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

[California Fields]

Group,

Agreed, winter tires are a must on the S4 if you live in places that get 
snow. I have a set of Dunlop Winter Sport M2s mounted on my stock Avus rims. 
I  also have a set of 18" OZ rims with Toyo summer rubber. I just swap the 
two back and forth as the seasons change. Takes about 30 minutes. Not to 
shabby...but, damn! those Avus wheels are heavy as hell...28lbs versus 18lbs 
on my OZ (not to mention the Toyos are super light versus the Dunlops). The 
Dunlops are really good on dry pavement. While they're not super high 
performance, I don't have any problem going 100mph on the highway while 
still feeling safe. They're great in the snow too. No problems driving up to 
Lake Tahoe (drive starts at sea level and reaches over  7,000 feet within 3 
hrs from home).

16" rims would be better...not because you get extra sidewall for cushioning 
(although that is a nice benefit) but because the tire is actually narrower 
(205/55R16) and so the tire penetrates the snow better. The extra width of 
the 225/45R17 causes a "ski effect" where the tire "floats" more on the snow 
and, therefore, gives less traction. How noticeable the difference is I 
can't say because I haven't tried the comparison on the S4.  I know that you 
can use the stock 16" rims from the Audi A6 as an alternative that will fit 
over the S4 brakes. Some people on AudiWorld do that. However, as someone 
mentioned, you can't upgrade your brakes to the 332mm StopTechs.

So far, the Dunlops have been through 1.5 seasons and there is still a lot 
of tread left. Seems like they'll last a while. Probably should rebalance 
inbetween changes but I don't notice any vibration.

Cheers.

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