seinsmeld13

I have performance winter tires and love them. All season is better than running summers for sure. Let's just say the Province of Quebec made it law to run a dedicated winter tire and most insurers in Canada give a discount if you have winters tires. Enough said.

S4-NH

most people have their strong opinions about this, but I share with most in that I won't drive in winter anymore without dedicated snow tires/wheels. Yes, all-seasons are sufficient in most circumstances, but it is highly dependent on where you live, variability in conditions, etc. All-seasons are leagues better than summers, and winters are leagues better than all-seasons.

Today was 3 inches of dry snow on top of cold ice. Hard to drive with any tires, but easier with soft, dedicated winter shoes..

WoodyV

I'm going to take my s4 out to the snow next week to see how the snow tires improve things. I have high expectations - I want it to be more sure footed than my wife's SUV (she has all-seasons). I'll report back after a drive but I can't imagine being disappointed at this point.

GomerPyle

I've been running Michelin Pilot Sport A/Ss on my A4 & S4 and have had no problems in any snow. A few years ago we even had record snow here in WI and I was the only one who made it to work on a couple occasions.

I recently got a Q7 4.2 and it had some Continental A/Ss on it from the dealer with "at least 50% tread." You know, a 50% tread on an A/S tire is like a new summer tire. By the time winter rolled around, the 50% got to about 25%. I debated whether to just put new A/S tires on or get another set of rims for winter rubber and then still be able to use the Contis in the summer.

So I bit the bullet and spent about $1600. $100 each for 18" OE never refurbished used rims. $325 on another set of TPMS. And the rest on Blizzaks and tax. And what a good $1600 spent. My Q7 handles better, brakes better, and gets going better than my S4 in the snow. The ESP is always working in the S4; hardly ever in the Q7. However, playing in the snow is much more fun in the S4. I can slide through turns with the rear end hanging out faster than letting the ESP take over and ruining my fun.

truep287

I live in Chicago and I chose to go with the Conti DWS. My rationale was, 1. They plow the streets and 2. Chicago streets are laid out in grids (unfortunately). Other than the occasional on/off ramp, I don't get to push the handling limits of the tires where there will be a noticeable difference between the summer tires and high performance all-season. The convenience factor outweighed the performance for me. Having said that, I'm keeping my Perilli's just in case I change my mind!

m444

I went with the Conti DWS tires, since I only go up to snow country (Sierras) once in awhile. Most of the time my tires see dry or wet pavement. The tires work fine in summer weather & great in the rain. I just had to replace one, since there was a random Christmas gift of a screw into the corner of the tread, near the sidewall.

BenJYoung

...or summer tires, for that matter. If sliding around is fun, sliding more should be better no?

I drive up to Tahoe for the weekend from the SF Bay Area many times each winter through varying blizzards on windy mountain roads. I use all-seasons, as I spend the rest of the week commuting around the the bay, where it never snows, and, in fact, the 200 mile trip to Tahoe only gets snow, at most, the last 50 miles. So snow tires don't really make sense for me.

Given that, a good set of all seasons are fine in the snow. Dedicated snow tires are much better, but I'm reasonably comfortable driving around the speed limit in Pilot Sport All Season Plus tires while everyone else is limping along on the side of the road with chains.

All-Seasons are a bit slippery in the snow though, and if I lived in Tahoe, I'd definitely buy dedicated winter tires. Quattro doesn't do much for your ability to stop, or to hold a turn at constant speed, but dedicated winter tires do, and I have found myself in a few hairy situations where a good set of winters would have given me a much wider margin of comfort. YMMV.

WoodyV

My LM60s are great. They are noticeably better than the all-season tires on my wife's SUV. I don't think all-season tires would be bad on the s4 but dedicated snow tires feel really unstoppable where all-season tires still feel a bit slippery. Of course on ice both of them will slip like crazy, but the dedicated snow tires slip less.