userdhp

My old a8 had the stock 19" sport wheels and the stock pirelli all-seasons.

My new a8 has the double-five-spoke s8 20" wheels.

I bought a set of toyo proxes4 all season, and because they are thinner tires, no adjustments (speedo, etc.) needed to be made. But I have lost 1" of diameter on these tires.

I deformed one tire with a pothole and am deciding that I would like a higher quality tire, so I am just going to replace all four ... and my question is, what should I replace them with ?

1. What is the very best 20" all season tire out there, with price as no object ? I am looking for a nice, quiet, smooth ride, and if possible, something a little more resilient than the proxes4 which deformed itself in a pothole...

2. Any comments on moving away from the low-profile tire just a bit ? If I went from 19" to 20" wheels and kept overall size the same, then I lost 1" of tire diameter - what if I would like to get that 1" back ?

In this case the wheel/tire combo would be bigger in the well by 1", and I would need to adjust speedo, etc. Are there any other gotchas or adjustments involved in going up 1" in tire diameter on these 20" wheels ?

The idea being that the tire will be more resilient and I will get a smoother and quieter ride ...

thanks.

Der Kimbo

It's an OEM size and compared to the 19" 255/40-20 you lose only 0.23" of sidewall.

CovertW12

or perhaps even a 285/35/20 to keep the same sidewall...

geordie

I have run Dunlop SportMaxx which became extremely noisy before their life was up and had a similar experience with the Michelin Pilot Sport. I have run the 20 inch rim for several years now in the Chicagoland area and lost only one tire and damaged one rim through pothole incidents.
OEM size for the 20 inch rim is 265 but the 275 yields greater speedo accuracy and is listed in the manual as an option with pressures stated.
The dealer never checks the tire size, assumes it has the 265's and always over-inflates - what are you going to do!

geordie

I agree except I found the 275/35-20 Pilot Sport A/S went very noisy part way through their life

userdhp

And this is a high-end, high quality tire ?

I kept getting mixed answers about the Toyos ... some people would say they were no problem and others would suggest I was being cheap and should expect to "get what you pay for".

So I want to be sure this time....

userdhp

I liked the pirellis I had on the 19s (previous a8) so I will try these.

Is there any other info I need other than:

model: Pirelli P Zero Nero (I assume M&S, right ?)

size: 275/35 20 ?

Thanks to all.

geordie

Yes, PZero Nero M&S 275/35 20 bought from Tire Rack

MP4.2+6.0

at least not for the W12 (and I'm guessing the other D3's--it's in the tire sticker info on the gas door0. Needs to be 102 for a 275/35-20 fitment. The PS2 summer gets there, as does the Pirelli M+S, but not the Sport A/S. Sport A/S is only a 98 in that size.