YellowS4_2010

With winter around the corner here in Chicago, I am looking around for some winter tires for my new S4. I have the 18" rims which will keep the stock summer perf tires, and am looking to getting an extra set of rims (17" or 18", preferring the smaller rims if they fit) to fit with winter tires. I found 2 decent winter tires (from reviews and a few personal recommendations), namely:
- Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 (245/40-18)
- Michelin X-Ice Xi2 (245/40-18)

Has anybody fitted either of these on their S4? Any other good winter tires you would recommend?

Thanks,
John
2010 Yellow S4

Zed 2.0

I ran the WS60 on my 135. My comment is that both of your choices are very aggressive snow tires. They're going to be excellent in deep snow, but at the expense of road noise and vague handling. Chicago tends to be good with snow removal, so if most of your driving is around the city and suburbs, I'd suggest something like the Blizzak LM-25 or Dunlop WinterSport M3. Both of those tires are fine in all but the very worst conditions, which you're not likely to see in Chicago.

YellowS4_2010

I have summer performance tires to enjoy the true performance of the car, so I figured I can go aggresive on the winter tires for the 4 months a year of cold weather. How much road noise did you have when you used the Blizzak WS60 over the stock tires?

Zed 2.0

There was a fair amount, even over the noisy runflats on the BMW. The biggest problem was dry traction. They make the car feel like it's driving on sponges and would break loose if I got on it in 1st-3rd gear.

YellowS4_2010

I guess the AWD of the S4 should help with the tires breaking loose, I would hope. I'll keep reading online reviews, maybe they will convince me which way to go.

DOC

Zed is right; the two tires you're looking at will be overkill, and you'll regret them on warmish, dry days. I live in the CO mountains, go skiing most winter weekends, and find the Wintersport M3s to be a great compromise between snow and ice traction, and warm, dry weather performance. I imagine the LM-25s are about the same. Another good compromise is Nokian's mud and snow rated all-season tire; can't remember the model.

redrocker55

I've owned both the ws-60's and the Mich X-ice. The ws-60s certainly feel soft. Their tread compound is very special on this tire. The muticell compound makes for a softer rubber and that feeling of driving on sponges.

The x ice tires hold up much better. They don't squirm nearly as much as the ws-60 tires. They are a step between the lm25's and the ws-60 tires.

I live in St Louis but spend a ton of travel time for work in iowa and Nebraska. I'm purchasing the x ice tires in the 18 inch size.

I had these tires on my recent Infiniti m45 rear wheel drive with sport suspension. Granted they are not summer tires...but I did think they handled pretty well for a dedicated winter tire. I'm an aggressive driver too.

Treadwear was also impressive.

Hope that helps.

seinsmeld13

I actually drove this car the first day i got it and it wasn't bad with the stock summer tires in light snow. Very scary on ice. On got the the car as winter ended. I had one day of poor weather that is the day i got her. I do not recommend driving with summer tires in winter but there are boneheads that do. So any form of winter tire will be excellent. I agree go with a performance winter tire. I haven't seen anybody post that they got away downsizing to 17" due to our large brake calipers.

Smith837

Any thoughts on the Audi Winter Wheel & Tire Offering for the S4? Mostly interested in thoughts on the tire offered. For 2010, it's the 18" Dunlop Winter Sport 3D:

http://microsites.audiusa.com/ngw/10...20Brochure.pdf

I'm told that Audi selects this tire to optimize the performance of the car/quattro in winter. Curious how the Dunlop Winter Sport 3D compares -- in performance, feel, and noise -- to the Dunlop summers (SP Sport Maxx GT)?

BTW, the Dunlop Winter Sport 3D also appears to be the preferred winter tire for the S4 on Tire Rack (packaged with Elbrus I06 wheels (Silver Machined with Ice Coating)). See the link below, search for 2010 S4, and click on "18" Packages":

http://www.tirerack.com/snow/preferredpackages.jsp

FWIW, when searching Tire Rack for other winter/snow tires for the S4, you get a bunch of options (in alphabetical order):

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60 (Performance Snow)
Continental ContiWinterContact TS810 S (Performance Snow)
Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D (Performance Snow)
Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 (Performance Snow)
Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero Serie II (Performance Snow)
Pirelli Winter 240 Sottozero (Performance Snow)
Pirelli Winter 240 Sottozero RFT (Performance Snow)
Bridgestone Blizzak MZ-03 RFT (Studless Ice & Snow)
Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 (Studless Ice & Snow)
Michelin X-Ice Xi2 (Studless Ice & Snow)

Mr_Brown

I've been running the Dunlop Wintersport M3s for the past 2 years on my A4 and they are great. They're fine in snow, really good in wet slushy conditions and the best dry performing winter tire you will find. They won't handle ice as well as the multi-cell Blizzaks but they are far, far better than an all-season tire. I have an A4 3.2 MT and live in St Paul, MN.