[s-cars] The All-Season tire question

Sat Apr 7 13:57:50 EDT 2007

gisli- i agree on the pirelli tramlining issue- some of the pavement where i 
live is grooved as well.  my s6 is on it's second set of nero's. the other 
good thing with the pirelli is the treadwear- i almost got 36k miles -which 
is a record for me. i usually am lucky to get 15k out of a set of tires.  - 
rob

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gísli Óttarsson" <gislio at gmail.com>
To: <hoog23 at aol.com>
Cc: <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 9:54 AM
Subject: Re: [s-cars] The All-Season tire question

> 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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