Winter tires

[ben916]

OK, so it is the middle of summer and many of you in more harsher climates might be already prepped for anything that mother nature tosses your way (assuming you drive your RS6 in the winter and in the snow/ice/etc).

My virgin So Cal RS6 has never seen snow or ice, but she will this year as she is in PNW now...

I am looking at the Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60 on the OEM 18" rim.
There is also the WS70 but they don't have the XL rating nor are they a "performance" winter tire.

My questions are:
1. what other winter rubber is out there?

2. what size? (225/45R-18 95H XL)

Thanks in advance!

[lswing]

Hakka R's, stock size and load, pretty sweet, although cost me $1,300....

[bmlee007]

I've always been partial to the Blizzaks. Had them in various types and sizes on four cars now (since moving back to the NE) and have never had a problem getting around with them on.

[Hammer]

I tried the Hankook Icebears this past winter and have no complaints. Excellent siping for rain, wet snow..and good grip on deeper snow pack and ice.

Rick

[ThrillHouse]

You're not that early, I ordered mine Aug 30th last year. I got the tires in this thread: http://www.rs6.com/showthread.php/23138-Snow-Shoes

They were real good. I took them up to VT and there was a foot of snow already on the ground when I left coming home.

[AUDI5000CSTQ]

Hi Ben, tried calling you today.
I have not even gotten my summer tires yet.
Still flat in the drive way since March.
On of the Reps for Dental equipment "Voco" has an adv driving course for Audi or BMW
will find out details and let you know.
call someday

[Bigglezworth]

I run Michelin Pilot Alpin's. Stock size. I personally don't recommend them. They simply don't feel tight in the winter element which an expensive snow tire should. Had me white knuckling it a few times over the winter. Perhaps has something do to with the 255 size. Maybe the significanlty smaller width will assist.

[Jimmy]

Just another vote for Bridgestones. I run the Blizzaks on a stock set of 18s in 255mm wide from Dec-March here in Southern New England; but the car gets some good duty up in Northern Vermont/Montreal areas....

I think you'd be happy with a set of Blizzaks on a crappy weather day.

[ben916]

I run Michelin Pilot Alpin's. Stock size. I personally don't recommend them. They simply don't feel tight in the winter element which an expensive snow tire should. Had me white knuckling it a few times over the winter. Perhaps has something do to with the 255 size. Maybe the significanlty smaller width will assist.

You don't recommend the Michelin Pilot Alpin's or the Blizzaks?

I need no white knuckle moments...

[RS6NORW]

Lives in Norway and have Hakka R on mine. Have reduced rim size to 8x18 and uses 225 tieres to improve traction. Very happy with the setup.

[ThrillHouse]

Ice is what will give you the white knuckle moments - This ride back was white knuckle free:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDje0L9DQIs

[lswing]

One thought too, 95% of the time here in Eugene, I'm driving my snow tires on wet pavement, and the Hakka's handle great!

I had Michelin Ice-X2's on my wrx, and good god they handled horrible, super soft sidewalls....

My 1 cent...

[cruzanrs6]

I second the Hankook ICE Bear

[NSU RS6]

I put stock sized Michelin Pilot Alpins on mine within one week of ownership, and the day before last winter's snow dump. They rocked. My friends were also quite impressed, barrelling down the freeway like a panzer tank, while other cars were hardly able to move. They also handle the wet quite nicely, which is how it is in Seattle in the winter if there is not snow. If I was hardcore, I might have messed with the aspect ratios a bit to get a narrower tire to increase traction, 255/45's are a bit of a ski. If money is no object, get the Hakka's. My wife has Hakka SUV's (only the best for the Mrs....) on her Lexus GX470, and it will climb ice walls. Cleats for cars Hakkas are.

Whatever you buy, just dooo eeet. Good winter rubber on a torsen centered quattro on a snow day makes 90% of the other cars on the road look ridiculous.

Rippin:12791

[lswing]

^^^ Nice snow plow!

