sdiver68

I'm coming from a G37XS on all-seasons, and 2 BMW 335 RWD (sedan and 'vert) both with summer-winter tire and wheel rotation. For our moderate St. Louis winter with a few snowstorms, I got around just fine with AWD + All Seasons. Of course with the Blizzaks on the BMW's I was drag racing SUV's in the snow but that's another story. However, dry/warmer traction was not so good.

So, I'm very tempted to go with a winter biased all-season such as the Conti DWS ExtremeContact on 18" wheels from about mid-Nov to early-April. Anyone else gone this route?

gmermel

I lived in St. Louis for a while, and winter snow is generally not deep, and if it is it melts relatively quickly. I would think all seasons would take care of those few days you really needed traction and most likely ride better and wear longer.

windyctyaudi

Had the Conti DWS on my A4 I just got rid of the other day. Never had any problems in Chicago winters. Great all around traction

rktskicar

frankly. if you have two sets of wheels, then run winters in winter and summers in summer. If you only have one set of wheels just run UHPAS tires all year long..

Bruce

Muray

I have the 18 inch Conti's on my car right now. If I could do it again I'd have a dedicated summer and winter set up. There's nothing wrong with the tires and they have a great ride, but compared to the OEM summer tires on 19's, they feel like wet noodles to me. They don't seem to be very performance-oriented to me. For instance, with the 19 summers, I couldn't even trigger the ABS on track or on the street. I never heard the tires squeal even when I almost rear-ended someone. But with the Conti's I hear tire squeals all the time even with not in a panic situation. As soon as they wear out I'll be replacing them with dedicated winter tires, and getting new summer wheel/tire set up in the summer.

JD15

I did nearly the same thing last winter and ran the DWS from mid Oct. through early May. Last winter nearly set a record with 130" of snow, so I became well acquainted with the DWS during inclement weather. In terms of snow performance, I would put the DWS somewhere between an average all-season tire and a performance winter tire. I always felt relatively safe driving with them and had no close calls, but I could break the car loose during turns fairly easily if I desired. I especially appreciated the versatility of the DWS during Oct., Nov., and Apr.; the risk of snow is too high to use summer tires during this period, but the roads are normally dry and weather can become far too warm for aggressive winter tires.

When the DWS wear out, I will likely replace them with a set of performance winter tires to experience how well quattro functions with a more winter-oriented tire.

gmermel

I am confident the S4 will perform to it's greatest potential if he uses the AS in winter where performance tires are flat out unsafe:

I have a VW AWD R32 in MT and use AS all years. My city does a downright dangerously poor job maintaining the streets in winter. The car does spectacularly well in winter and is plenty of fun in summer.

But IMHO the VW's performance capabilities don't merit the expense of a dedicated summer/winter setup.

The S4 does.

dr bryan

This is exactly what I do and it worked out great for me last winter. DWS's are probably one of the best all season tires when it comes to snow performance. Not as good as dedicated winters but for some people/locations those are wasteful and overkill.

The sidewalls are much softer than summer tires so if you are looking to run all seasons all year long I'd recommend one of the more performance oriented all season options.

DrGP

Ran A/S tires on my 04 s4 with no problems in the metropolitan NYC/Phila area. I do have an AWD Mountaineer that I run in really bad weather. Plus in my area, they cinder the hell out of the road and that wreaks havoc on the car's paint. I was hoping my stock Dunlops would have worn out by now, but they haven't. So I'll keep running them until they do. But not in snow ice or really cold weather. When they do wear out(I figure some time next spring), I'll put A/s tires on. I have the Conti DWS on my wife's AWD Lexus and they go pretty well in the snow as long as the accumulation is not to high.(another reason that I don't have to run the S4 in the winter). But many have put on the Michelin A/s tires. They are a little more performance oriented than the Contis. But the Contis are significantly less expensive and have better snow and ice performance. Both will work fine in areas where they plow the streets expediently.

sdiver68

Thanks all for the thoughts and opinions. Looks like I'm about to order 18" Enkei Ammado's with Conti DWS.