To get winter tires or not? Which?

[Coderedpl]

I live in long island, ny but work in NYC so i travel between the two everyday pretty much. About 60 miles per day, 50/50 highway/city. Right now i have dunlop sp sport maxx summer tires mounted on 18's and I've been considering getting 17's for a winter set since i can get those for a pretty decent price. Winter tires will also be dunlop winter sport. Now the real question is, is it really worth the hassle? I've heard of europe getting shitload of snow, and buffalo getting 32 inches so that worried me a bit but do i get a big enough advantage from winter tires to do it with my type of driving?

How many of you switch? For those that don't, what do you run?

Tires to pick from
DUNLOP SP Winter Sport 3D Snow Tires
Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 snow tires.

[andyzzdae38]

I have blizzacks on my b6 with steelies, best money i've ever spent

[Greedo]

My tire suggestion is the Dunlop WinterSports. My small review...

I must say that I absolutely love the Winter Sport 3Ds. I drove them on dry pavement, in the snow, over the ice, etc and they handled great in every condition. I actually found that on dry pavement they ride nicer and are quieter than my General Exclaims were. I also purchased the road hazard warranty from Discount Tire for the tires as well. On the wet, icy snow back in Wisconsin they accelerated great (I wasn't slipping like almost every other car I saw on the road). Over the icy patches on the bridges heading to Madison for the holidays they didn't seem to slip at all either. I also drove them in a few inches of fresh coming out of the tunnel here in Colorado, and while most other drivers were only going 20 or so, I was easily doing 65 and not thinking twice; they gripped extremely well and made for a comfortably, safe drive down the mountain. All in all I'm extremely pleased with the tires.

[Coderedpl]

First choice will be the dunlops followed by the bridgestones if the deal doesn't work out

[Mc Suly]

General Altimax Arctic - Studded.

Best tires I ever bought.

I am from NY- Long Island too! I go there often cause of family, got a place down there zzzzz.

[mo17k3y85]

I live in Illinois we get snow up to our elbows sometimes. No switching rims/tires just store the a4 and jump into some 4x4 action all winter long, I heard blizzacks are amazing in snow but can't confirm that. Whatever you do summer tires aren't meant for snow, but I'm sure you already know!

[Stewy]

I have Hankook IceBear W300's mounted on my 18" Ti wheels...they've been great in the snow. Too bad my car is like a snowplow or bobsled in anything over 3 or 4".

[fajimr]

General Altimax Arctic.. great price/performance ratio. they make a HUGE difference in utah- where ice isn't such a big deal.

get em- they are cheap insurance, imho.

jim

[Mc Suly]

General Altimax Arctic [Studding available] = ALREADY 2 good reviews :O

[Der Konig]

I don't switch but I also run all seasons. Had no issue last year in the snow, if you have the extra cash though it wouldn't hurt. I just didnt feel the need.

[bblume]

I"ll second Greedo's comment about the dunlops. When I purchased my car it was owned previously by the head tech at the local
dealership. So after the sale wrapped up he grabbed my attention and pulled me aside and gave me his address. He gave me his winter setup to simply keep with the car. 4 B5 17" S4 Avus wheels mounted with Dunlop Wintersports (one wheel and tire were destroyed so I have since replaced that and powder-coated them all) Anyways as soon as I got them squared away and ready to put back on when the snows came, it was like a completely different experience in the winter. IT's kinda like driving a tank. Mated with the quattro, these tires are like drag radials in the slush and snow. At icy stoplights the traction is unfathomable. You just pull away from everyone because of their lack of traction. It makes heading to the hills here in CO a lot of fun. I would also recommend the hakkal palalalttaaaaa's from Finland.

[Greedo]

I live in Illinois we get snow up to our elbows sometimes.

By sometimes you mean once a century, right?

[Coderedpl]

Picked up the dunlop winter sport 3D, going to be mounted on the stock 5 double spoke 17s

[beantown]

Picked up the dunlop winter sport 3D, going to be mounted on the stock 5 double spoke 17s

Nice choice.

[aaron1085]

ok, im leaning towards the dunlop wintersport 3d. Going to be mounting them on OEM 2007 A4 17" wheels. Stock tire size I believe is 235/45/17...same size suggested for the winter tires? Do I need to worry much about load rating, etc, or will these tires automatically fit the bill? Thanks!

[Greedo]

I'd go down to a 225; narrower is better in snow.

[Coderedpl]

The ones i got are 235/45/17. Going to be mounted this week!

[bblume]

only video of your mounted winter tires in action will suffice to successfully conclude this thread.

[stirfryguy]

I"m having trouble deciding on which tire. The General's I've read are great for deep snow, but not as good as on ice, can the general owners shed some light?

[Boushard]

General Altimax Arctic [Studding available] = ALREADY 2 good reviews :O

Don't have them studded, but I'm just return form a little drift run in 5" of fresh powder and they grip pretty well!!

The highway was pretty much snowy when I came back from work and everybody else run a 40-60 in the right, clear, lane and I'm in the left, very unclear, lane at around 90-100.

