX

My dealer told me they would store my summer/winter tires for free. I went with all season. But I did loose a lot of handling on my s5

Dave427

I had an S5 and just got an A7. The dealer checked to see if my 18" Winter tires worked on the A7 with Sport Package 20"...but they did not have enough offset. Sold the S5 winter set an I will be getting a set for the A7.

I have to say I prefer summer and winter tires to all-season.