ichy076

Hi everyone,

I live in snowy Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The following is a question from an Audi newbie. I've driven TLs for the last 10 years, and have never had to spend money on extra rims or tires- only replacement tires once the old ones wore out. Thus, even though I am buying a very expensive car, I ordered the bare minimum upgrades (B&O and Sports Dif, DSG) that I need and thus have no desire to purchase extra rims unless the opinion below is ridiculous.

I've got an S4 being shipped to me within the next 2 weeks. It comes with the stock 18s (summer tires). I don't want to spend too much on additional tires/rims, so what I wanted to do was order 4 Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires. They are supposedly the best all-season tires for my car. Discount Tire Company wanted $649 for the 4. I don't want to buy rims because they cost a lot. My plan was to put on the all-seasons for this winter and after the snow melts, to put on the summers and wear them out until I can switch to all-seasons permanently. I will not track the car nor will I beat on it as much as 90% of the people on this forum. I wanted a daily driver with the appeal, horsepower, and suspension that this car has.

My reasoning behind a set of all-seasons vs winters is that I currently drive a front wheel drive TL with all-seasons and drive carefully enough where I have absolutely no need of winter tires. Plus, the roads in MN are generally cleared very fast, so you may have 5-10 days where the roads are fully enveloped in snow all year.

Thus, do you think using the same set of rims to switch once or twice between the new Continental DWS tires and the summer tires is detrimental? Is it worth me spending another $800 on rims I don't care for? Are those specific tires good? Would you recommend anything else or any other combination given my location and driving habits?

Any help would be appreciated.

ichy076

In one of my last questions, I meant "are the Continental ExtremeContact DWS good tires?"

ichy076

Woops. Just saw another identical post just at the bottom of the page. Ultimately, is there any issue with repeatedly changing tires on one set of rims? Can dealers mess up your rims doing this or is the process fairly automated and painless?

lundqura

A dealer can do this, they just have to be careful. Taking the tires on and off will not really harm them. I was looking at the DWS tires last fall but they were on a national backorder and was not able to get them. I ended up getting the Michelin Pilot Sport Plus A/S and have loved them. My neighbor got the DWS for his C63 and wore the backs out in 8K miles. Granted, he drives that car like a bat out of hell so I am surprised they lasted that long. The DWS are fantastic tires. With the summer tires that come on the S4 you will probably wear them out in 10K to 15K miles. Depending on how many miles you drive you should only have to change them a few times. Good luck and enjoy your new S4. It is a blast!!

uberwgn

[quote=ichy076;24202664]Ultimately, is there any issue with repeatedly changing tires on one set of rims? /quote]


The changeover cost will quickly exceed the cost of winter wheels.

Sure, the dealer or anyone else can damage the wheel when mounting/dis-mounting.

sdiver68

Just get the wheels is my opinion. You can get some basic 5 spoke wheels for $100 each right now on sale at Tirerack and have your tires mounted and balanced for free. At a minimum you can resell them when you are done for $200 thus you save yourself a lot of hassle for ~$200.

Goony

Head over to Wisconsin and pick these up for $800......and enjoy the snow:

http://www.audizine.com/classifieds/...es-18x8&cat=47

ichy076

Who would mount and balance them for free? Tirerack is an internet retailer. I would still need to pay someone to mount anything I bought from them, no?

Barrels41

My A4 sports package with summer 18" Pirelli P7s drives allot better than my wife's 2008 A4 3.2 with Conti DWS's.

I suggest a UHP winter tire rather than an all season. Better on ice. Why compromise the handling of an S4 with an all season tire?

I would love an S4 but too much traffic here to justify it.

My wife got three pothole or curb blow-outs in 1 year on her DWS's by the way. No unusual if you read the Tire Rack blogs.

The DWS tread is close to a snow tire and has excellent traction for an all season.

Mavis Tire mounts my snows for $50.00 for all 4 since I bought them there.

My lease expires in April and if I get another a A4 they all come with 18" (poorly rated) P6 all seasons. Not so good. For summer tires I would have to get 19" wheels. Also not so good in Pothole, NY.

I did not get spare wheels because the 2009s needed another set of TPMS that added close to $200.00 a set. Pretty sure the new ones don't need those wheel sensors.

Look on the Vendors pages of this forum for wheel and tire sets. Also the classified section for almost new OEM sets.

windyctyaudi

Had the DWS on my B6 A4 great tread life had 20k+ miles on them and still had tread left for the snow.