[s-cars] The All-Season tire question

[Gísli Óttarsson]

Hi Dave:

If it were just the snow question I would not think twice about the
Pirellis.  They are absolutely terrific in the snow.  I've gotten to the
point of being totally fearless about diving into sizable snowbanks to
park.  I'm talking about so much snow that the UrS4 would be sitting on its
belly.  I would still be able to get out and if I would engage the rear
differencial lock, it would only be to show off.  Highly recommended.

My reservations are mostly about the poor tracking stability on grooved
pavement.  Is this a trait of the Pirellis?  The S8 tracks like a laserbeam
on the current Bridgestones and I would hate to hurt this.

I've also started wondering if the Pirellis might be wearing a bit faster
than they should, but I can't quite back this up.

  Gisli


On 4/7/07, hoog23 at aol.com <hoog23 at aol.com> wrote:
>
> 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 <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%3Ebut>
> 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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