SusieK

Just bought my first Audi the end of December. We had a snow storm last night with about 8 inches of accumulation. Was excited to take out my new car and test the Quatro AWD. I've had other AWD vehicles (Subaru, Volvo) and wanted to see how Audi compared. Wow was I disappointed! The Q5 was all over the road - sliding and slipping, just horrible. I couldn't believe it, I have two friends who have Audi (A4 & Q5) and rave about how great they are in the snow. So I decided it must be the tires. Went to Tire Rack and read reviews of the Goodyear Eagle LS2, the OEM tire on my car, and an overwhelming majority talked about how crappy the tire is in snow.

Why would Audi put an underperforming "all season" tire on their car?

Ed@mtl

I'm sorry but with that amount of snow. No matter what car it is with All Season tires will not cut it. Even with high performance All Season tires.

HaveBullDogWillTravel

Never been impressed with ANY OEM tire. They're usually a lowest bidder choice. As long as the tires meet a minimum spec set by Audi then they are good enough. I had Dunlops on my Q5 and they were not impressive in the least.

Coolieman1220

lowest bidder to the dealer but usually the tire is expensive!!

kleinbus

Actually you shouldn't blame the tire as you seemed to miss the point that all-season tire is compromise between two good tires, the dedicated summer tires and dedicated winter tires. All-seasons are "Jack of all trades, Master of NON"

How do you define "underperforming" and what is used for comparison?

At freezing point temperatures on snow I would say your tires:
- performs better than summer tires,
- sucks if compared to Nokian WR all-seasons,
- sucks if compared to dedicated winter tires,

What tires your friends have?

Hey wait a minute, sounds like you forgot that driver is supposed to adjust the speed accordingly and if vehicle slips around, if you traction control comes on or even if you ABS system comes on, you are going too fast for the conditions....

kip1

All season tires are a compromise. They will never perform well in snow. Q5 is heavy, has a higher center of gravity and also a relatively short wheelbase I think, so in corners it feels like its slipping outwards more than the lower cars you have previously owned. I have winter tires with studs and you will still have more sliding in corners and stopping than lets say a Volvo V50 awd. The quattro advantage only comes in acceleration and when pressing the throttle in corners, because when the back end starts slipping the throttle causes the front wheels to pull more and straighten the car out, however the q5 has quite a bit understeer in corners. So a lighter car would preform better than a heavy q5 with all season tires. Stay safe!

The G Man

SusieK, I had the same Good Year tires on my Q5, they are horrible in the snow. I also have a A6 with all season Conti tires and I drove around in the same snow storm you did in Boston and no problem what so ever.

DER KONIG PANZER

I have a 2012 Q5 and I drove in the snow storm yesterday from Cape Cod to central Mass with no issues! The Q is running Latitude Tour HP tires. It is far supeior to the Junkxus I had for a short time. About equal to our X5 and better than the 3 series x-drive, do to ground clearence. I ordered the Q and requested any tire but Goodyear! My dealer called the local rep. and my car was delivered with the Latitude Tour HP tires.Maybe just the luck of the draw. My Yukon XL has M&S tires and is a beast in the snow even in two wheel drive!! (Tires, weight and ground clearence). If you have low miles call AOA and complain. BMW changed the tires out on our 3 series at 7000 miles do to noise. Bridgestone to Conti no charge. Still run flat, junk tires. I does not hurt to ask your dealer and AOA. All they can say is no or offer a split on the cost.

Reggie

Susie - You really need to get some snow tires for winter use. Buy a set of wheels and snow tires for winter use if you must use the Q5 in harsh conditions. I bought the highest rated all seasons for my Q5 and they were OK but never gave me a comfortable feeling - I now have a set of snow tires that are so much better. You can read about my journey here in the links: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2820350

ELEVENS

I wouldn't expect ANY car on all-seasons - not even a Q5 - in 8" of snow to be anything other than complete failure. All-seasons are perfect for fall-winter and winter-spring transition periods with temps in the 40's (F) and maybe 1" of occasional snow. Other than that, they're crap. Just like winters are crap in the summer, and summers are crap in the winter. And Q5's are crap on the track, and track cars are crap on the street. Pick the right tool for the job or your job will not be easy.