Winter wheels

[NathanA4Avant]

Quick question regarding winter tyres,

Anyone making the change here in A4 land?

Cant decide whether to change the tyres on my standard alloys, or get a secondhand/new set of steelies and just run a second set.

Price of getting the steelies second hand outweighs having the tyres swapped over every 6 or so months for £40 a time.

Any ideas where to pick up some steelies? Audi direct are £58 each, and ebay is proving unhelpful.

 

[mikeh126]

Yep - changing my 18" RS Reps for 17" Quattro Sport wheels with Continental WinterContact tyres on Thursday morning.

If steel wheels are hard to come by, maybe look for a secondhand set of alloys from the Bay. Then it's just a case of changing wheels when the snow/ice/frost hits us big time!

Much easier than changing tyres twice a year.

 

[NathanA4Avant]

Cool.

Will order the tyres and hope some rims come up. If not will whack them on my alloys for now and sort it out in the spring.

My tyres a currently 205/55 R16. Is it worth sticking to the same size/profile? Can get a set of Hankook winters for 257.66 delivered.

Nathan.

 

[BahnStormer77]

I've got my original 16" Audi Sport "Trapeze" with Vredestein Wintrac's and some S4 Avus 18's with Toyo Proxes for summer.

Alloys are fine: but I'd recommend 17" or 16" for the higher sidewall and less chance of damaging them with Winter roads/grime.

Should be able to get a set of 16's for <£300.

 

[rezulteo]

Changing to winter tyres really depends where in the UK you live, if temperatures are low in winter or not, if it's likely to snow, if you drive a lot etc...

If this is the case then they could really be beneficial to you in terms of safety.

 

[scott b]

all ive done is put a set of 17" A4 sport wheels on mine with new tyres on the front and ok tyres on the back, wont be using the car much anyway in winter (just main roads). didnt fancy getting my polished rs6's ****ed up with grit and salt. but if the weather does go bonkers ill be using the discovery

for steel wheels look for new passat or skoda superb etc

 

[scott b]

quick ebay search for passat 16" wheels

passat 16 wheels | eBay

 

[BahnStormer77]

all ive done is put a set of 17" A4 sport wheels on mine with new tyres on the front and ok tyres on the back, wont be using the car much anyway in winter (just main roads). didnt fancy getting my polished rs6's ****ed up with grit and salt. but if the weather does go bonkers ill be using the discovery

for steel wheels look for new passat or skoda superb etc

Why not start replacing those 16" tyres with winter ones... they will work for all the "gritty" months, summer ones will wear down faster (sumemr tyres are brittle in winter and wear 40% faster) and you'll eat Disco's for breakfast on icy tarmac if they've only got road or mud tyres on...

 

[matttrs]

i've got a spare set of 18" alloys can you get 18 winter tyres? I got them on ebay for 100

 

[RussZS]

Bargain!

I managed to get some GTI Monzas in 18" and 6mm Vred Wintracs for £300 for my Ed30 - not a bad deal either. Winter tyres are superb when the snow hits.

 

[BahnStormer77]

Matttrs: 2 years ago, no: the smallest was 17" on most suppliers apart from the pirelli's that were >£200 a corner (and they're ropey in the wet).

NOW however... you can get most up 18" and beyond!

Vredestein

And ignore the old school "narrower tyres mean more grip"... that's for non-winter tyres in snow.... for winter tyres, just get the right size for your car... you'll trash the alloys in ice adn snow, but for £100 for a sacrificial set of winter alloys, go for it!!

 

[mikeh126]

Matttrs: 2 years ago, no: the smallest was 17" on most suppliers apart from the pirelli's that were >£200 a corner (and they're ropey in the wet).

NOW however... you can get most up 18" and beyond!

Vredestein

And ignore the old school "narrower tyres mean more grip"... that's for non-winter tyres in snow.... for winter tyres, just get the right size for your car... you'll trash the alloys in ice adn snow, but for £100 for a sacrificial set of winter alloys, go for it!!

