Comment on Snow Tires for C7 (255/40/19)

[JWebb_C7_Comp]

All,

I live near Chicago and typically run winter tires on my cars as I much prefer summer tires in the summer and all seasons feel like a compromise all the time. I previously had Pirelli Sottozero 3. I'm not generally a fan of Pirelli, but I admit those were pretty good tires for (1) our optional sizes, (2) cold weather, (3) a bit of water, slush or limited snow fall. That said, after 4 seasons I switched my 255/40/19 winter tires to Vredstein Wintrac Pro. After about 200 miles (just this past few days) in 50* temps, I can say they're generally quiet and comfortable for snow tires. And, they feel reasonably competent on dry and wet pavement. My summer tiers for reference are Michelin Ps4s.

No comments about, snow, slush or ice, but they're rated pretty well by tirerack and their customers. I got my tires early this season as I expected supply issues, and there aren't too many snow tire options in 255/40/19. Bought the same tires for our Civic. And, we have previously used Continentals (Viking 7) without incident.

I hope this helps anyone looking for a "performance-ish" winter tire. If you're in the snowy mountains - from what I've read - this tire is NOT for you. But for the flat land around Chicago, or similar, it might be an option worth considering.

[2k16A6]

I've heard good things about the Vredsteins, good to hear the additional feedback. This will be my first year running dedicated winter tires, I got an OEM set from someone with an S6 that are unfortunately the pizza cutter 235 section AO Conti Winter Contacts. Not really looking forward to going from the meaty 265 PS4S to these things but I am excited to see a little snow to see how it does.

We've had a bit of a heat wave the last couple weeks but I think I'll bite the bullet and swap to my winter set this weekend.

[Valpo A7]

I run all seasons on all my cars in the Chicagoland area without any major problems. Now if I was in an area that got more snow then yeah I would likely look at dedicated snow tires. Chicago is very good at having the major streets and highways cleared within 24 - 48 hours but I cannot speak about the side streets. While I have a 2.5 car garage I just don't have the space to store a set of tires for each vehicle in my home fleet.

[2k16A6]

I run all seasons on all my cars in the Chicagoland area without any major problems. Now if I was in an area that got more snow then yeah I would likely look at dedicated snow tires. Chicago is very good at having the major streets and highways cleared within 24 - 48 hours but I cannot speak about the side streets. While I have a 2.5 car garage I just don't have the space to store a set of tires for each vehicle in my home fleet.

Yeah only reason I went the dedicated setup was because I wanted good summer tires, not so much the concern with winter tires. I'm in a heavily populated area with a 5 mile commute, even in heavy storms there's basically never more than a couple inches of snow on the road. Grew up driving 2wd pickup trucks in the snow so anything is better than that lol

[Valpo A7]

I never ran the summer tires even in my Mustang days, always had all seasons, but I did have a second car at the time so I could park the Mustang in the winter in my garage. High power rear wheel drive was certainly fun except in the snow.


Chicago gets 30 - 40 inches of snow but clears the roads very well. Having the quattro system helps a great amount for winter, I felt better driving the A7 in the snow than I did our old AWD Jeep Patriot. Have to see how the new Wrangler is in the snow, should be very good.


For those that are thinking of getting snows, if you have the room to store a second set and want summer and winter tires then go for it. Summer tires in the winter are NOT something to test fate with. Even with clear roads the grip from a summer tire on dry but cold roadways is not good.

[sepheroth86]

My Audi was ok in the snow with Pirelli all seasons.

It is a totally different beast in the snow with real winter tires.

[McNeil]

I also purchased a set of Vredstein WintracPro’s this season after my Continental’s needed replacement. Will report back on performance once there is some snow on the ground


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[Bike_Pilot]

I ran vikings on mine last winter on 18" wheels. I live in the mountains in CO and go over passes at least once a week. They did great.

[paul-g]

i was really considering the Vredstein for all seasons, like you said they rate rather well so the brand really seems like it's getting on par with the rest of the upper end brands. As i have yet to buy tires (trying to make the ones last as long as i can due to costs) the only reason I'm not buying them is from all the testing I've seen/read and from a few people on here who got them rolling resistance is not good on them at all and for an all season kind of important with fuel prices lol.

i figured snow tires they would be decent at for sure as they have been around longer than people think.

[DocTJ]

IF all seasons: DWS06+ or Michelin AS4, none other compare.

[will.k.315]

I got a steal of a deal for some used Nokian Hakkapeliitta r3 tires for my 2014 A7. Almost new tread and I got them for $500. Not bad since they are like the #1 rated studless and go for like $1100 in this size. Probably will finally get them mounted next week. I travel from upstate NY to VT in the middle of snow storms for skiing, so I'm excited to see how the quattro and these tires perform. Coming from an AWD T6 Volvo S60 which had goodyear winter tires last year. They were just okay.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[Spitfire007]

I've driven with All-Seasons on a myriad of cars in my time between New England and the Mid Atlantic. Never had an issue in winter.

I wintered a 2000 Trans Am 6-speed on bf Goodrich KDWSs....it did surprisingly well!!


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[sepheroth86]

I've driven with All-Seasons on a myriad of cars in my time between New England and the Mid Atlantic. Never had an issue in winter.

I wintered a 2000 Trans Am 6-speed on bf Goodrich KDWSs....it did surprisingly well!!


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

I'm sure all the people with snow tires that were stuck behind you were thrilled to be there.😆

[Bike_Pilot]

DWS 06+ are my "summer" tires. I love them but they aren't in even the same ballpark of a snow tire when it comes to snow. Probably better than most AS tires but that's not saying much!

[JWebb_C7_Comp]

DWS 06+ are my "summer" tires. I love them but they aren't in even the same ballpark of a snow tire when it comes to snow. Probably better than most AS tires but that's not saying much!

If I didn’t enjoy summer tires so much, I’d probably seriously consider the DWS or Michelin AS3.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine