Facelift Winter tires - Time to take responsibility?

Adam14 said:

I didn't realise that, take a look and see if anything fits my budget on eBay

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q5man said:

I got some 18” OEM alloys for my Q5 from Germany via eBay.

Company called ideal reifen. They do loads for most models. Cost me under £500 (bought new winters separately) so was about £950 all in - you can get cheaper tyres than the ones I got. and coated them in Gtechniq C5 before putting on.

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Adam14 said:

I'll probably end up just sticking with swapping the tires over instead of finding separate alloys as well.

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S32B said:

If they charge £50 each time, twice per year for 3 years is £300

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S32B said:

Problem I see with that is 1) You will have to pay someone to do it twice each year. 2) Each time they take them off/on you are risking damaging your current alloys.

If they charge £50 each time, twice per year for 3 years is £300...almost the cost of some reconditioned alloys! I also assume when it comes to selling, it would be easier to sell winter tyres on alloys rather than off!

Just my 2p worth

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Adam14 said:

Very valid point and not something I'd really considered. I'd definitely want "good" looking wheels though, as may be silly to some but I don't want small/silly/bad looking rims on my S5.

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q5man said:

Just hunt around, as stated higher up in thread your car has the same note etc as many other models, so a case of finding something you like in your budget

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Adam14 said:

set of 4 for Audi OEM are about £1k per set, so might look at getting some cheaper silver ones (about £400) and get them powder coated black or something. Appreciate they're not cheap items.

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Adam14 said:

Cheers mate and thanks for your input, yeah I agree, had a quick perusal and many gloss black alloys for a set of 4 for Audi OEM are about £1k per set, so might look at getting some cheaper silver ones (about £400) and get them powder coated black or something. Appreciate they're not cheap items.

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Adam14 said:

@AIS3BE @q5man thanks both for your input , completely forgot to take into account the resale value, could be dangerous spending this sort of money on getting some nice alloys haha!

Yes I started to check that company out on eBay and seen a handful I like!

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Adam14 said:

Well, I asked my local dealer (out of curiosity) what deal they would do on a set of winter alloys and tyres £2.4k, but that is not the best bit. Ready? This is a direct quote: "Also, with regards to winter tyres, I'm not sure you would actually need them unless you are going through 4ft snow drifts! They will cope well on the standard tyres in the snow"

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Adam14 said:

Well, I asked my local dealer (out of curiosity) what deal they would do on a set of winter alloys and tyres £2.4k, but that is not the best bit. Ready? This is a direct quote: "Also, with regards to winter tyres, I'm not sure you would actually need them unless you are going through 4ft snow drifts! They will cope well on the standard tyres in the snow"

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AlS3BE said:

winter tyres isn’t about just coping. Reduced braking distance, better cornering in cold wet/snow/ice conditions is some of the benefits. Even in heavy rain I found they didn’t even flinch where as the summers would just aquaplane.
Also in my experience diamond cut wheels corrode badly in the salt and grit on the roads.

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q5man said:

Nice looking set, always worth making an offer, but maybe more than you wanted to spend

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Adam14 said:

Well, I asked my local dealer (out of curiosity) what deal they would do on a set of winter alloys and tyres £2.4k, but that is not the best bit. Ready? This is a direct quote: "Also, with regards to winter tyres, I'm not sure you would actually need them unless you are going through 4ft snow drifts! They will cope well on the standard tyres in the snow"

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Adam14 said:

Thanks for the link, to be honest I think after looking as I'd like decent looking alloys the £1,500 ballpark cap seems likely, would rather pay out more to get winter tyres and decent alloys then chance it with summers, 4 inch snow drifts or not!

I quite like the look of these alloys, with a deal come in at about £1,600 :/ https://www.wheelbasealloys.com/alloy-wheels/bbs/sx/black/19-inch/audi/s5/s5-coupe

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msdmjb said:

Don't go near Audi for new alloys, either source them from somewhere like this forum (e.g. I could be tempted to sell mine to put a set of 19inch summers on) or any reputable retailer.

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AlS3BE said:

I like these. Budget another £500 for tyres and you are around £130

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Adam14 said:

Thanks I do like the look of those too, when buying winter tyres I was looking at buying new and the ones recommended are about £800 for my car (255/35/19) but can see there are a few used ones on eBay making it a lot cheaper, however I am wary of buying tyres second hand like this based on what they do.