Probably if I get them studded it will be more fun to drive in snowy/icy condition!!


ok, im leaning towards the dunlop wintersport 3d. Going to be mounting them on OEM 2007 A4 17" wheels. Stock tire size I believe is 235/45/17...same size suggested for the winter tires? Do I need to worry much about load rating, etc, or will these tires automatically fit the bill? Thanks!

The load rating tell the stiffness of your sidewall, lower load rating = spongy sidewall, higher rating = more like summer tire, stiff sidewall so more fun when cornering on dry!!

[simon072889]

Next time Im in the north for the winter im getting studded snows 235-40-18 mhmmm.....

[Matt@EuropaParts]

I run Dunlop WS3D's. They're the shit. Seriously. I heart them.

And yes, you need winter tires. A lot of people gloss over the fact that winter tires have a different rubber compound that allows them to respond better once the temps drop below 50*F. Really, once the average temp is below 45 or 50*, you shouldn't be on summers anymore. Not to mention the obvious benefits of snow tires when it actually snows.

[Coderedpl]

Winters are going on the car on Wednesday and summers are going in storage. Hopefully the flurries don't turn into a major snow storm

[bblume]

I run Dunlop WS3D's. They're the shit. Seriously. I heart them.

And yes, you need winter tires. A lot of people gloss over the fact that winter tires have a different rubber compound that allows them to respond better once the temps drop below 50*F. Really, once the average temp is below 45 or 50*, you shouldn't be on summers anymore. Not to mention the obvious benefits of snow tires when it actually snows.

^^^^THIS IS AS GOOD AS THIS V V V V
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn44/bblume8/20100609-bbr7pnd5t5f4knyqkdphefjuhh.png

[Audized]

ok, im leaning towards the dunlop wintersport 3d. Going to be mounting them on OEM 2007 A4 17" wheels. Stock tire size I believe is 235/45/17...same size suggested for the winter tires? Do I need to worry much about load rating, etc, or will these tires automatically fit the bill? Thanks!

You can go with 215/50/17, narrower than stock size for better traction in snow. It's safer to stay above 91 for load rating.

[aaron1085]

thank you. ok, so, can go as narrow as 215 and must stay about load rating of 91. .. what is I have a load rating of 91, going to be fine or borderline?

How about TPMS?

[stirfryguy]

got another question. I'm also going to be ordering Dunlop 3D in 225, but does it make a big difference between XL and 91H?

[aaron1085]

good question...do tell, do tell. I'm ordering Blizzak LM-60 in 225..

[Stea1th]

225 Blizzack WS-60's.


best money i spent for the winter (i live by teh city too in ny)

[Adub-Drew]

Ur driving city road's so i dont really see the use in having snow tires for you. I commute from Fairfiled County CT to Queens/LIC for family events alot so i got a pretty good idea of the road conditions.... I run Micheline Pilot A/S and they are fine in the snow. We really dont even get that much snow that it is necessary to have winter tires, the roads are plowed/sanded pretty fast.

[stirfryguy]

I just put on my 225 wintersport 3d, I was a day late since the storm hit this past weekend which made my commute on Monday awful; took me 3 hours to get to my office where it usually takes 40.

[Leo14]

Just got some snow here last night, barely anything and I was slipping so bad. I have all seasons and am FWD, i wonder if snow tires would actually make a difference with FWD or not

[Greedo]

Just got some snow here last night, barely anything and I was slipping so bad. I have all seasons and am FWD, i wonder if snow tires would actually make a difference with FWD or not

Of course they would. Snow tires are designed to be driven in snow where an all season is meant for...you get the point.

I'd be more inclined to run snow tires on a FWD before quattro.

[deeznuts]

dont do it! winters not that bad, its fun around here! traction on, you'll be good...traction off, just floor it and wish for the best woooo :)

[deeznuts]

i run the stock pirellis that came with the ti wheels. all seasons, 3 brand new, 1 bald....keeping it like that for the winter because its funny

[Coderedpl]

I'm actually glad I put the winters on. Mine are not studded so I bet that played a big role. I was pretty much driving on ice covered roads yesterday and I feel that with summers I would of ended up somewhere else other than home.

[tankdeer]

I took a little trip up in the hills the other day and my all seasons were crap. Might as well have been riding on slicks. Given I didn't expect it to dump 4" of fresh snow in the 2 couple hours we were there, but still. Anyways, snows are going on the car this afternoon after work. Also have the Hankook IceBears. Will be my first season testing them in real snow, instead of just cold. Should be fun.

[A4 Centaur]

Dunlop 3D's SWEEET!

[prospero]

I own the Blizzak WS-60/WS-70, had them on my last car too.... absolutely worth every penny. Incredible performance on almost every condition, gives a little on tight corners, but then again I'm comparing that to my extreme summer performance tire. They are incredible on ice & snow, I used them when I did the Ice Driving school in Georgetown, CO and they had grip (sorta, kinda hard no matter what on 100% ice) when no one else did. I had the tightest turns and skidpad of anyone in the group that day.