Winter tyres vol 2

[300bhp/ton]

DailyHack said:

I rescued a Volvo XC90 last year in my 3 series, he couldn't believe his eyes when I rolled up next to him squirming away gave him a a well informed chat on the way home on how 4WD is useless without proper tyres...

4wd is still massively better than 2wd on the same grade of tyres.

[RicksAlfas]

Cooper2 said:

I had a look at the handbook as well as the info on the door, no information of correct size of wheels just to please contact a local Audi dealer to verify the correct wheels have been purchased. I did give them a call last week and still waiting for a reply.

Have a look on here. If you go down to wheel spec it gives you the width. Just check the tyre size is the same as the Audi recommendation:
https://www.mrwinterwheels.co.uk/18-audi-a5-b8-all...

[SAS Tom]

300bhp/ton said:

DailyHack said:

I rescued a Volvo XC90 last year in my 3 series, he couldn't believe his eyes when I rolled up next to him squirming away gave him a a well informed chat on the way home on how 4WD is useless without proper tyres...

4wd is still massively better than 2wd on the same grade of tyres.

He didn’t say it wasn’t?

[Kolbenkopp]

300bhp/ton said:

4wd is still massively better than 2wd on the same grade of tyres.

Definitely. But what about stopping? This is a problem when you can get your 4x4 on summers up to speed, but not slowed down again. If the majority is rolling on summer tyres, one could even argue that 2WD is safer in winter (for general road safety) .

[Kolbenkopp]

AlexiusG55 said:

I'm quite close to you the other side of the border (in NL) and am thinking of getting a set of Quatrac 5s for my Celica T-Sport. Initially I'm planning to use them year-round, but if they prove unpleasant in the summer I might get a set of summer tyres.

Quatrac not CC+ partly because they're cheaper and still V speed rated, but also because CC+ aren't available in quite the right size- the car currently has (worn and non-matching as I just bought it) 205/50R16 tyres on it, which is the OEM size. Quatracs are available in that size, the closest CC+ are 195/55R16 which will fit the wheels but I think the smaller contact patch outweighs any difference between the tyres.

Sounds entirely (lame pun unintended) reasonable to me. The Quatracs should get you through our type of winter very well, and next season you can see if you like them enough in the dry. From your description, I imagine that they will still be better than the worn stuff you have on the car now.

But if you plan to keep the Celica for a while (rather nice thing IMVHO), bear in mind that affordable summers socks (plenty of choice) should be better -- and you can spread the wear over two sets. It only costs you four extra rims (used steelies for winter?) and storing + changing. A no brainer if you have a decent jack, the required space to store and a torque wrench.

[Kolbenkopp]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

I'm in Luxembourg and have just done exactly this for exactly that reason. Snowflake essential but full-on winters a bit OTT for my needs. Had them fitted last month in the UK. I'm really impressed with the Michelin CC so far, even in warm weather.

Sounds promising, thanks for that! I just ordered a set of CCs for my Golf (225/45/17), they'll go on mid October.

Reason I like the idea of a summer biased 'snowflake' tyre is that I do a lot of Autobahn at the moment. Either the conditions are good and you can floor it. Or they are bad and things slow right down anyway. For the good days, I'd like to have something legal that is closer to a summer tyre.

[Kolbenkopp]

Barchettaman said:

Me too, am in Frankfurt but it seems the best compromise is swapping in a set of all-seasons in the autumn. Both our cars need new winter rubber. [...] I'll report back from a ditch at some point in the winter!

Guude ! Another quasi neighbour, I'm a Wochendendpendler from Offenbach to Dusseldorf at the moment. Think if the summer is anything to go by, we'll either have a full-on epic "weisse Weihnacht" type of winter, so even Nokians with studs will be of no use -- as traffic will grind to a halt as legions of stuck HGVs on the A3 create grid-locks of massive proportions...

Or it continues as this summer was and it is and it's T-Shirt time for most of winter. At which point I think an all season makes more sense...

[wombleh]

Kolbenkopp said:

300bhp/ton said:

4wd is still massively better than 2wd on the same grade of tyres.

Definitely. But what about stopping? This is a problem when you can get your 4x4 on summers up to speed, but not slowed down again. If the majority is rolling on summer tyres, one could even argue that 2WD is safer in winter (for general road safety) .

Indeed, it's extra momentum from the additional hardware driving the second axle that you've then got to shed. Swings and roundabouts.

Just had my winter tyres taken off and rims cleaned up to get rid of slow leaks. Probably cold enough to fit them now.

[Monkeylegend]

300bhp/ton said:

4wd is still massively better than 2wd on the same grade of tyres.

Not necessarily. If you are on snow or ice with summer tyres or tyres with very little tread it's irrelevant if you have 2 or 4wd, you won't be going anywhere, it just means you have 4 wheels slipping rather than 2.

If your tyres have no traction they have no traction.

[RicksAlfas]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

300bhp/ton said:

4wd is still massively better than 2wd on the same grade of tyres

Odd that.

Good mate of mine bought a Nissan 370Z Nismo

I suggested he got winters for it which he has ran the last two years.

He swears it is better in the bad conditions than his wife’s Skoda Superb Auto 4wd running on OEM tyres.

So I would say, you are wrong.

I think 300bhp is trying to say that the same car with the same tyres would be better in 4wd than 2wd.
He's not saying 4wd with poor tyres is better than a 2wd with good tyres.

I can confirm your mate's findings. I had a 320d on new winter tyres and a Range Rover on crap M+S road tyres.
The 320d could stop and steer far better than the RR, and get going just as well.

[Cooper2]

RicksAlfas said:

Have a look on here. If you go down to wheel spec it gives you the width. Just check the tyre size is the same as the Audi recommendation:
https://www.mrwinterwheels.co.uk/18-audi-a5-b8-all...

They don’t have options for my model. I just called my local Audi dealership and they can’t offer advice on aftermarket wheels only original wheels which are £762 per alloy. I confirmed my current wheels are 18” 8.5j.

[RicksAlfas]

Cooper2 said:

They don’t have options for my model. I just called my local Audi dealership and they can’t offer advice on aftermarket wheels only original wheels which are £762 per alloy. I confirmed my current wheels are 18” 8.5j.

OK. Is your car listed here?
https://shops.audi.com/en_GB/web/zubehoer/sport-de...
If so, get the wheel info from there and then you can buy that size in aftermarket.

[Cooper2]

RicksAlfas said:

OK. Is your car listed here?
https://shops.audi.com/en_GB/web/zubehoer/sport-de...
If so, get the wheel info from there and then you can buy that size in aftermarket.

Appreciate your help and patience. Unfortunately they don’t have 18” for an Audi A5 Coupe 2017. My Audi shows 18” 8.5j and just want to make sure any aftermarket 18” 8.5j will be fine.

[RicksAlfas]

Cooper2 said:

Appreciate your help and patience. Unfortunately they don’t have 18” for an Audi A5 Coupe 2017. My Audi shows 18” 8.5j.

You'll have to remind me what we are trying to do here!

Are you wanting to fit winter tyres to your existing wheels, or buy a whole new set of winter wheels and tyres for your car?

[Cooper2]

RicksAlfas said:

You'll have to remind me what we are trying to do here!

Are you wanting to fit winter tyres to your existing wheels, or buy a whole new set of winter wheels and tyres for your car?

originally just replacing tyres until i came across this thread. It seems many posters suggest it would be better to get another set of wheels. Got a price for new set of AO tyres and aftermarket wheels. When reading the handbook it indicates that I should verify with an Audi Center that the aftermarket wheels are compatible but they don’t offer any support with anything not bought directly from them. I might just go with swapping tyres to avoid any issues.

[RicksAlfas]

Unless you have a really oddball model, we must be able to
-establish what the recommended winter tyre size is from your handbook/door sticker/dealer
-work out what size wheel this goes on

You also need to decide whether you really need manufacturer marked (AO) tyres as it isn't necessary and massively reduces your choice of tyres...

I bought my (genuine Merc) winter wheels from Germany as they are far more common over there and thus cheaper. I then sourced the tyres separately as all the MO marked tyres were pretty poor. That way I ended up with the proper wheels (17" down from the usual 18") and the best tyres that were available.

[Cooper2]

RicksAlfas said:

Unless you have a really oddball model, we must be able to
-establish what the recommended winter tyre size is from your handbook/door sticker/dealer
-work out what size wheel this goes on

You also need to decide whether you really need manufacturer marked (AO) tyres as it isn't necessary and massively reduces your choice of tyres...

I bought my (genuine Merc) winter wheels from Germany as they are far more common over there and thus cheaper. I then sourced the tyres separately as all the MO marked tyres were pretty poor. That way I ended up with the proper wheels (17" down from the usual 18") and the best tyres that were available.

I know the tyre size 245/40/18 and I am set on the tyres I want which are AO. The issue is whether or not an aftermarket wheel is needed and if purchase how can I verify it is the correct one. From the handbook:
If you would like to equip your
vehicle with a tire/rim combina- tion that is different from what was installed at the factory, con- sult with an authorized Audi dealer or authorized Audi Service Facility before making a pur- chase

It seems I also need to be aware of things like the offset for the wheels which are not visible from the front. All I know its 18” and 8.5j.

[300bhp/ton]

Kolbenkopp said:

Definitely. But what about stopping? This is a problem when you can get your 4x4 on summers up to speed, but not slowed down again. If the majority is rolling on summer tyres, one could even argue that 2WD is safer in winter (for general road safety) .

That's more about bad driving than the tyres though.

first thing I do in the snow, or any slippery road is a brake test to assess the conditions. This gives me a good indication of how quickly I can stop. Regardless if it's 2wd or 4wd.

The main advantage with 4wd (depending on the 4wd system) for braking, is you can employ far greater use of engine braking and avoiding lockup or skidding. This means for general driving about in the snow you can pretty much slow down without really needing to use the brake all that much, unless you physically need to come to a complete halt. But bringing the speed down in a safe manner makes this all the more easy.

Reading the road, conditions and looking "ahead" are all important factors however.

[300bhp/ton]

Monkeylegend said:

Not necessarily. If you are on snow or ice with summer tyres or tyres with very little tread it's irrelevant if you have 2 or 4wd, you won't be going anywhere, it just means you have 4 wheels slipping rather than 2.

If your tyres have no traction they have no traction.

Unless you have crashed into an ice rink, that likelihood is pretty slim in the UK, at least in the densely populated south and south east.

Most times we get snow, 4wd will be an advantage.

[300bhp/ton]

Fitted my "winter" tyres...