For those in the snow belt, what winter tires are you running?
11-15-2005, 08:10 AM
#11
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A heretic checks in: 225/45 ZR 18 ContiSportContacts!
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/84266/conti.jpg">
I live in Boulder and drive constantly in the Rockies to ski -- Jackson Hole, Aspen, Steamboat Springs (ah, Colorado/Utah Highway 40!). I also cross them at high speeds (thank you, BEL RX75 Plus) to the Wasatch several times in the winter to visit my sister in Park City, Utah. I encounter every form of dry, wet, shallow, deep, and hard frozen snow and ice on these trips and, to a lesser extent, driving around Boulder and Denver.
I drive my 225/45 ZR 18 ContiSportContacts full time now. I had a new set of P6 AllRoads on 17" wheels on the car part-time last winter, but this is what I've found: Audi built a car which functions highly in the snow and ice, however shod.
This is not to say anything foolish, like the SportContacts are as good as a studded snow tire in a race on ice. They aren't, of course. But I drive my car vigorously in all kinds of conditions, and I have to work very hard to make it put a foot wrong, even with these tires on snow and ice. An alert and sober driver is a powerful tool, and so is a hugely well-balanced car.
I give up a quanitifiable measure of winter condition performance, that is undeniable. But my experience, and my argument, is that the measure that is lost <b><i>in this car</I></b> is small and out at the limit. Even in the six full months of winter driving conditions I experience, <i>most</i> of the time I'm driving on a decent enough road: a road with chemical snowmelt or fresh powder or solid packed snow and ice on it, or a plowed Interstate or state highway which is maintained because people farm and ranch and drive to ski areas on it. And the measure of handling, stopping, and high-speed performance I gain <b><i>most of the time on those roads</I></b> with the Contis is, on balance, far greater than the measure I'd give up wearing the P6s.
I don't do this in all my cars, like the little red one below (260 hp, 2000 lbs!). But my experience is that overall, I'm safer, faster, and happier driving a high performance tire on an A8 year-round.
Let the shouting and scientific denunciations begin!
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/84266/miataaftquarter.jpg">
I live in Boulder and drive constantly in the Rockies to ski -- Jackson Hole, Aspen, Steamboat Springs (ah, Colorado/Utah Highway 40!). I also cross them at high speeds (thank you, BEL RX75 Plus) to the Wasatch several times in the winter to visit my sister in Park City, Utah. I encounter every form of dry, wet, shallow, deep, and hard frozen snow and ice on these trips and, to a lesser extent, driving around Boulder and Denver.
I drive my 225/45 ZR 18 ContiSportContacts full time now. I had a new set of P6 AllRoads on 17" wheels on the car part-time last winter, but this is what I've found: Audi built a car which functions highly in the snow and ice, however shod.
This is not to say anything foolish, like the SportContacts are as good as a studded snow tire in a race on ice. They aren't, of course. But I drive my car vigorously in all kinds of conditions, and I have to work very hard to make it put a foot wrong, even with these tires on snow and ice. An alert and sober driver is a powerful tool, and so is a hugely well-balanced car.
I give up a quanitifiable measure of winter condition performance, that is undeniable. But my experience, and my argument, is that the measure that is lost <b><i>in this car</I></b> is small and out at the limit. Even in the six full months of winter driving conditions I experience, <i>most</i> of the time I'm driving on a decent enough road: a road with chemical snowmelt or fresh powder or solid packed snow and ice on it, or a plowed Interstate or state highway which is maintained because people farm and ranch and drive to ski areas on it. And the measure of handling, stopping, and high-speed performance I gain <b><i>most of the time on those roads</I></b> with the Contis is, on balance, far greater than the measure I'd give up wearing the P6s.
I don't do this in all my cars, like the little red one below (260 hp, 2000 lbs!). But my experience is that overall, I'm safer, faster, and happier driving a high performance tire on an A8 year-round.
Let the shouting and scientific denunciations begin!
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/84266/miataaftquarter.jpg">
11-15-2005, 11:19 AM
#14
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don't think you're all that heretical here, ohbw - makes sense
add that to the global-warming that we are experiencing here in the mid-west. Much less total snowfall than years ago with improved road maintanance equipment & procedures by the county. On my fwd beetle, snows are definately recco'd but fairly fresh all-seasons on the quattro make the most sense for me.
The biggest hazards in the winter are poorly plowed parking lots, IMHO.
The biggest hazards in the winter are poorly plowed parking lots, IMHO.
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