I have been searching the net, specifically TireRack.com, for a great all season tire for my Q5. The wheel size is 255/45R20. The OEM tires are "summer performance tires"
I notice the top rated tires, Yokohama ParadaX and Pirelli Ice and Snow all have a load index of 105 vs OEM tires load index of 101.
When I choose the ParadaX I get a warning pop up saying this tire could increase ride harshness.
The tires that equal the load index of the OEM tire are not rated as high as the two tires memtioned above.
Does anyone have thoughts or experience related to finding a good all season tire for the Q5 with factory 20" rims. I'm worried, given that 20's already have a little rougher ride, the higher load index will destroy the ride quality.
I live in KS and we do get ice and snow in the winter.
Thoughts?
DrV
08-12-2009, 06:49 AM
I live in Nova Scotia, Canada. The roads get pretty bad here. I'm planning to get a set of 18" rims dedicated to winter use, much easier to swap wheels instead of tires. I just found a nice rim with Bridgestone winter tires, a set of 4, including shipping for under $1,000 on Tire Rack
fonseca_Q5
08-12-2009, 09:16 AM
I am also looking to get a set of 18" wheels and snow tires for the winter. DrV - which wheels are you thinking of getting?
q5!
08-12-2009, 10:45 AM
I am also looking to get a set of 18" wheels and snow tires for the winter. DrV - which wheels are you thinking of getting?
Nice idea for the price! :)
DrV
08-12-2009, 12:01 PM
These were the rims and tires I was looking at, both are on sale. Great deal!
I live in Vancouver and we do get some snow in winter. I'm going to give ParadaX a try once I get my Q5 as I'd like to have the 20" look in winter as well. Apparently these are pretty good A/S tires based on all the reviews. I probably don't need to take it off for summer. I doubt I can tell the difference in terms of the rid quality.
DrV
08-12-2009, 12:16 PM
BTW, it helps a LOT if you have a friend or family in the States that can order them for you, because shipping and duty costs to Canada stinks!I am also looking to get a set of 18" wheels and snow tires for the winter. DrV - which wheels are you thinking of getting?
kleinbus
08-12-2009, 07:24 PM
.....I live in KS and we do get ice and snow in the winter.
Thoughts?
What do you really want? Convenience or traction?
If convenience then go with all season as those are compromise between summer and winter, not as good at either end but well...
If traction then go with another wheel set and have real winter tires. Either Nokian Hakkapeliitta, Bridgestone Blizzak or Michelin X-ice.
I wanted Nokian as those are the best ones but importing prices are kinda high so 18" rims with Blizzak and saved some money to hitch. I was even looking 16" or 17" rims to get higher side walls as that is better during the winter but brake clearance became an issue.
If you stick with 20" then prepare noisy and hard ride.
What do I know about winter, well growing up at Arctic Circle teaches few things about ice and snow :D
pcw7w6
08-12-2009, 08:22 PM
What do you really want? Convenience or traction?
If convenience then go with all season as those are compromise between summer and winter, not as good at either end but well...
If traction then go with another wheel set and have real winter tires. Either Nokian Hakkapeliitta, Bridgestone Blizzak or Michelin X-ice.
I wanted Nokian as those are the best ones but importing prices are kinda high so 18" rims with Blizzak and saved some money to hitch. I was even looking 16" or 17" rims to get higher side walls as that is better during the winter but brake clearance became an issue.
If you stick with 20" then prepare noisy and hard ride.
What do I know about winter, well growing up at Arctic Circle teaches few things about ice and snow :D
Alright Artic man... Thanks for the pic. Those tires look like they have major traction!!!! :) I think I will listen and opt for a smaller wheel for the winter!
kleinbus
08-12-2009, 09:42 PM
Well with Blizzak I probably was a little overkill for Kansas winter. Last year with VW Tiguan and Blizzak the major problem was that when I slammed the brakes then cheapcake morons with summer tires behind me had panic to stop in time so I had to spend more time looking mirrors than I'm used to.
I'm used to have 2 sets, summer and specific winter tires, either with studs or studless. Reason why I got winter tires here in Kansas is that we go up north and visit Rockies every winter and those trips I would not do with all season nor summer tires with chains.
