I just received my '99 2.8QMS and had negotiated with my dealer to switch the sport wheels to the 5 spoke. Now that I have the car with the sport wheels, I like them enough to keep them but am worried about their performance in the snow (Utah). I need to make the decision this week and would appreciate any information/comments.

I suppose you also wear your sneakers in the snow?<p>put the RIGHT tires on your car.....AWD will not help you here.<p>

Background - 2.8QMS in Southern California. It rains in the winter. We NEVER have snow anywhere in the Los Angeles basin. I may only go skiing/to the snow 1 or 2 weekends a winter. I've read here that you shouldn't take the Dunlop SP8000's to the snow. Now, I have about 3 options:<p>- Do it anyway<br>- Switch to an all season tire for the 1-2 weekends I'll ever need it<br>- Get a set of tires to swap (Obviously I'm not going to do this)<p>My dealer suggested that, for 1-2 weekends a year, the sport tires would be fine.<p>What are the group's thoughts on this?

i always drove my Audi in the snow with Toyo Proxes T1's, which are high perf. tires. Initial traction isnt bad as long as the snow wasnt too deep. In turns, it wasnt bad at all, very controllable but they would drift, i had my fun, but with 245/40 17's, they were pretty much likes ski's when trying to stop quick. But not as bad as you would think. I went skiing several times in upstate NY and in Vermont with them and i really had alot of fun! the standard sport tires shouldnt be bad at all, they will stop better than what i had.

Although the quattro will most likely be able to get you moving, you will never be able to stop or turn with the Dunlops. If you were in California and thought you might see and inch or two of white stuff, maybe twice in the whole season, then it may be worth the risk. In Utah though, you need some snow tires. Don't risk your car or your life just to save a few hundred $$$'s. It's not worth it. Besides, having the winter tires will save wear on the Dunlops :-) <p>Charles<p>

I'd probably try to hitch a lift with friends.<p>But if you do decide to risk it on the sport tires, remember to slow down to an utter crawl if you're running on snow.<p>I'd also be seriously paranoid about getting into a "chains required" condition - would likely rip the sport tires to shreds.<br>

..

I'll probably ski 5-10 weekends but I'll buy a set of pro-winter all seasons vs pro-summer all seasons and put them on dedicated wheels. Yeah, it seems like throwing away $$$, but in my experience (6 yrs of 15 wkends per season driving from San francisco to Tahoe), sport tires stink (had them on my GTI) and chains really eat'em up. <p>I guess I'd rather spend the coin now, rather than in the body shop. Maybe I'm getting old.

As I got my A-4 last winter and we had a mild winter in NE I stayed with the Dunlap 8000 and found them acceptable upon encountering occasional snow. I attribute that to the fact the tires had little wear and deep tread blocks. However this year I's switch to a snow/winter tire as these tire now are worn a bit more.<br>I'd say if your cautious you might be able to get by...but a good winter tire is safer.<br>Skimants<br>98.5QsptTip<br>

I've skiied a number of times in Utah. I can't imagine that you would even consider NOT getting snow tires.

Get yourself a few hundred pencils and a good sharpener. Sharpen all of the pencils, them jam them into the rubber and break them off. Sharpen and jam, sharpen and jam, until all of the rubber is covered. There, now you have yourself a set of graphite studded snow tires. ;-)

<br>I wear sneakers in the snow. I also use whatever tires I have. If I had the money, I'd get another set of wheels with winter tires. However, I enjoy hanging the tail out ... it's a real blast!! If you don't want to slide, get snows. If you know how a car in a slide is not necessarily out of control, I wouldn't wory about it too much (for occassional snow).<p>AWD always helps, in any conditions. The tires define the maximum capability of the car, AWD lets you operate all four tires at or near their maximum performance in any conditions with the right driver. I am curious how my new 8000Es will perform this winter.<p>Todd W

Then you have to come up north to really test 'em!<br>;)<br>-C. (putting my SP8000s away for the winter)

<br>Is that an invitation?<p>:-)<p>ps. check your email

No, just a suggestion for testing the winter capabilities of your SP8000s. Snow's probably better in Upstate NY anyway.<br>:)<br>-C.

See what you started? For what it's worth, I drove my dunlop zs in New England last winter and liked the traction better than on our Expedition.

You buy a 30k car and can't cough up $500 for a set of snows..very least<br>all seasons?<p>AWD most certainly DOES NOT compensate for running summer tires<br>in snow.<p><br>

<br>You have an interesting way of interpreting plain english. I also never said I had an A4, just a quattro. As for putting other drivers at risk, I do that every day yet somehow I'm the one that gets rearended. If my car can do triple digit speeds in several inches of snow with abandon, I think that it can be as safe as most anything else out there.<p>If I lived in the snow belt, I would have all season tires. With sporadic snow, I don't think that it's worth the trouble, much less the expense. Have you ever driven a quattro in the snow?<p>Todd W

the problem is you are advising people on this board to do something foolish.<p>and I won't be too happy when some fool in a quattro slams into me<br>from behind because he couldn't BRAKE with his summer tires in<br>the snow.<p>I do get snow and the first vehicles that go sideways off the roads are always<br>AWD vehicles.....

<br>I said that I would get more appropriate tires if I lived where there was regular snow. All I said was that awd always helps, not that it makes up for bad tires or bad drivers. Don't you mean 4wd vehicles, SUVs etc., are the first ones in the ditch? I have never seen a quattro in the ditch, mine hasn't even tried and I'm not the most timid driver in snow. I'm talking about the capability of the car, you're talking about the capability of the driver. <p>If you hardly ever get snow, then why get snow tires? There's a guy that just posted about how his snow tires and abs couldn't stop him in time to avoid a wreck on dry pavement. I would rather have good wet/dry tires for the three months of winter, and drive more defensively on the five days it actually snows and isn't plowed yet. Personally, I'm more likely to get in a wreck in the ~90 days without snow if I had snow tires than in 5 days of snow with summer tires. This is not true for most people.<p>I try to make sure that my posts are phrased as personal experience/opinion, not advice towards any specific action. You are the one advising a specific action, I am just providing counterpoint. Your advice is valid for the majority of drivers, however my point is also valid on this forum because there are mostly enthusiasts here.<p>Todd W