RS7 Winter Tire?

[MuratC]

Hi Folks,

I'm new in the forum and have question for winter tires to be fitted on 21" rims.
As you know there are not many options when it comes finding winter tires for 21" wheels. There are no 275/30-21 tires available in my area and they have to be imported. The dealer suggests the easy way out: Buy 20" wheels and finding tires will be much easier. But that will be also a very expensive option as they also have to be imported from Germany.

While checking out the 21" winter tires I've found that Pirelli Sottozero tires have a size of 245/35-21. Its diameter is 27.8" whereas original summer tire diameter is 27.5". The dealer doesn't recommend it but I'd like to know that if the narrower tire width and 0.3" difference in height is OK with this car or not. There is not much of a difference but will it affect the traction and driving?

Thank You

[masmole]

It might still work but the tire might be too narrow for stock wheel width. Not sure what the stock wheel specs are but I'd be more concerned about that than the minimal .3" increase in rolling diameter.

[MuratC]

Stock wheels are 9x21. According to Tire Rack, Pirelli Sottozero 245/35-21 tires Rim Width Range is 8-9.5" So these Pirellis should fit on the original wheels.

[Oblivia]

So I still have my A6 (prestige, sport) 20" wheels with 255/35R20 Continental Contac DWS tires. They are about 1.5% smaller in diameter, and need 5mm spacers for the front to clear the calipers. So when speedo says 60, I'm doing 59. So far, so good. Much better traction when it gets cold out, as rubber stays pliable. Slightly more noise, "softer" turn-in, and a slightly less "planted" feel than with the p-zero's. Not a bad trade-off for winter. Since rims were free, it was a cheap option. But, if I has to buy the rims, original OEM's were priced over $4k. So maybe importing some rubber would be cheaper, although more of a hassle to get them mounted/remounted 2x a year. Oh, and I have to put up with the TPMS system warning, as the A6 did not use TPMS sensors in the tires, and the RS7 does.

They look ok on the RS7, but don't quite fill the wheel wells like the stock wheels do. Just a slightly less aggressive look. Don't know if this helps or not, just what I'm doing that seems to work ok.

Here is (hopefully) a pic of what the wheels look like on an A6: