Anyone got winter tyres fitted?

[simmo]

With all this snowy weather in the UK recently, I'm trying to justify a set of winter tyres. Seems I've got two options with the tyres:

1. Swap the summer tyres and fit a set to the existing 20" rims. However seems once you go above 255 width in the winter sizes the price goes up exponentially. Also wider tyres aren't that great in these sorts of conditions, so kind of defeats the purpose.

2. Get a 'spare' set of 19" rims. Much wider choice of winter tyres + can take on and off the car at will (just about).

Audi are doing a winter tyre package on the 19" 10-spoke rims with Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D's 255/40's. They're V rated and look pretty decent on the whole.

Anyone got experience of these or other winter tyres on their RS6?

Cheers

Sean

[gdavison]

Sean ,.. whats the Audi price for a complete set of 19's with Winter tyres on ?

[seawise]

yeah, combien ? i would def be interested as well in a set.

[mcfreedom]

Why would you waste your money, the car handles wicked in the snow!!

Seriously save your money and put it towards fuel

[mc3744]

I have the Dunlop Sport 3D on a dedicated 20" tyres, 265.
The main reason for the dedicated wheels is to avoid changing the rubber tyres, everybody told me it's not good on this kind of high performance tyres.
It's expensive, but the change is very fast and you don't risk damaging thew tyre.

So far I'm very happy with the Dunlop, both on snow/rain and on normal condition. The main reason to go for 20" and 265 is the use in normal conditions. While you may have some snow days, you'll still end up driving most of the distance in regular conditions. Snow is - unless you live in Scandinavia - an exception. Hence it's nice to have the 265.
Only problem is that I didn't notice the Dunlop I got are only certified up to 240 km/h. Not a problem on snow a bit more on dry!

[simmo]

Sean ,.. whats the Audi price for a complete set of 19's with Winter tyres on ?

Camberley are quoting £799 inc. VAT for the tyre and wheel (9J x 19 ET38) 10-spoke style combo.

The standard 20" 5-segment-spoke wheel alone is £725.15

[simmo]

I have the Dunlop Sport 3D on a dedicated 20" tyres, 265.
...
Hence it's nice to have the 265.
Only problem is that I didn't notice the Dunlop I got are only certified up to 240 km/h. Not a problem on snow a bit more on dry!

Thanks MC3744. It's good to get your feedback on the Dunlop rubber. Only thing, I thought the standard width was 275. What's the profile height on your tyres?

[simmo]

Why would you waste your money, the car handles wicked in the snow!!

Seriously save your money and put it towards fuel

It horses for courses really. A couple of observations:

1. Rubber wears out. It doesn't matter if it's on a set of winter or summer tyres. I'd just be buying 'tyre mileage' with better grip

2. A second set of OEM wheels is not too difficult to shift at the end of the day. So the investment is reasonable.

BTW. Did you end up getting new rubber after your service in October? If so you've probably got heaps of tread which would presumably handle better in these conditions, than a worn set?

[mcfreedom]

Simmo,

I did get new tyres. Still got about 4mm left. It is amazingly good in the snow. My previous car (BMW 335D M-Sport Touring With Re-Map) was horrendous, and in comparison the Audi feels like its got studded tyres haha. Just a shame its the only thing that makes the Audi superior apart from the power

[mc3744]

Simmo,

I wanted to be sure to maintain tyre pressure info and Audi guarantee in case anything happened.
Hence I wanted Audi wheels. Audi (at least here in Italy) only provides one set of 20" winter wheels and that's 265 and not 275.
They come equipped with Dunlop, so far I'm completely satisfied, good grip both on wet and dry and very silent. The main drawback was the total cost.
They are the cast aluminium alloy wheels, 9.5Jx20, 5 segment-spoke design, but 265.
For summer I have the same ones, but dark alloy and 275.

Btw I agree with you on the mileage, since I still have to change tyres before I change car, I'd rather have the proper ones in the proper season.

Let us know what you end up deciding.

[simmo]

...
They are the cast aluminium alloy wheels, 9.5Jx20, 5 segment-spoke design, but 265.
For summer I have the same ones, but dark alloy and 275.

Btw I agree with you on the mileage, since I still have to change tyres before I change car, I'd rather have the proper ones in the proper season.

Let us know what you end up deciding.

I'm going to do some comparison pricing across the dealers. First dealer said the Audi winter wheel/tyre package is available 5 days from order, so looks like Audi UK have brought a few sets in.

In relation to my other post on TPMS, seems the C6 uses TPMS wheel-fitted sensors, so need to double check the wheel/tyre combo comes with these babies fitted for the price.

mc3744 - I'm still intrigued by the winter tyre you've got fitted on yours...only size I can find on the Dunlop site for a 20" wheel is 275/35. Next time you're out and about in the car, can you take a look at your tyre sidewall and let me know what it states? Maybe its an Italian Dunlop Special

Cheers

Sean

[mc3744]

...

mc3744 - I'm still intrigued by the winter tyre you've got fitted on yours...only size I can find on the Dunlop site for a 20" wheel is 275/35. Next time you're out and about in the car, can you take a look at your tyre sidewall and let me know what it states? Maybe its an Italian Dunlop Special

Cheers

Sean

I just checked: 265/35R20

[jezitalia]

I have experience on Michellin Alpins, superb tyre. My car will be in Italy and I am planning on a second set of 19" wheels with Alpins on them. I will switch to the 19 winter set up in Nov and switch again to summer tyres in April ( or end of the ski season ). I can only comment on how solid winter tyres make the car feel ( based on Volvo XC90/ Citroen C5/ Polo ), i can only imagine that they would make an already solid performer even better. The UK has a strange view of winter tyres compared to our Euro friends for some reason.