Tire recommendation

[bmann]

So the previous owner installed some Walmart tires that are just about shot (who takes an Audi to Walmart for chrissakes). What are the stock tires on a 2001 Quattro Sport? Wheels are 16" Speedlines, see pic below.

Second, I'll be looking for performance all season tires soon. I have dedicated winter tires for winter but for the other seasons want something that won't kill me in 1/2" of snow just in case I get surprised by a flash snow storm.

[aytheory]

falken 912 are not bad and pretty good bang for buck

[JPJ2007]

PLEASE do me a favor and go to a Discount Tire store if you have one close. www.tires.com
I always go there.
The customer service is #1 and they know their shiet, and they work hard.
Normally takes 12 min to change all 4 tires and have it out of the bays once its pulled in.
Normally you walk in, and 30-40min later you walk out all done.

btw DO NOT get the 912's if you want any traction in snow. lol
They make a good tire for dry wet and snow, If i'm not mistaken its the Fortera tripple tread tire by Either BFG or goodyear. Off the top of my head I'd get that tire.
It's said customers have went 80mph in snow with those, and their Not a "SNOW" tire....
their good for other weather conditions.

[bmann]

btw DO NOT get the 912's if you want any traction in snow. lol
They make a good tire for dry wet and snow, If i'm not mistaken its the Fortera tripple tread tire by Either BFG or goodyear. Off the top of my head I'd get that tire.

Tirerack says those are a light truck/SUV tire. :P

I've always avoided Discount Tire because A) I know people who've had less than great experiences there, and B) The website is absolutely useless.

I've made a couple purchases through TireRack and their service is exceptional, as is their website. I'm not opposed to walking in a tire store and buying locally but I don't get confidence from talking to the techs in most shops I've been in. Also, I like to hear from people who have owned certain tires, especially on the same model vehicle, rather than from a sales person. :)

[A6.S-line]

Falken 912s are fine in light snow. Obviously common sense still applies

[bmann]

Looking at TireRack, it appears the 16" wheels were stock on the 2.8 but not the 1.8T(?). Interesting. Also, Goodyear Eagls RS-A are the OEM tires for those wheels, but apparently get pretty horrid user reviews.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....m=055HR6RSA91H

I'll look into the 912's, thanks.

[JPJ2007]

yeah that was stupid of me. lol Thats an suv tire.
I was thinking like a foot of snow. ha.

I wouldn't judge them untill you went in your self...
Random: I've seen a silver 360 Ferrari Modena and a black Maserati at my local Discount tire store. lol Some nice ass cars son!

Something else I''d keep in mind, buying from tirerack their tires aren't always new.
I bought a set and they were alrdy 3 years old. Since they sit there awhile...
Plus, Discount Tire will Beat their price, and their always new. And buying 3 yr old tires are retarted, because they do have a life. after 8 years the rubber starts to break down
and you'll see seperation in the tire. where air causes the steel layers to seperate from each other. Sometimes its allot sooner.

I'd take a look at the Yoko YK520. I know of 3 friends with those tires and love em.
I'm not sure how theyd do in the snow, but cant be any worse if not better than the falkens.

Excuse my grammar, It's horrible. It's late and I'm going to sleep. lol

oh btw, Discount tires website has prices a lil more than what they are in store. Retarded but oh well. lol

[D's Avant]

I run the ContiExtremeContacts with good results all year. Not a bad compromise tire. Bridgestone RE960 A/S gets good reviews too, we have the P-Zero A/S on the BMW, good luck getting home on those in any snow deeper than an inch.

[black99.5a4]

Looking at TireRack, it appears the 16" wheels were stock on the 2.8 but not the 1.8T(?). Interesting. Also, Goodyear Eagls RS-A are the OEM tires for those wheels, but apparently get pretty horrid user reviews.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....m=055HR6RSA91H

I'll look into the 912's, thanks.

15's were non sport on the 1.8, 16's were with sport pkg

[A6.S-line]

we have the P-Zero A/S on the BMW, good luck getting home on those in any snow deeper than an inch.

That's not necessarily the tire's fault. Is your bimmer RWD (fun most of the time, but not in snow)?

[kf3506]

i have 16 inch goodyear assurance tripletread on my car. It's actually surprisingly good in the snow and did ok on some ice this past winter. The wet and dry performance is awesome too.

[onemoremile]

Skip discount tire and use their ebay direct store. Prices can be half of what they are on their retail site. I've paid below half price and still got free shipping. Then took them to the local discount tire and had them mount and balance them.

Curious, if it takes about 5 minutes just to properly balance a tire then how do all four get done in a half hour? I don't trust work that is done too quickly.

ebay store link:
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Discount...__W0QQ_armrsZ1

tire search:
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Discount...Q_sopZ2QQ_scZ1

Falken 512 for 320 shipped.
Ecsta ASX for 330 shipped.

