[s-cars] RE: 255/40 17 Snow Tires

[Dave Ellis]

 > Mark Strangetamed:
 >
 > I often have a hard time taming down after the snows go on. This
 > results in a lot of ugly turns and front tire wear.
 >
 > YMMV ofcourse
 >
 > Mark


How true!  Going from a 245 summer down to a 215 winter tire like I do 
you really notice the loss of lateral traction in the dry/wet, and just 
how mushy an aggressive winter tire feels and how poor the turn-in 
becomes.

Here in Ottawa, Canada we get a fair amount of snow, and in more recent 
years a lot of ice too as the winters have become slightly warmer.  On 
the S4 I run 215/55-16 winters and find that size a good compromise for 
handling and traction on dry, wet, or slushy pavement, while maintaining 
enough bite to dig through the deep stuff and keep the car speeding 
around wallowing SUVs.

I've tried several different snow tire widths over the last few years to 
try and find the optimal tread width for the climate here, both for the 
UrS4 and our B5 A4.  Last winter I was even able to get together with a 
few other Audi owners for a small winter tire "swap-a-thon".  For the 
Ottawa area winter weather, 215 is definitely the "sweet spot" when it 
comes to a winter tire for our S-cars (205 is the sweet size for the B5 
A4 and S4 it turns out).  But then I favour maximum traction over 
all-out handling for the winter time.  YMMV.

If I lived in an area with more snow and less ice and slush, or in a 
rural area without the kind of snow removal found in the city, then I'd 
either stick with a really aggressive full-out 215 winter tire, or maybe 
even go down to a 205/55-16 for added bite and stability in deeper snow.

If I lived in a warmer area with less snowfall and more ice/slush, then 
I'd use a wider 225 winter tire for better lateral grip in the dry/wet 
and better traction and stopping power on icy surfaces.

I've found through testing over the last few winters that on our cars 
anything over 215 (even only a 225) will cause the car to loose a 
surprising amount of forward stability when in anything over an inch or 
two of snow.  When switching back to back from a 215 to a 225, and then 
to a 235 snow tire (swapped among some local A4 and neuS4 owners for an 
afternoon last winter) I was amazed to discover just how much traction 
and driveline stability was lost when driving in any build-up of snow on 
the road, and how unstable the car became.

Switching back down from 215 to 205 width tires (temporarily swapped 
from our A4) had a markedly lower impact upon handling and stability 
than going to a wider tire, with an only a slightly pronounced degree of 
improved forward stability in deeper snow over the 215s, but also with a 
noticeable loss of traction in wet corners and on ice.

So IMO, if you expect you may have to regularly drive in more than a 
couple of inches of snow, I'd definitely suggest going no wider than a 
215 width winter tire.  225 was unstable, and 235 was a little scary in 
deeper snow (though the 225 did have slightly improved stopping power on 
icy surfaces over the 215).  I can only imagine how poor a 255 width 
tire would be in the winter on our cars, and how fast that car would end 
up in the ditch unless it lives somewhere where winter does not involve 
much in the way of white stuff falling from the sky.

-Dave
'93 S4
'99.5 A4 1.8t