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AlS3BE said:

Personally I wouldn’t do second hand tyres.

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Ormesome said:

So, with temperatures hitting the lowest seen in 7 years, plus snow every winter now becoming the norm, should we all become a little more responsible and fit winter tires? I ask this question as I sit at work in Switzerland where nearly every morning I have to dig my car out of the snow, and if I don't then ice is always an issue. Also, watching the news and seeing all the idiots in the UK driving around on summer tires, sliding everywhere and crashing into people, I can't help to think that we all really should start taking precautions. Various threads on here have talked about winter tires, the need for them, there are always pros & cons, but surely at times like these, we should all start to realise the real need for them?

The pros I can see are:

• Safer (for obvious reasons!)
• Better in all condition under +8 degrees - This means that Nov,Dec,Jan,Feb & parts of March you will get better grip based on average temperatures (if based on minimum temps then you can also add in October, April,May)
• The lower temperatures are usually when most of us will be driving to work, 1st thing in the morning & last thing in the afternoon)
• Cost- I don't understand why people but the cost in the negative section. The cost of your winter tires will be cancelled out because you are putting less wear on your summer tires. False economy if you ask me.

Negative:

• The only negative I can see is finding time to change them over and storing the tires. Not all people have a place to store the tires

Please keep this thread nice and calm! another thread got a little out of hand. All opinions will be just that, and geographically based opinions too so this should be thought of!

Finally, sorry for the post and that it goes over issues again! Its just frustrating seeing the UK stop for around 10cms of snow when most of the EU functions besides getting this daily for months. Also, as a recent convert and believer in changing tires, perhaps the current conditions will allow less enlightened souls to finally see the light!!

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Flowrider99 said:

Waste of time, money and effort in the south of the UK, we only get 3 months of the year where winter tyres would have any benefit and even then it would be intermittent.

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Ormesome said:

Admittedly you will be better off with 18 or 17 inch alloys

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Adam14 said:

Thanks for the reply, I think I am leaning towards getting a second set of alloys as don't fancy my diamond cut alloys will fare up so well with 3 solid weeks of snow/grit up in Scotland with no cleaning, plus the constant expense of changing and re-balancing.

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AlS3BE said:

I would be more worried about the tyre fitters damaging the wheels more than the grit and salt.
I’ve had tyres done at a dealer and it came back scored across the diamond cut edge then I noticed they must have rammed it on with an air gun and scored the inside of the bore on 3 of the wheels. Was not impressed.
Second set of wheels is the way to go if you like to keep the summers looking good.
downsize if you can as it cheaper for both wheels and tyres and it will be better in the wintry conditions. Just look at your sticker on the door jam and see what size can you go down to as i don’t think 17s will fit over the brakes even some 18s depending on the design/offset especially aftermarket might not fit over the brakes. 17s will look awful too.

Check out here to see what wheels from other cars fits your car. If I didn’t get the winters I have now I figured out a seat Leon alloys come around quite cheap compared to the Audi ones.
https://www.wheel-size.com/size/audi/s3/2018/

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msdmjb said:

I bought a nearly new set of OE 18inch alloys without tyres on this very forum 5 years back for my S3.
Set of winters now done maybe 15k/16k miles and maybe only half worn (to the legal depth not the effective snow depth). Likely next year will replace with crossclimates rather than dedicated winters, ultimately will sell the wheels at some point so overall have they been good value (when compared to depreciation on the car) oh yes.
Don't go near Audi for new alloys, either source them from somewhere like this forum (e.g. I could be tempted to sell mine to put a set of 19inch summers on) or any reputable retailer.

I have the 10spoke alloys in silver and titanium, interestingly the titaniums seem a stronger finish even though they are my winter wheels.

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Adam14 said:

Thanks for the link, to be honest I think after looking as I'd like decent looking alloys the £1,500 ballpark cap seems likely, would rather pay out more to get winter tyres and decent alloys then chance it with summers, 4 inch snow drifts or not!

I quite like the look of these alloys, with a deal come in at about £1,600 :/ https://www.wheelbasealloys.com/alloy-wheels/bbs/sx/black/19-inch/audi/s5/s5-coupe

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q5man said:

I am a MASSIVE fan of BBS alloys, their site is great for showing what they will look like on your car:

https://konfigurator.bbs.com/ - just select English site and then select model and colour of car, and then alloys

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