[s-cars] The All-Season tire question

[hoog23 at aol.com]

Not too much to add to your Q. but I've heard such good things about those pirelli's on the bmw roadfly forums.  I was thinking of getting those for my urs for next fall as a winter setup but was afraid that the lack of snow tread pattern wouldn't be so great (in the snow).
 
How are they in the snow?
 
I have dunlap M2's right now but they are at the end of their live. 
 
I live in NYC metro area so not really much snow.
 
Dave
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: gislio at gmail.com
To: s-car-list at audifans.com
Sent: Sat, 7 Apr 2007 8:40 AM
Subject: [s-cars] The All-Season tire question


All:

I need to replace tires on my 2001 S8 (original equipment: Bridgestone
Potenza RE040 245/45ZR18) and based on the positive experience I had with
the Pirelli PZero Nero all-season tire on my UrS4, I've decided to go
all-season again.

I live in Reykjavik, Iceland, and although total annual snowfall is
unremarkable, snow can be expected 7 months of the year.  I don't want to
drive on snow tires for 7 months when most of the time there is no snow.

When I bought the UrS4, it came on Fulda summer tires and came with a set of
winter tires.  With a hint of snow the Fuldas were impossible and the winter
tires sucked.  I decided to try all-season tires and chanced upon the
Pirelli PZero Nero.  These tires were great!.  The UrS4 could drive through
almost anything on these tires.  They were also quite acceptable in the wet
and dry.  I was amazed and never touched the winter tires again.

The Pirellis have two minor flaws.  First of all, the ride is on the hard
side.  Second of all, they don't track very well on uneven pavement.  After
a winters worth of studded tire traffic, some Reykjavik streets have nasty
grooves in them and the Pirellis didn't like them much.  To be fair, the
Fuldas were not too thrilled about these grooves either so maybe it was a
function of tires width rather than tire type.  (The UrS4 has zero steering
system wear and alignment is within spec).

I want to try to repeat this success with the S8.  The question is whether I
can do better than the Pirellis.  I've narrowed my alternatives down to

Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole
Position<http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE960AS+Pole+Position&partnum=445WR8RE960PPXL&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=1&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&minSpeedRating=V>
Pirelli PZero Nero
M&S<http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Pirelli&tireModel=PZero+Nero+M%2526S&partnum=445WR80NMS&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=5&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&minSpeedRating=V>
Michelin Pilot Sport
A/S<http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Sport+A%252FS&partnum=445YR8SPORTAS&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=4&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&minSpeedRating=V>

The first two are similarly priced (less than $190 each) but the Michelins
cost almost $100 more.  There are many other
choices<http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp?width=245%252F&ratio=45&diameter=18&autoYear=2001&diameter=18&sortCode=54050&minLoad=S&ratio=45&autoMake=Audi&autoModClar=&minSpeedRating=V&width=245%252F&autoModel=S8&vehicleSearch=true&startIndex=0&search=true&pagelen=20&pagenum=1&pagemark=1&performance=UHPAS&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&RunFlat=All&x=47&y=8>but
none of them seem very promising.

Based on customer reviews, I am leaning toward the Bridgestone, but I wonder
if there is s-car-list experience I could benefit from.

Thanks for any input,

   Gisli
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