Winter / cross climate tyres

[daandaman]

Working in a hilly part of Germany, got pretty surprised by the sudden snow and freezing temperatures last week. Last year I fitted winter tires to my OEM 20" S8 wheels but I managed to trash them in less than 4 months of spirited high distance commuting within the Netherlands. The temperature is simply to high there for winter tires. Also I went to the Polish mountains with them and couldn't fit snow chains between the fenders and tires. So the sudden snow last week motivated me to purchase a spare set of winter wheels and I managed to get my hands on a OEM 19" S8 wheels with the standard size winter tires as supplied by Audi. I need 19" because of the large brakes. These will fit the chains too when I decide to go back to the mountains. I thought the 19" would look tiny versus my 22" summer wheels but actually they look good.

[1781cc]

I'm a little gutted that I decided to replace my tyres on the S8 with summer tyres about 2 months ago because I figured we would have a light winter (as previous years) however, as its well document all over the country, we've had a big dump of bad weather and its got me considering biting the bullet on a set of winter tyres and moving my summer ones off to storage so I can buy some new wheels in April (man-maths makes sense on this)

So, I've had experience of the Michelin Aplin PA4 before and they were mega, but, they are coming in at £261 each and having not long done 4 boots already, I'm struggling to justify that cost again on tyres 2 months later.

However, in my size and the 102XL rating required I am limited to what I can run - in price order:

- Nankang SV-3 Winter (Cant find anything about these online)
- Nokian WR A4
- Continental ContiWinterContact TS830P
- Hankook W320
- Pirelli Winter SottoZero W240
- Pirelli Winter SottoZero W270
- Michelin Pilot Aplin A4

Can anyone offer any experience on these tyres?

[HPsauce]

I used to have Michelin Pilot Alpin a while ago, they were fine.
I currently have Pirelli Sottozero Winter 240 Serie II, they are excellent.

NOTE: Most of the Pirellis available are runflat (mine are not) so be careful when selecting.

I don't know the 270, but looking online it appears to be a minor upgrade from the 240-II with a similar asymmetric tread. But online illustrations are often wrong..... (use the manufactures web site to be sure)
Edit: Just looked at the Pirelli web site and the 245/45R18 I use is ONLY available now as runflat!

[Architex_mA8tey]

Im running the Yokohama W drive V905's on 19" D4 Wheels at the moment on my D3 and they have been excellent so far, noticeably better cold temperature performance and pretty good on wear

[tintin]

PA4s all round on my S8, and a mix of PA4s and Sottozeros on my Model S.

Both are potential lifesavers in this weather and - personally speaking - I would never buy "cross-climates" for these cars, which I think are part marketing spin, and part compromise - and one that I wouldn't make on either car.

[1781cc]

I fitted cross-climate Vredesden Quatrac 5s to my wife 500 about 2 months ago and she moaned at the time, since then, she's been going into work through snow and ice with no problem, I have also been all over europe with Quatrac 4s on my cabriolet before I sold it and would have bought them for my S8 except they don't make them in my size. Not all cross-climates are made equal!

the PA4s were amazing when I had them previously, Pirelli I am against full stop because a plethora of problems with the P-Zeros (thankfully gone now) but maybe the winters are different.

Thanks for the feedback so far though, currently reading reviews on the Continentals... they also look very good.

[Adrian E]

If Dunlop do the Winter 3D or 4D in the right spec they're worth a look - we've run them for 3 winters on the S5 and been happy with them (although we're yet to see any meaningful weather down here) from a cold temperature performance point of view.