What snow tires to get for the S5?

4281 Views 27 Replies 19 Participants Last post by shivan150, Dec 24, 2008

Ixlan

Discussion Starter · Dec 20, 2008

Took the S5 Automatic out today with great pride as a good snowstorm hit Boston. This was my first experience with snow conditions and the S5.

And the car handled horribly.

I assumed since the S5 had AWD that the car would be a dream in the snow.

Does anyone know if snow tires would make a difference?

If so…does anyone know a good make / model to get? And from where?

Much Obliged

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

TXcarguy

· #2 · Dec 20, 2008

Actually, this topic has been discussed in numerous threads. Did you try doing a search?

Use the Advanced Search feature to search by 'title only' and enter "winter" and "tires" for your keywords. You will find lots of information that should answer your questions.

tarsands

· #3 · Dec 20, 2008

You will not believe the difference snow tires make. You'll enjoy the snow once you get them. I'm pleased with my 17" Dunlop Wintersport M3s in place of my summer 19s. Down south you may not need to go as small as the 17ers I prefer for our rough conditions

BkS5

· #4 · Dec 20, 2008

tarsands said:
You will not believe the difference snow tires make. You'll enjoy the snow once you get them. I'm pleased with my 17" Dunlop Wintersport M3s in place of my summer 19s. Down south you may not need to go as small as the 17ers I prefer for our rough conditions

haha i read your post and it said "down south" and saw that the OP lives in Boston. didn realize that you where in canada at first.(i usually consider where im from "the north"

bb vign

· #5 · Dec 20, 2008

Summer performance tires + snow = no traction (even w/quattro)!

You absolutely will need a different tire to get you through the winter (at least if you intend on keeping the shiny side up

). I bought the Dunlop Winter Sport 3Ds and had them installed the day of delivery (car was delivered in January 2008):

http://forums.audiworld.com/a5/msgs/18732.phtml

awpdisaster

· #6 · Dec 20, 2008

I use winter tires Michelin Aplin 3 245/40/18 and I am pleased with them

jyohay

· #7 · Dec 20, 2008

yea i took my car out for the first time in snow....and i regret to say....it is the last time it will be taken out in the snow...i got into a horrible accident...i fishtailed going 5 mph and hit my passenger side into a illegally parked car...and smashed my passenger door in, the rear quarterpanel, and the rear bumper just behind the wheel got clipped out.....worst day of my life. luckily it didnt hit my wheels whatso ever i urge everyone, please get snow tires

Tide

· #8 · Dec 20, 2008

i was driving down 65 during an ice/snow storm. i was suprised how well the car did even with summer tires. it was a pretty nasty drive. in the south we dont see much of the stuff so there were cars and trucks littered on the medians of the road.

and yeah i know its all relative....nothing compared to what you guys get up there..

RGBArgee

· #9 · Dec 20, 2008

awpdisaster said:
I use winter tires Michelin Aplin 3 245/40/18 and I am pleased with them

Does the S5 run on the smaller 18's where you are then? Standard 19inch in UK.

bb vign

· #10 · Dec 20, 2008

RGBArgee said:
Does the S5 run on the smaller 18's where you are then? Standard 19inch in UK.

Absolutely. I'm running 18" winter tires as well.

awpdisaster

· #11 · Dec 20, 2008

I have seen only A5s with 17'' ... The smallest rims I have seen on S5s are 18s.

SFIZZLE

· #12 · Dec 21, 2008

Jersey just got hit wit some bad weather so i finally got a chance to take out the s5 in some ice/snow and idk what your talkin bout, ive never had such an easy and fun time driving in snow. Granted i got Blizzak Winter tires (Highly recomended) and a sway bar just put in (deff up the handeling) but i could sware this car was ment for snow. I got wide roads in my development and i deff got it to go sideways just the right amount to perfect power slide some turns

.....Long story short get blizzak winter tires and throw on the stock summer tires come march/april

Ixlan

Discussion Starter · #13 · Dec 21, 2008

Thanks all for the info...

What are people's thoughts on going with smaller rims when putting on the snow tires? Does it really make a difference going from 19" to 18" or 17" if you were using the exact same snow tire?

I am pretty sure I am going to get the Dunlop Winter Sport 3D. But not sure how much better traction to expect by getting new smaller rims.

SFIZZLE

· #14 · Dec 22, 2008

Ixlan said:
Thanks all for the info...

I am pretty sure I am going to get the Dunlop Winter Sport 3D. But not sure how much better traction to expect by getting new smaller rims.

Smaller rims will give you better traction but my opinion is why lower the pop value of ur car wit 17s when its sold to you wit 19s, how bad can it be over by you that winter tires & probably the best all wheel drive system cant handel??? I couldnt be more impressed how good it was in the snow for me

SAJ_1982

· #15 · Dec 22, 2008

bb vign said:
Summer performance tires + snow = no traction (even w/quattro)!

You absolutely will need a different tire to get you through the winter (at least if you intend on keeping the shiny side up ). I bought the Dunlop Winter Sport 3Ds and had them installed the day of delivery (car was delivered in January 2008):

http://forums.audiworld.com/a5/msgs/18732.phtml

So true.

spottwd

· #16 · Dec 22, 2008

Smaller rims, e.g. 17", will give you more tire between the road and rim, thus giving you a better chance of avoiding bending you rim when you hit a deep winter pothole. And, because you can't get steel wheels for these cars, replacing alloy rims is a bit hit in the wallet, or purse, or wherever.

Since A5 S-lines come with 19" wheels, and they can run 17" wheels, your best bet would be to go 17". Also, if you need to get around in relatively deep snow and/or ice, you may want to consider true SNOW TIRES (Blizzak) vs WINTER PERFORMANCE TIRES (Dunlop Winter Sport). Again, another plug for Tire Rack.

smokeeyes

· #17 · Dec 22, 2008

My two cents

I'll put in my two cents here...same as on another thread. I put F1 Eagle All-Seasons when I got my S5 (now more than a year ago). Last winter there weren't any real big storms, or if they hit, it was overnight and the roads were generally cleared by morning. This past weekend was the first "real" test...a mid-day start to a snowstorm that was dumping an inch an hour by the time I got to Westchester at 5pm with the car at the train station, which is at river level and my house is up the hills away from the river. To be sure, I went slow, there was a bit of drift around corners at slow speed, but the only "oops" was a coming up a bit too fast to a stop sign on a slight downslope and it took 10 feet to come to a stop...made it up hills and actually worse, down hills with no more than me holding my breath. I even had to take someone at my house back down to the train station at Ossining, which I wasn't happy about, but I still made it there and back home, even coming to a stop at a traffic light with the front a good 18 inches higher than the back, i.e. on a slope, and the car pulled away smoothly at the green light.

Now, if we got snow like that on a weekly basis all winter long, I'd be looking for snows...but I put the F1s on last year in hopes of saving a bit of money (that felt good this fall as the economy collapsed) and not having to go through the hassle of changing the tires twice a year. Furthermore, I found during the summer that on really wet roads, like during a thunderstorm downpour, I was 100 percent confident of the car's handling...not sure I would have felt the same with summer total performance tires.

Just my two cents.

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SupraBlur

· #18 · Dec 22, 2008

smokeeyes said:
Furthermore, I found during the summer that on really wet roads, like during a thunderstorm downpour, I was 100 percent confident of the car's handling...not sure I would have felt the same with summer total performance tires.

Snow is obviously a different story, but for rain, the stock 19" Dunlops are fantastic, even in torrential downpour. We just had our obligatory 2 weeks (and 2 weeks only, lol) of heavy rain in LA, so the roads are were not only wet, but slippery from all the oil that has accumulated in all the 360 dry days, but driving the S5 you'd swear it were still dry. I floored it from a stand still all the way through 3rd gear and the traction control light didn't even come on. =P

boomer

· #19 · Dec 22, 2008

I am now in the midst of my second winter season with the S5 in Iowa--just plain nasty here again with last winter being in the top 5 for snow in history here. Last year I ran Michelin Pilot sport A/S on OEM rims which I used all year round and they did quite well actually. Traded the 08 S5 in for 09 S5 and found a set of S5 19 inch OEM rims with Dunlop wintersport M3s at reasonable price so I put these on this winter and they certainly are better that the all seasons which one would expect I guess. Either one was adequate frankly and all this talk about down sizing for better traction is a bit relative in my opinion. With all seasons and especially snows on OEM 19 inch rims with quattro you are better off than 90+ % of everyone else so how much better does it need to get before you are "secure" to drive on snowy roads??

RGBArgee

· #20 · Dec 22, 2008

bb vign said:
Absolutely. I'm running 18" winter tires as well.

My bike has bigger wheels, I know you Yanks like wide open spaces but why under your wheelarches??

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