[onemoremile]

That's not necessarily the tire's fault. Is your bimmer RWD (fun most of the time, but not in snow)?

RWD is great in snow with the right tires. AWD with the wrong tires is terrible. I got caught out with summer tires last winter and had to commute 35 miles at 20 mph while waiting for the lug studs to arrive for my winter wheelset.

[D's Avant]

That's not necessarily the tire's fault. Is your bimmer RWD (fun most of the time, but not in snow)?

Understeer and oversteer all at the same time. FWD, AWD, RWD I wouldn't go with the P-Zero A/S no grip at all. Our BMW is RWD and P-Zeros A/S on that car would go from major oversteer to major understeer in any snow over an inch. My wife got very good at car control.

Dedicated winter set-up this year for the BMW.

[stubbs]

I've heard great things about both the Kumho Ecsta ASX and the Falken Ziex ZE-512. I decided on the Falken and got a set in 225/50/16 just a month ago. They've been great so far, except that my gas mileage dropped 2-3mpg cruising on the highway compared to the old econo-touring tires that the previous owner installed. They grip great, however, and I haven't gotten them to slide yet.

[nyca4tqm]

I've heard great things about both the Kumho Ecsta ASX and the Falken Ziex ZE-512. I decided on the Falken and got a set in 225/50/16 just a month ago. They've been great so far, except that my gas mileage dropped 2-3mpg cruising on the highway compared to the old econo-touring tires that the previous owner installed. They grip great, however, and I haven't gotten them to slide yet.

I just did some tire research and if you get any kind of rain or snow, go with an all season tire, unless you have dollars to burn and can afford 2 sets. I found with tires that work really well on dry warm pavement, suck in the rain and visa versa. I'm in NY and we get a fair share of rain and snow so I went with all seasons. I had the Kuhmo summer tires and they sucked the rain, couldn't do more than 50mph without hydroplaning. Originally had Good Year A/S on the stock rims and they were great in all kinds of weather. I have since gone to Cooper A/S Zeons. Not to hard on the pocket........my .02.

[onemoremile]

Summer tires work by having large surface area in contact with the pavement. This usually means large uninterrupted tread blocks. Any voids or grooves in the tread is to dissipate water. Some summer tires are incredible in the rain like the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 and Michelin Pilot Sport. The absolute best rain tires are also max performance summer tires. They are pretty much what race cars run on rain days.

Snow is a very different problem. Snow tires avoid large tread blocks since they don't have any traction. What gives traction on snow is the edge of a block so that is why they have so many grooves, voids, and sipes.

M&S is not a snow or inclement weather rating. It depends on a ratio of void to blocks and doesn't mean a tire is good in bad weather. Check the tire rack ratings guide for help here.

[blackhat]

Okay, DON'T BUY SUNNYS, EVER! I drifted sideways, and ended up doing a 180 spin on backgrounds on my car, the ground was damp, it wasn't raining.. and the corner wasn't wicked sharp, and I was going max, 25-30.. and hydroplaned.. Thank god no one else was coming the other direction or anything.. I learned my lesson spending $50/tire.

[bmann]

So the Ziex 512 are similar to the 912 but less performance oriented? They seem to have similar specs, 91 V rated, 360AA tread wear.

[onemoremile]

What is a Sunny?

[onemoremile]

Okay, DON'T BUY SUNNYS, EVER! I drifted sideways, and ended up doing a 180 spin on backgrounds on my car, the ground was damp, it wasn't raining.. and the corner wasn't wicked sharp, and I was going max, 25-30.. and hydroplaned.. Thank god no one else was coming the other direction or anything.. I learned my lesson spending $50/tire.

You hydroplaned just the back while they were going sideways?

My guess is that you lifted off the gas while sliding and had lift throttle oversteer. More throttle probably would have straightened it out. Lifting while sliding is bad.

[.Mad Hatter.]

i would also say 912s, i have had them in a blizzard in upstate new york and they have even seen track time, lol.

they wear pretty quick, and like the 512s they have soft sidewalls so the outermost portion of the tread wears quicker, which is annoying.

[oliverz]

i have 16 inch goodyear assurance tripletread on my car. It's actually surprisingly good in the snow and did ok on some ice this past winter. The wet and dry performance is awesome too.

mine is the tripletred goodyear car tires. I bought for $150 few weeks ago. I've heard that goodyear is good during icy or wet condition... it works well for me

[jm121189]

I'm sure tires haven't changed in the last 3 years...

[A4QuattroV6]

All seasons = no season

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[lorge1989]

My recommendation, General Altimax HP/RT. Decent sidewall for an economy tire, and you will see 40-50k before you need to replace them. And they are pretty cheap. http://www.onlinetires.com/user/vehi...ds/page_1.html

edit: I would never buy 512s/912s.

[oliverz]

I'm sure tires haven't changed in the last 3 years...

nope.... actually I did.... just shared my experience on it mate