Augie05

I have an A4 and I have narrowed my tire choice down two these two tires.. one summer and one A/S. Can someone compare/contrast these two tires? I am leaning towards the A/S tires (live in North Carolina)and it snows here about 2 times a year) but I am concerned that I might be trading off too much warm weather performance (I enjoy hitting the s-curves...) for the 2-3 days a year that I might need to drive in snow.

Will I be able to tell much of a difference in the warm weather characteristics of these tires?

How would the summer tires handle the occasional snow events? (maybe I should just keep it in the garage???)

I am also concerned about wear (want at least 15K miles), noise and comfort.

Thanks for your feedback !!

Gary@Tirerack.com

The Contact 2 would be a large step up in dry traction, cornering and steering response, but will be near worthless in the snow and wear faster <but should still wear longer than the 15,000 miles you listed as a minimum>. The Extreme contact would be dramatically better in snow, better ride from the softer sidewall, longer tread wear <closer to 25K-30K+> but as stated before, a step down in cornering grip and steering response.

These difference are certainly enough that you would notice them.<ul><li><a href="http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AR8&amp;url=/tires/index.jsp">Tires</a></li></ul>

ex-quattro PETE

get summer tires and take a cab to work or rent a car for those 2 snow days.

Augie05

Will the sport get noiser faster?

Gary@Tirerack.com

Slightly worse in noise over time with summer tires, but the Contact 2 is one of the more comfort oriented and quiet-riding summer tires so not a very large difference. The decision should come down to the issues of handling/wear/snow capability.