That reminds me, we did loose traction once in my brothers A4 with Hakka R's....high centered on snow while climbing a steep hill in the neighborhood....had to turn around and go back down.

[4everRS]

I use the ice bears. Usually mount them early November. They stay on well into April. I like em. The blizzaks are great tires too.

[amanda]

I tried the Hankook Icebears this past winter and have no complaints. Excellent siping for rain, wet snow..and good grip on deeper snow pack and ice.

Rick

I used the ice bears and rated them ....I would use them again but sadly as I now have the c6 brake up grade I can not get them in 19 inch :(

[Justin9212]

I have a set of replica 18" 04 RS6 wheels for the winter with 225/45-18 Dunlop Snows. The car is amazing in the snow this way. I run out and jump in my car the second it starts snowing and have a blast. Axis spins are brutal for your back seat passengers fyi.

[mmaturo]

I used Dunlop Winter Sport M3s on my stock 18" wheels for 6 years/seasons...excellent, never any issues in snow, wet and dry and all temps. Didn't feel lacking in ability to have fun when weather was good with them. I went with the 3Ds on my S5 now but only because they come in 19s otherwise the M3 would be my choice although had no issues with the S5 but we had a very mild winter with almost no snow so short season to have a real opinion on the 3Ds.

[MNRS6]

This last winter I had a set of Blizzak LM-60's (235 width) mounted on the stock 18's. I was very impressed with these. I am in Minnesota so we see plenty of snow and cold temps and these tires handled both easily. Had to drive out to South Dakota in January for a wedding and ran into a blizzard on the way out. This set-up (car and tires) were amazing!! 80 mph through snow drifts.

[bobski]

I have had Dunlop wintersport M-3's for years on my RS6 and TT and love them. I know they have changed the tires a bit, but they are great in dry, wet and snow.

[905084]

4-500 inches of snow here a year. Blizzaks or Hankook I-Pikes. Son drove his Crown Vic to school all year on the I-Pikes and never got stuck once. Although, in Seattle you could get by with something a little more sporty and not so grippy.

[pwm]

need some more info I think.

1. How much driving in actual snow conditions
2. How cold is it going to get
3. How warm is it going to get
4. Highway driving v. secondary roads?

[ben916]

1. How much driving in actual snow conditions
- to me, it is more of being prepared and not getting caught in a rush to get snow tires purchased and then shipped and then mounted.
it is better to have them and not need them THAN not have them and then really need them.

2. How cold is it going to get?
- typical Seattle weather during the winter is a range from mid 30's to low 40's with an occasional three week long snow blanket where the city just $hits itself...

3. How warm is it going to get
- see above

4. Highway driving v. secondary roads?
- highway and city/residential roads

[905084]

I have had Dunlop wintersport M-3's for years on my RS6 and TT and love them. I know they have changed the tires a bit, but they are great in dry, wet and snow.

I like this idea. $80 to switch to winter, $80 to switch to summer. They will even store your tires for $10/month. $280/year just for tire "maintenance". Yikes.

Think I might look for some Dunlops.

[pwm]

Seems like a lot of your winter driving is going to be spent driving on roads that are actually above freezing and/or not deep snow. I wouldn't bother doing the narrow tire move. It'll give you fresh snow traction but you'll lose a lot of dry/wet contact patch. I don't think that tradeoff is worth it.

Were I in your position, I'd get a sportier tire so you don't lose so much performance in the non-snow conditions. A regular width, winter sport should be your best bet. Having not put snows on the RS yet, I don't have any direct experience with this car. That said, I grew up in upstate NY and have spent a lot of time in the Rockies with some other cars. Recently, I also drive from LA to Montana pretty frequently, and all year round. Driving from LA to Montana in the winter is a weird thing. You can't do it on all seasons because you have to have snow tires up there, but you have to baby the hell out of them when you're in warm weather. It's a tough tradeoff. I've found that the WS series Blizzak is nice for the highway miles, but not sporty at all. I have a narrow set on the TDI A3. Drives like a beast in the snow, but floats all over the place in the non-snow, and is the squirreliest bastard ever under braking. On the other hand, the LM series is a harder sidewall and much better to drive on secondary roads. The only problem with the LM that I have seen is that when you reach the limit in the snow, it comes and goes pretty quickly. They're happy once they're going sideways, and happy in a straight line, but that transition to supar-dorifto can be a little abrupt.

I've driven a couple S4s up in MT that are on Hakka sport winter tires that were more graceful in the transitions. I've also heard that they don't die off at the end of their treadlife quite as quickly, but I've only used Blizzaks lately so I can't speak to the current Hakka lines.

I believe that completes my ramble on winter tires. hope it wasn't a total waste of time.

-bill

[Bigglezworth]

You don't recommend the Michelin Pilot Alpin's or the Blizzaks?

I need no white knuckle moments...
Correct. They simply don't feel any 'safer' or any 'grippier' in inclement conditions than my all-season Avon tyres do. I'm suspecious it's due to the large 255 width which is easily a full 1" wider than many use for their largest winter tire width. My friend has a nice family van and his winter tires always felt soft to the touch, had grip resistance as you slid your hand across them, and a host of tiny fingers created by the tread design. The Alpins have none of these characteristics. Perhaps others have better experiences than I. My experiences/observations being what they are, I'm likely going to look to do a different combination of width/rims/tire this next winter.

[905084]

Correct. They simply don't feel any 'safer' or any 'grippier' in inclement conditions than my all-season Avon tyres do.

Really? On my iced over dirt road I definitely notice. Sliding down the icy grade with all seasons and the anit-lock kicking in and out didn't give me that warm fuzzy. I'll take Blizzaks in the winter every day on ice, Hankook I-Pikes in a foot or two of snow.

12816

What my driveway looks like in the winter.

[pwm]

bigglezworth, where do you live?

[Bigglezworth]

bigglezworth, where do you live?Calgary, AB

[Primo]

Hakkapaelitta 7 :)

[mmaturo]

I like this idea. $80 to switch to winter, $80 to switch to summer. They will even store your tires for $10/month. $280/year just for tire "maintenance". Yikes.

Think I might look for some Dunlops.

Or get to know your Discount Tire manager very well....which with an RS6 you will...free switches/and check balance every time (for years on 3 cars)...I think they will do this anyway...and just now started charging for storage as they switched to central storage rather than in the store where it was free for me for years, but the wife likes them not in our condo storage so worth it. So $100 a year maybe for two cars/sets now. I run a second set of OEM wheels for each car with snows as I said above and all Dunlops. Done.

[kday]

Regarding the Alpins, I had them in a really narrow width on my C4 A6. I think they were 195s (15x6.5 wheels IIRC). They were really quite good in both deep snow and icy slush. I think the width is the problem as others have mentioned. 255 is just ridiculously wide for a snow tire.

I have 255 series Conti DWS on my RS6 with plenty of tread, and they suck in the snow. I have heard they are pretty decent on other cars, so again I think it's the width.

I'd really like to find a set of used OEM Audi wheels from a different model that are narrower, and get proper snow tires. (I'm assuming that eventually Boston will have a winter again.) I ran 225 series tires on my S4 and they were OK, but still on the wide side. What's the narrowest tire you could run on an RS6? Anyone have a list of wheels from other models that will fit over the front brakes?

[ben916]

ok I just saw this on AZ:
https://www.mitasnowchains.com/articles-and-newsroom

I still think that Blizzaks are my first line of defense as it was frosty on the solar cell sunroof this morning.
I am looking at 245/45R18 with XL rating, slightly narrower and slightly taller.

Opinions?

[rwheelz]

I have michelin pilot alpins on my STI and they are incredible in the cold and snow.

