WinterTires/Wheels In the NorthEastTundra

[B7Lee]

Hi all,

So from what I've been hearing my stock 18" avus rims and continental tires that came on 05.5 b7 s4 are not great for winter driving and are not all season rated. Is this true?

If so, 2 questions:

1) are 18" rims okay for winter traction (given the LP tires that you can slap on)?
2) Suggestions for winter tires?

Obviously I'd still like the car to look sporty, so stylish recommendations always welcome. TIA guys. (pics of your winter setup would be sweet too)

[ABT B7]

Yes winter tires are ok on 18 inch rims, and there are LP tires you can purchase. As far as for suggestion, I would do a research on google and see which one is good for your needs, there are just too many of them out there and it can get expensive depending on how good of a traction you want. Hope that helps.

[boravr6]

I got a free set or Marangoni winter tires but wont test them until the snow falls, so thats no help to you... however,

A friend of mine had studded winter tires on his Charger SRT8 and i took his car out for a stroll in some nice slushy / snow covered highway in Quebec city... These tires are GODLY!!!

Now if your like 99,9% of the world and your state does not permit studs.. no worries! I cant seem to find the test results i saw few months back cause my work computer is firewalled up the wazoo but the #1 tire in Quebec was the nokian with studs, #2 was the same tire with no studs!

They are not cheap but if your gonna have fun they are the way to go! If these italian rubbers dont work the way i want them to this winter, im not really budgeted to buy new winter tires this year since im replacing the summer tires shortly, but ill make room in my budget to get some of these.

Hope this helped

[SuperAvant]

I have Dunlop M3's and they transform my S4 into a tank. Its pretty sweet complete with gun turret. Nothing can stop this thing in the winter and I also live in New England.

[MOFSTEEL]

I have Dunlop Wintersport 3D's that I run on my stock 18's and the grip is incredible. I put them through the test this past winter in Chicago and they ran flawlessly. I highly recommend them.

[channad]

Same as ^^^^ Dunlop 3Ds on stock 18" wheels. I've had them in 5 inches of snow in mammoth. unpaved roads at night. I could not break traction. It was insane. I would recommend them!

[Tiny2000]

I got a free set or Marangoni winter tires but wont test them until the snow falls, so thats no help to you... however,

They are not cheap but if your gonna have fun they are the way to go! If these italian rubbers dont work the way i want them to this winter, im not really budgeted to buy new winter tires this year since im replacing the summer tires shortly, but ill make room in my budget to get some of these.

Hope this helped

Uh oh, I had the Marangoni winters on last year, my experience was awful. Very mushy tires, bad sidewalls, okay traction in very light snow, but not confident for anything else, esp. icy roads.

I switched them right away for Hankook icebears. I didn't care about the extra $$$, tires are the most important safety feature of my car.

IMO, you can go down to 17" and save money, have more selection in tires available in 235/45/17 and still have a sporty look

(Can't believe we're having winter tire threads already!)

[ngng]

i love the wintersports...this was on my a6 ( i used the same winter wheel/tire on my s4 )

[FastB7S4]

Look into the Nokian WR's. They're considered an "all weather" (as opposed to all season) that is actually rated severe (mountain with snowflake). Does much better in the dry than your typical snow tire and is amazing in the wet/slush/snow and ok on ice.

[SuperAvant]

I plow my Driveway with my S4 in the winter.

[DRYBONES]

In my opinion almost any winter tire would do a decent job on a quattro. You just have to make sure you don't slap on a Q rated tire(causes sloppiness) and its at least a H rated tire.
Personally I have had Toyo garrit hx's on the wife's B5 A4 and its was invincible and this year I will be going with Pirelli 240 sottozero's on the S4 cuz I had them on my company car which is front wheel drive and these worked flawlessly.

[rollburg]

2) Suggestions for winter tires?

I would recommend going with the best snow tire in the world: Nokian. The WR's are great for all weather, but if you are planning dedicated snow tires, go with the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 Studded if you are allowed to have studs. If not, go with the non studded version. You will not be disappointed in snow, slush or ice.

[ngng]

I would recommend going with the best snow tire in the world: Nokian. The WR's are great for all weather, but if you are planning dedicated snow tires, go with the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 Studded if you are allowed to have studs. If not, go with the non studded version. You will not be disappointed in snow, slush or ice.

i would not say they are the best

[rollburg]

i would not say they are the best

Nokian snow tires are not the best because of which reasons:

Nokian Tyres is the world's first tire manufacturer to introduce a production method using earth-friendly oil, with the birch leaf insignia guarantees the complete absence of toxic chemicals

Nokian uses a combination of cool silica and canola oil creating a compond with exceptional grip properites when temperatures drop below zero

Nokian uses about double the amount of studs as well as "Bear Claw" technology and upgraded square studs

Or could it be Nokian's test facility is north of the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland?

