[Biturbos4] Winter Tire Help - why two sets of wheels?

[John M. Harrison]

My cost of changeover is just my own time with the snows mounted on
their own wheels.  They remain balanced and so far I haven't done
anything else except to swap them and rotate them.  Perhaps I should be
having the alignment checked, but I haven't noticed any uneven wear or
pulling with either set so far.  I don't put a tremendous amount of
miles on the car - 25K in 2 1/2 years - right about 10K mi per year.

The dealer in Fort Collins had an S4 on the lot with studded
Hakkapalita's all around for a short time last summer.  Probably the
ultimate snow and ice set-up, but you would have to get them off for dry
pavement driving.  The studs are not legal everywhere, but would be nice
on ice.  I find the Dunlop WinterSports are completely acceptable on
most any road condition and including high speeds.  I had them on the
car most of last summer until I picked up a nail and took the
opportunity to swap to the summer stock rubber.

I'm thinking there is an advantage to not seasonally mounting and
un-mounting the tires on the rims.  If you're actually wearing them out
in a couple seasons this is probably not a big deal.  I will be using
the WinterSports for a few more years, thus will be swapping more during
the tire life.  The factory Pirellis will not last as long, but when I
get new summer rubber I may want to go with 18" wheels and some
Bridgestone's or something.  Frankly the factory Avus style wheel
doesn't do much for me.  There are so many cool wheels out there - one
of the few mods I'm willing to do on my in-warranty car.

Cheers S4 folks - Happy and safe holiday driving  

John M. Harrison  Laramie, Wyoming  2001 S4 Avant


-----Original Message-----
From: john sonty [mailto:erhti at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 8:09 AM
To: biturbos4 at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [Biturbos4] Winter Tire Help - why two sets of wheels?

Curious as to your cost of each changeover..?? My cost in
Chicago is $104 each, or $208 annually.  Includes everything,
i.e. mounting, balance, 'road force', stems and tax.. 

--- Single Malt <s_malt at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Due to my mileage, I have the unfortunate privilege of using a
> set of snows per
> season and have tried a number of them!  The Blizzak's were
> great, but did not
> last a season ... the spring snows here in Colorado were no
> fun with the
> Blizzak's second layer exposed.  The wife has used a number of
> "Discount Tire
> specials" ... studded of course, with great success, but her
> Subaru Legacy (now
> drives '03 A4 3.0!) couldn't tell the difference for handling.
>  I liked the
> Hakkapalita 1's for several years (also studded) .... like
> driving a tank in my
> '00 Passat 4-motion.  With the S4, I've been driving Dunlop
> Winter Sport M3's
> .... WOW!  When the roads are dry and clean, they handle well
> and quietly (even
> up to 110mph! ... watch the thrown wheel weights though!).  I
> put a set on the
> '03 A4 too.  Don't know about wear yet, but the handling in
> the snow, wet and
> dry is GREAT!
> 
> I am a BIG believer in good tires and good tread .... $1000 or
> so is nothing
> compared to sliding into oncoming traffic!
> 
> I have a question to the list though (at the risk of sounding
> like an idiot)
> .... Why a second set of wheels? The cost of snow tire
> changeovers in the
> spring and fall are nothing compared to a second set of
> wheels!  Are the wheels
> in some way weather dependent as well?
> 
> 
> --- "Aurangzeb M. Agha" <ama-list at mltp.com> wrote:
> > Having just moved to the North East (Western Mass.), I'm
> exposed to
> > extreme weather conditions for the first time in my S4 and
> need some help
> > with winter tires.
> 
> ...clipped...
> 
> > Any suggestions?
> > 
> > 	Thanks,
> > 	Aurangzeb
> 
> 
> =====
> ##########################################################
> Single Malt
> '01.5 S4
> When you can't fly a jet, you should fly a car!
> Denver, CO
> 
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