[905084]

ok I just saw this on AZ:
https://www.mitasnowchains.com/articles-and-newsroom

I still think that Blizzaks are my first line of defense as it was frosty on the solar cell sunroof this morning.
I am looking at 245/45R18 with XL rating, slightly narrower and slightly taller.

Opinions?

Blizzaks will do you fine. That other thing?? Only for "Ice Road Truckers". And please remember, Quattro makes you go, brakes make you stop, but with the RS as with most cars in the winter mu is the limiting factor, not Hawks, or slotted rotors or 365mm disks. All the brakes in the world don't mean s#!t when the antiskid is kicking in and your eyes are wide because the Suzuki Samurai in front of you hit the dry pavement before you did.

Plenty of distance and a wary eye will solve most of your troubles, Blizzaks fix the rest.

[ben916]

And we are back from our brief intermission.

Anyone got snow yet?
Anyone got their winters tires on their car yet?

[MNRS6]

And we are back from our brief intermission.

Anyone got snow yet?
Anyone got their winters tires on their car yet?

We had our first flurries here in Minneapolis. It's still in the 40's outside so nothing will stick around. Since I am selling my car, I think the winter tires (and factory rims) will end up on the new Passat. Just need to find a way to switch out the Audi symbol in the center hubs....

[4everRS]

Snow on the ground in north/central MN. Melted on the roads, 1 inch in the grass.

Winters are on.

[Bigglezworth]

And we are back from our brief intermission.

Anyone got snow yet?
Anyone got their winters tires on their car yet?4-6" of snow on the ground here from Tuesday AM storm. Have elected to just keep running the Avon Tyre all seasons vs. putting on the Michelin Alpins after what I viewed as being a less than stellar performance for a 'winter tire' last year.

[Amulet-S6]

I have several set of blizzacks WS30/LM60 on wife and kids' cars and they're amazing. On a lark, I tried the Dunlap M3 on my rs. To me, the Blizzacks seemed better in the snow; new set already mounted and ready for this winter. 255/40/18
I love parking lots after we've got >3" of snow coverage. (ABS off) Just takes forever to get all the snow out of the rims :)

With quattro, I don't think you can go wrong. Jim

[Bigglezworth]

4-6" of snow on the ground here from Tuesday AM storm. Have elected to just keep running the Avon Tyre all seasons vs. putting on the Michelin Alpins after what I viewed as being a less than stellar performance for a 'winter tire' last year.Even MORE snow this past weekend. The other dump from a week and a bit ago finally melted, and them BAM - another 12". As luck would have it I needed to drive east for what would normally be a nominal 6hr drive that took 9.5 due to weather. Snowy road conditions caused ice build-up in the wheel wells which I eventually needed to stop on a highway pullout and bang out with a tire iron.

Made mention a few times about not being impressed with the Michelin Sport Alpins, and even less impressed after the rear passenger one blew apart at 80mph. Just managed to get ahead of the storm and on to dry roads and started doing 20-30km over the speedlimit in an effort to make up time. Tire let loose (reason undetermined). Bad enough luck. Worse luck was that it was no where near a highway pullout at the time which left me in a position of taking my life in to my hands by changing on the shoulder, or drive a few km's at less than 5km/hr to a pullout. I opted for the latter and in 10 minutes was able to get off the highway. Bad luck continued after pulling out the nice LED flashlight that I just purchased from the hardware store last summer only to find out the batteries were dead.... Dark, snowy, and cold. Damn....

Anyway, ended up rocking a full size spare and will be looking to locate a replacement tire (or full set considering how unimpressed I am with these) over the course of the week.

131601316113162

[MaxRS6]

Wowza- That had to be a bit harrowing!- especially if you using the OEM jack. Glad you made it to tell the story...;0 Good luck on the tire hunt.

[ben916]

Bigglesworth! You should buy a lotto ticket!
You survived a 80mph tire blow out!
You survived the widow maker also! (this one scares the crap out of me!)

Good to hear that you and the '6 are ok.
That last photo with the snow hanging off the car - amazing!