[ngng]

Nokian snow tires are not the best because of which reasons:

Nokian Tyres is the world's first tire manufacturer to introduce a production method using earth-friendly oil, with the birch leaf insignia guarantees the complete absence of toxic chemicals

Nokian uses a combination of cool silica and canola oil creating a compond with exceptional grip properites when temperatures drop below zero

Nokian uses about double the amount of studs as well as "Bear Claw" technology and upgraded square studs

Or could it be Nokian's test facility is north of the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland?

i could care less about the birch leaf and studs arent going to help you, unless you have a shit ton of ice. as for the cool silica and canola oil, the nokian WR is not a dedicated winter; it's a winter rated all season. other tires, such as pirelli, bridgestone,dunlop are dedicated winter tires.

[rollburg]

I am glad we cleared up that the WR is an all weather tire. Also, to reiderate, The Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 studded is a dedicated snow tire as described on the previous post on this tread is one the best snow tires in the world.

[FastB7S4]

i could care less about the birch leaf and studs arent going to help you, unless you have a shit ton of ice. as for the cool silica and canola oil, the nokian WR is not a dedicated winter; it's a winter rated all season. other tires, such as pirelli, bridgestone,dunlop are dedicated winter tires.

The other guy recommended Nokian Hakka's which are dedicated snow/winter tires.

I recommended the WR's and if you look above I did say they were all seasons rated for severe weather. Nokian happens to call them all weather because of the severe weather rating that your typical all season does not have. WR's are the best option for most people to run for their winter set-up because the majority of folks don't have snow all winter. They may see 5 or 6 snow storms and need something to get them through the snow/ice. The rest of the time, it will be cold and dry. Why get a snow tire that has crappy performance in dry when you only need snow capabilities only a handful of times. That's where the WR's come in. They are decent in dry, great in wet and snow. I believe the 18's are V rated.

[rollburg]

The other guy recommended Nokian Hakka's which are dedicated snow/winter tires.

I recommended the WR's and if you look above I did say they were all seasons rated for severe weather. Nokian happens to call them all weather because of the severe weather rating that your typical all season does not have. WR's are the best option for most people to run for their winter set-up because the majority of folks don't have snow all winter. They may see 5 or 6 snow storms and need something to get them through the snow/ice. The rest of the time, it will be cold and dry. Why get a snow tire that has crappy performance in dry when you only need snow capabilities only a handful of times. That's where the WR's come in. They are decent in dry, great in wet and snow. I believe the 18's are V rated.

Actually, Nokian improved the WR's 10% in every category and released the WR G2 as the replacement:

http://www.tiresbyweb.com/p-7162-nokian-wr-g2.aspx

Still an all weather high performance tire with the severe snow service emblem. That seems to be the way to go, if you do not want dedicated snow tires, as the WR is discontinued according to Josh at Tiresbyweb. Plus, the WR G2 will be fresh rubber!

[FastB7S4]

I would use the WR's as a dedicated winter set-up (reasoning above concerning frequency of actual snow events) and swap out to summer tires for the remaining 3 seasons. Although you can use them all year round, I wouldn't simply because they are by no means a performance tire.

[B7Lee]

Thanks guys appreciate it.

[Stevelev]

With 6 months of winter, I've got a fair amount of experience with snow tires on many different cars over many years. A point worth making is that a narrower contact patch provides noticeably better traction. My S4 has 17's with Bridgestone LM's and they handle amazingly well on cold dry pavement; however, traction is not quite as good as a narrower tire on 16's I had on my B6 Avant. That said, 18" winter tires with Quattro will likely be all you need.

[Stormin]

i love the wintersports...this was on my a6 ( i used the same winter wheel/tire on my s4 )

LOL. That's all of what, one week here (unless you frequent the pass) in the winter?

I always just buy great rain tires.

[JayNYS4]

I used 18" Bridgestone Blizzaks on my stock BBS rims last year, and the time we got several inches of snow here in NY.... it was really fun just to go drive around. Great grip and a nice tire for NE weather.

[ngng]

LOL. That's all of what, one week here (unless you frequent the pass) in the winter?

I always just buy great rain tires.

see the ski rack ;)

[2PUTT]

Vredestein Wintrac Xtremes. used them this past winter. love them!!