Changed wheels on mine yesterday to 17" QS with Continental WinterContacts - so praying for snow now!!

Guy that came to change mine - his next job was to fit 4 Vredestein Winter tyres on 20" rims to an A6 Quattro Allroad - he said the tyres cost over £300 EACH! Saw them in the back of his van.
Mind you, they did look a fair size, TBH!!

 

[BahnStormer77]

Changing to winter tyres really depends where in the UK you live, if temperatures are low in winter or not, if it's likely to snow, if you drive a lot etc....

The tyres on my 18" S4 alloys are Toyo Proxes, so they're pure summer tyres (read the EU/US sites and they specifically say not to use Toyo Proxes T1-R's in Winter).... They are fantastic in the summer and also in the wet, but like most summer tyres, they get very brittle way before the road gets icy (I'd easilly believe the quoted 7deg C that everybody says for summer tyres).... beyond the obvious safety benefits below 7deg C, I was told that all summer tyres wear faster below 7deg C, so I'd prefer to save my expensive tyres for the summer months.

Even in London/SE it gets below 7deg C most nights from November to March, so the safety + wear equation makes it a no brainer as far as I can tell.... plus my local Merityre are now storing all 5 of my "off-season" alloys

 

[NathanA4Avant]

Well,

After collecting my rims from Audi yesterday, i got the tyres fitted and then got them on my car. Have to say already they are amazing.

The tyres are surprisingly quiet, and seems to have no major effect on fuel consumption. Felt grippy in the wet/cold last night, more so than my worn summers.

Now for some snow to see what they can really do.

Pictures coming soon....

 

[MrG A4]

Last year I put winter tyres just on the front (A4 TDi sport 2wd). Did this a couple of days after it had snowed. Loads of extra grip in the snow compared to summer tyres all round. Didn't notice any problems in still having summer tyres on the back. Decided to do the same this winter. Probably not a good idea for a quattro.

 

[BahnStormer77]

Last year I put winter tyres just on the front (A4 TDi sport 2wd). Did this a couple of days after it had snowed. Loads of extra grip in the snow compared to summer tyres all round. Didn't notice any problems in still having summer tyres on the back. Decided to do the same this winter. Probably not a good idea for a quattro.

I've heard mixed reviews about doing this: it does improve things a LOT compared to having all 4 being summer tyres..... but you are fairly likely to find the the back coming around if you brake on anything but a dead-straight.... and my parents road is never gritted adn has a long gnetle corner that I know I would definitely slide off of.... also, when I informed my insurance company about having winter tyres (at the size and spec recommended by Audi), the only thing they commented on was "and you those on all four tyres, not just the front?"... not sure if they would kick up a stick if you got into a prang 'cos you thought you had more grip / control than you actually had.

 

[MrG A4]

Hmmm, never thought of the insurance consequences.

I only had the back end out once this was going round a tight mini roundabout in the snow/ice and with a tad of encouragement. I quite enjoyed it - must have looked quite good too. Apart from that the rear end has been quite stable.

 

[SMc]

I've ditched the 19s for the winter and picked up a set of 16" steelies from www.wheelsnthings.com . Wrapped them in Continental ContiWinterContact rubber and have to say, the grip in the slippy wet weather has been fantastic so far. Haven't had the chance to use them in the snow yet but there are so many advantages of using winter wheels/tyres, even without snow. You preserve your good alloys from road salt, potholes etc and keep your summer tyres for the summer...when they don't wear down as fast. People think it's a lot to pay out but it will pay off in the long term. I've also used some stickers to give my steelies the space saver look just to confuse people

 

[BahnStormer77]

Hmmm.... steelies can look a bit extreme.... maybe just go for smaller xpec alloys and you can still save your 18's / 19's for summer....

Here's my 16" Quattro Sport "Trapeze".... just my 2c, but it's my preferred compromise between looks at winter practicality: