WINTER TYRES

[D4RSE]

CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND WHICH WINTER TYRES TO USE AND SIZE, HAD QUOTE WINTRAC EXTREME FOR £900 SET.
ALSO CAN ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT THE PRO'S OF USING A 275/30/19. WERE DO I GET SPACERS FROM FOR THE REAR.
THIS MY FIRST WINTER WITH THE THE RS. CHEERS

[rwilsonrs4]

I think the vred wintracs are excellent value , a mate of mine has them on his focus st and they look the biz as well , but its not really cold enough to get full benefit yet so cant comment on them tbh but he says they work ok with normal driving.
I have conti wintercontacts on mine , just fitted them last week , cost £440 delivered from conti via mytyres they were, shall we say "slippy" till i got them scrubbed in .mine are 275 30 19 which do fit the rims better imo,, If your talking about winter tyres , realistically the only benefit of 275's is that there is such a big rim protector on them if you do slide and touch something it might not be so severe as the skinny 255's which are almost stretched on and the rim will hit first.and( possibly) cost as I believe ppl have found they can be cheaper than 255 35 19 which is common to audi and 275 30 19 more common to other high performance cars , but i may be wrong there
some say for winter tyres you should go down a wheel size and narrower, higher profile tyres which are more flexible ,dig down through the snow easier and less likely to damage the rim if you connect with a kerb say which i spose is correct but not so sure narrow wheels applies these days with the modern rubber compounds and treads , but brake size(and rim offset) will be an issue on the RS4 so you might only be able to go down 1 inch and then you need a whole set of wheels too which makes it more expensive (although i did this , got a set of spare wheels for winter tyres ) so lots of things to think about ,
I cant comment on the winter contacts yet as I havnt driven it in the cold yet but they do work fine also in normal use so far.
I did have a set of avon ice tourings on my last a4 quattro and they were absolutely superb , I would have went for them again but I couldnt turn down a deal like I got for the contis
So ...basically I can say the vreds have good reports , the contis(in the cold ) i cant really comment on yet . avon ice tourings i can highly recommend from personal experience
If you go for 275 30 19'sthey are well fat in the arches and I doubt you will need spacers
Virdee on here will sort you with spacers , sure he,ll be along soon

[adsgreen]

You are correct - modern winter tyres don't 'cut' through the snow.
They are designed to collect snow as snow sticks together very well. Kinda like wearing a wooly glove.

[Ian_C]

Go for a set of 18 alloys as Wilson says above.

[Iain_S4]

I would have gone the 18" route if I could have found a decent set of alloys at a reasonable cost. The problem with aftermarket alloys is getting the correct offset and if not you may then have the additional cost of spacers and bolts to correctly fit to the RS4. At the time I was looking (Sept - Oct 2010) there were several sets of RS4 winter alloys with tyres from an ebay seller in germany. However, the RS winter wheels are only 7.5" wide and the offset means that they sit in much more than the standard wheels - I'm assuming to give more space for snow chains. I didn't really want that look and IIRC it meant the widest tyre I could run would be 225. It may be acceptable if we did end up spending months driving on snow but since it is typically snow for a few days and more the issue of cold temperatures i didn't want to compromise and run such a narrow tyre.

The optional 5-spoke 18" x 8J wheels would have been good but were like hens teeth.

I had a post on here at that time asking if anybody had any good suggestions for a set of aftermarket wheels but i don't think there were many replies.

In the end I sourced a set of original 19" RS wheels with part worn winter tyres from an ebay seller in Austria. They even came with centre caps and TPMS sensors.

[KernowPete]

I will be replacing my tyres soon and as I'm too skint to have summer and winter tyres, I need an all rounder. The many many threads on here seem to suggest that Ultrac Sessantas offer the best combination of price and peformance, but, are they any good in wet winter weather?? I have no intention of driving in snow (we rarely get it in Cornwall anyway)!! Having just spent the last hour on the net searching they do seem to be like hen's teeth at the moment though.

[Ian_C]

The 18 inch factory RS4 option five spokes you mention would be the ideal in 8x18 with 235 tyres (like my S4) but 7.5x18 and 225 (like A4 S lines) would be fine also. They are rare, but probably worth the investment. I'm pretty sure a set were for sale on here or the 'other' forum two or three months back.

[klauster]

Go for a set of 18 alloys as Wilson says above.

Just bare in mind if you change the alloy from anything other than standard alloys, and have a bump, you won't be covered insurance wise, so you would need to inform them

[klauster]

I will be replacing my tyres soon and as I'm too skint to have summer and winter tyres, I need an all rounder. The many many threads on here seem to suggest that Ultrac Sessantas offer the best combination of price and peformance, but, are they any good in wet winter weather?? I have no intention of driving in snow (we rarely get it in Cornwall anyway)!! Having just spent the last hour on the net searching they do seem to be like hen's teeth at the moment though.

I have a set of 4 brand new ones which you might be able to talk me into selling

[MB2]

If it helps mine are 7.5 x 18 ET21 - they do go in under the arches a lot more than std wheels but fit without any need for spacers etc. & clear the brakes OK (although wouldn't clear ceramics of course...)

[Iain_S4]

If it helps mine are 7.5 x 18 ET21 - they do go in under the arches a lot more than std wheels but fit without any need for spacers etc. & clear the brakes OK (although wouldn't clear ceramics of course...)

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

[JHT]

Guys,

Will 275/30/19 Vred Wintracs fit ok if I have the SS+ suspension on my avant?

Just want to check that no rubbing issues etc as obviously fairly tight under the rear arches as it is with the SS+.....?

Granted won't be ideal in terms of snow getting packed under the arches!

Cheers

JT

[Ian_C]

Fecking hell Jon, you still got your 08? Unlike you to keep a car this long!! :p

[almoRS]

Guys,

Will 275/30/19 Vred Wintracs fit ok if I have the SS+ suspension on my avant?

Just want to check that no rubbing issues etc as obviously fairly tight under the rear arches as it is with the SS+.....?

Granted won't be ideal in terms of snow getting packed under the arches!

Cheers

JT

Yes. I run exactly this setup on OEM 19" RIMS.

[JHT]

Cheers AlmoRS. I take it you've been suitably impressed with them?