[NSU RS6]

YOWZA! 12" dump. Methinks that if that happens in Seattle I will let my wife sit at home while I take her torsen centered Hakka cleated Lexus GX470. That car rocks in the snow (it was the closest non-Audi quattro system I could find), and the Hakkas rule.

That said, the day comes soon where I will be putting the 255/45-18 Michelin Pilot Alpins I bought last January on the RS6. I thought they were great, as were the Alpins I ran the five years prior on my UrS4. Too bad Bigglesworth your experience was so bad. For me, Michelins are the only tire brand that has never been a disappointment.

Can't believe it is snow tire season already.

[905084]

50" in the last 2 days at Alta/Snowbird in Utah for those making skiing plans. Put on Hankooks before driving home and very happy.

[vr430]

Was very happy with my 225.45.18 Michellin Pilot Alpin PA2's. Waiting to reshoe with same size PA3's either later today or tomorrow.

We got a little bit of snow in the Twin Cities yesterday so I decided to take our Q7 instead of the beast on summer tires. Alas, Q7 also needs a new pair of shoes, so I almost had an encounter with a light pole - missed it by about an inch. Yikes!

[BLITZEN]

Most fun I've ever had in my RS6 was one day when I had new Blizzak 255x40x18s running in fresh snow in Park City. The plows hadn't gotten out yet and it had been packed by SUVs. It was so slick, even front wheel drive cars weren't able to drive on it. I just turned the traction control OFF and used the throttle to steer. Drifting left hand turns and going around SUV's like pylons! I've had this car at high speed and run tons of canyons. But nothing has been more enjoyable than that day on those snow-covered roads.
:incar:

[BLITZEN]

905084, I can see from looking at your tracks how well those Hankooks clean. And you live right here where I do! What kind of speed rating do the Hankooks have?

[905084]

Hankooks are V rated I think. Took the beast to PCMR today in the rain and they didn't miss a beat...all of the grip, none of the slip.

[BLITZEN]

With the Hankooks on? What size are they? Oh yeah, for anyone who cares, The Blizzak LM-60's are rated at a H speed rating (130mph) which I believe is the highest speed rating you can get with a Blizzak.

[BLITZEN]

905084, Is PCMR a raceway in Park City? If so, where is it?

[905084]

The Hankooks are 245/45/18. I went with the Hankooks over the Blizzak LM-60's only because they were $45/tire cheaper. I've had both Hankooks and Blizzaks and have been happy with both, although I have MZ-03 Blizzaks (run flats) on my A6 and popped (put a bulge in) the tire on a pothole. I put them on this year again and I now understand why run flats come with TPMS from the factory. All of the tires looked aired up until I checked them and found one had only 10 psi! As Mario Andretti says "Check your tires"!

Here's a good link for tire data for those trying to compare various tires.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=35

PCMR= Park City Mountain Resort (ski resort)

[NSU RS6]

Hankooks are V rated I think. Took the beast to PCMR today in the rain and they didn't miss a beat...all of the grip, none of the slip.

And this is why we drive 450HP quattros.

[905084]

Or 508 - Sportec :addict: or 568 - GAIC with upgraded turbos :rs6kiss: (which I haven't even driven yet!)

[Mudguts]

I went option #2:
- 225/45/18s on OEM RS6 five spoke wheels re-finished in gun metal. The only drag is that I ended-up with Bridgestone LM25's up front and Dunlop M3's in the back b/c they discontinued the M3's in 225/45 for this season.

13196


OK, so it is the middle of summer and many of you in more harsher climates might be already prepped for anything that mother nature tosses your way (assuming you drive your RS6 in the winter and in the snow/ice/etc).

My virgin So Cal RS6 has never seen snow or ice, but she will this year as she is in PNW now...

I am looking at the Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60 on the OEM 18" rim.
There is also the WS70 but they don't have the XL rating nor are they a "performance" winter tire.

My questions are:
1. what other winter rubber is out there?

2. what size? (225/45R-18 95H XL)

Thanks in advance!