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I know winter is a bit away yet but being up here I like to plan ahead for it. Thought about a set of winter tyres for the standard 19" alloys but then found a thread about the 18" option (7.5Jx18 ET21, part # 8E0601025AH) offered by Audi & started looking for a set of those. Just bought a set of new old stock wheels & tyres (tyres are stamped 2008) from ebay in Germany for a very good price, in fact about £120 more than the price for the tyres alone from mytyres (Continental winter contact TS790). They arrived yesterday & are new as advertised, delivery (48 euro) took only 3 days from Germany to Aberdeenshire. The vendor still has another few sets if anyone else is interested, search for "Alu Winterräder original Audi RS4 Typ 8E" on ebay.de

cheers,

Dave.

I considered buying some of those when I bought a set of winter wheels and tyres but in the end I manged to get a set of the normal 19" with winter tyres. IIRC the winter rims are only 7.5" wide and the offset is such that they sit further in, probably to give room for snow chains. I was a little concerned about how the stance of the car would look with them. If I lived somewhere where snow was typically on the ground for a long time (Alps or Scandanavia) I'd probably go for them without concern. Sorry not meaning to be negative

Sorry not meaning to be negative - it would be good if you could take some photos of the car with them fitted for people to see what they look like.

Not a bad point Iain, if they sit far enough inside the arches to spoil the look of the car then spacers may be needed, still think it was a great deal though. My 19s are going for refurb in the next few weeks so i'll put the 18s on then & post pics, I need to post pics in the newbie section anyway as only had the car a couple of months.

cheers.

Guys, as an RS4 newbie; does the RS4 really need winter tyres to make progress in the snow? Having driven my Impreza through harsh winters the summer tyres + 4WD can at least get you through those roads that haven't been cleared. What is the car like to drive in the snow? They can't be as bad as the average Merc or BM???

Thought the 18'' option was 8.5 x 18 ET 24 with 255/40 x 18'' tyres?

I bought a set of (2nd hand) original Audi winter wheel for my car, the wheel goes from 9J to 7.5J and tyres from 255/35 19 to 225/45 18.

They do sit inboard a bit, but I think they look fine for winter use & don't throw as much muck at the arches, they are great in winter months you almost forget to worry about the road surface & in the summer can run sportier tyres as don't have to worry about using them in the winter months.

got myself a set like that from ebay last summer.
not the same vendor, but the same deal. second hand tyres and wheels from germany.

probably a little bit over the top, but as i live at the top of a 10% hill, and being so fed up of being stuck the previous couple of winters. throw some cash at the problem....

they definitely look a bit narrower, and certainly look a bit 'odd' from some angles. as the owner you'll notice it, probably nobody else will though.

how different from the standard 19"? a bit less bumpy over the potholes. much better on wet motorways - big tread really helps when you hit a puddle at speed. definitely quieter, but i'd put that down to a narrower tyre.
snow? only had a couple of days to try it, but sailed up the hill no problems. where i did really notice the difference was in stopping. Quattro gets you going, but doesn't help much for slowing down on summer tyres. the winter ones - wow. you could stop properly.

if the 800 quid or whatever it is won't destroy the piggy bank then do it, otherwise don't bother - its marginal at best unless your on snow.

Coaster wrote:Guys, as an RS4 newbie; does the RS4 really need winter tyres to make progress in the snow? Having driven my Impreza through harsh winters the summer tyres + 4WD can at least get you through those roads that haven't been cleared. What is the car like to drive in the snow? They can't be as bad as the average Merc or BM???

I had a set of brand-new winters on my B6 S4, drove over (hidden under snow) compacted / sheet ice at around 5mph and discovered that no tyre on the planet would have made a difference. I remain to be convinced by anything other than "proper" winter tyres (i.e. studded) which I have driven with in Northern Norway... but that's a different kettle of salmon I suppose...

Plodwyn in response to your question here are details I posted previously

Those are the RS4 winter wheels. The widths and offsets for the various Audi OEM RS4 wheels are

19" RS4 - 9" wide, ET29, 8E0 601 025 AG
18" 5-spoke RS4 - 8.5" wide, ET24, 8E0 601 025 AF
18" RS4 Winter Wheel - 7.5" wide, ET21, 8E0 601 025 AH

I started running winter tyres as I didn't find it quite as good as my old B5 S4. There were a few reasons for this I think

275 wide tyre vs 235 on the S4 - tends to affect stopping more
tread pattern of the new Goodyear F1 asymmetrics vs the tread pattern of the old ones (GSD3 ???)
60:40 trorque split on the RS4

the only time I got the S4 stuck was because it was beached and the snow had just built up underneath it. I've not been in such bad conditions with the RS4 but was suffering from more wheelspin than I would have with the S4.

I did put in some offers on sets of 18" but they weren't accepted. In the end got 19" wheesl with part worn winter tyres on ebay from Austria.

I'm seriously looking at the German eBay wheels dave635 bought. Does anybody know if these would fit the B8 RS4?

I have used wintrac extreame exelent tyre put them on the same alloy change them out november to April still loads of life in them after 5 years

B7 to B8 floorpan hubs use a different centre bore, 66.5mm and 57.1

Wintracs

Brooner wrote:I have used wintrac extreame exelent tyre put them on the same alloy change them out november to April still loads of life in them after 5 years

+1

Have a set of these in 17" on my wife's go-anyhwere RAV4
- this will probably be the last year for the rears as they've done 20k plus.
- thoroughly recommend these
- not cheap but you get what you pay for.

As an old git, I always remember the Lancia works Stratos running what looked like ridiculously narrow tyres on snow stages.
- what those guys didn't know about winning rallies wasn't worth knowing

Spot the difference?

Best to cut down through the snow rather than float over the top of it?

bought some dunlop 3D 285 30 19 from Germany. been on car well over9 months in total. perfect tyre, never failed, live out in the sticks, all this snow has made no difference.
the car brakes well in wet, heavy rain, stopping in the snow is unbelievable ! all i can say is the new dunlop 4D must even be better! defo would buy again.they were cheaper than 255's too. give a much better rim protection.

Brooner wrote:I have used wintrac extreame exelent tyre put them on the same alloy change them out november to April still loads of life in them after 5 years

Same here. This is the third winter on same set. I think the tread depths will mean I will need a new set next winter. How many miles do you think you've done on yours?