tire go round....

[Roger M. Woodbury]

It must either be Spring or Fall.  The tire ramble has started again.  Ok,
ok, ok....I'll throw in my two cents worth.....

The best all around tires I have ever had on an Audi were the Firestone
Firehawk Touring LH All Season radials that I had on my 89 200 TQAvant.  I
had two sets that I bought for that car, and they rode well, were quiet on
our Maine, rough surface roads, and lasted about 30,000 miles each set.  I
had three sets in total, including the first set sold in Maine (specially
trucked up here from somewhere else) when they were first being introduced.

I had also tried a set of Yoko AVS S4s, and found them to be generally
miserable.  They were not really good in less than good weather, and were
VERY loud comparatively.

I also had a set of Michelin's that came on the car, and they were about
half gone when I took delivery.  They were pretty good, all things
considered, but not worth a 50% premium over the Firestones.

The 100CS Quattro Avant that we have now has a set of Continental something
or others that were installed by the dealer that I bought the car from.  The
car came in trade with the original tires, and the selling dealer put the
Contis on it due to the age of the OEM tires, that had some wear left.  They
are fine on this car....not a performance car or tire, but a reasonably
comfortable, quiet tire, that suits this particular vehicle for the money.

My V8 Quattro has Pirelli P6000's that were nearly new when I bought that
car.  I dunno about these.  The footprint is VERY big (standard size for the
car), and they are pretty stiff, although they are an "H" rated tire.  VERY
quiet on interstate pavement, but quite loud on rough, secondary roads where
the car mostly lives.  VERY sticky, and when I feel the urge (do you EVER
get the "urge") to let the car growl, they handle very well, and through the
winter, the car felt fine in slush and snow covered roads...although we had
a relatively "open" winter.

When I replace ANY of them, though, it will be with the Firestone Touring
LH...assuming it is still being made.  Great "bang for the buck"....

Roger