Anyways, problem with pure winter tires is that those are softer rubber compound so those wear out pretty fast on sunny summer pavement. Sure that was not issue up north were roads have snow or ice coverage on whole winter season.
Down south, like in Kansas, we have few days slippery and then it melts away and we are back on normal pavement.
Even with all season that you would drive year around you would have problem, as for example, you buy new set when starts snowing. First winter you would have pretty good traction but then you keep driving and summer would wear out your tires the way next winter, you would be looking your tires the way that those are, lest say half way worn out but still haves thread for coming winter, later starts snowing and you find for your surprise how freaking slippery those very same tires are.
I went through those hairy moments with passenger cars and 4x4's when I tried to save and use all season tires like BF G All Terrain on my 4x4, well I had to go back to what everyone else did, to own 2 sets.
Depending how much you drive, you could manage all seasons as those needs to be worn out after summer so you could buy new set every year just when starts snowing and so you would have best thread for winter and then drive them down during summer.
More expensive? Pretty much same as my winter rims and Blizzak made 1300 slice to my wallet and it looks like I have to replace my summer tires next year. The Blizzak's should last 2 or 3 winters depending how consistent snowing is and how often I swap tires back and forth in my garage.
So at the end, all season is less work as you don't need to pay attention and swap them with summer tires but the traction on ice and snow is not even close to real winter tires.
Though what ever way you go, remember you really don't need good tires to take off and accelerate fast but the problem comes when you hit the brakes and try to stop...
MCNIERNEYC
08-13-2009, 10:20 AM
Though what ever way you go, remember you really don't need good tires to take off and accelerate fast but the problem comes when you hit the brakes and try to stop...
Kleinbus makes some excellent points.
There is no substitute for a good set of four snow tires. When I lived in New England, I ran Nokian studded Happas which have an aggressive tread. Since moving to Portland, Oregon where there there are varied conditions (ice, last year 12" of snow with no plowing, and the mountains) I have had good luck with Pirelli Snow and Ice studless on my Range Rover. Good ride, good tire wear, and most importantly good traction. Never used chains and never been stuck, even with 12" of snow and ice ruts on the road.
A smaller diameter tire with a taller sidewall is the best combination for stopping power. T
Running low profile 20" snow tires will only give you some of the benefits of a true snow tire.
Cavalier
08-13-2009, 07:22 PM
We seldom get snow that packs onto roads like folks up north do. We occasionally get a nice Ice storm in which NOBODY has any ability to drive on short of having a nice set of spiked tires (illegal btw) to throw on. Added to all of that is the extreme unpredictability of our weather down here. All this being a lead up to my justifying that I will not bother with a winter set of tires.
What I am somewhat concerned about is how well the summer 20's will handle heavy rainstorms. Those we get and pretty much year round. I am hoping that AWD and Quattro will overcome any problems but I fear only time will tell. If it proves to not work so well then I will have to swap out to some all weather tires of some sort as a permanent switch.
Anyone else out there have much experience with their Q5s with Summer performance 20s and heavy rain drenched roads?
pcw7w6
08-14-2009, 04:07 AM
Here's another question.
If I buy winter tires and winter wheels, will I be able to use them on another q5, let's say, a future model.
I know we obviously have NO idea what the future q5's specs will be, but what determines if a wheel will fit or not? Or are wheels and tires fairly easy to sell and I just shouldn't worry about it.
kleinbus
08-16-2009, 06:11 PM
Here's another question.
If I buy winter tires and winter wheels, will I be able to use them on another q5, let's say, a future model.
I know we obviously have NO idea what the future q5's specs will be, but what determines if a wheel will fit or not? Or are wheels and tires fairly easy to sell and I just shouldn't worry about it.
Bolt pattern, center hole size and brake caliber clearance is the main issues.
Audi 5-112 bolt pattern is same as Mercedes E, VW Passat and VW Transporter (in US known as Eurovan).
I never know what I do with my winter set, with previous cars, few times I included them to trade in deal as the trade in price jumped much higher, few times I sold them separately and several times I kept them as those either fitted to our other car or I saved the set to new car.
With German brands I have not seen manufacturer to change bolt pattern nor center hole during production years on standard model. Offset is variable as all those sport packages etc new trims and fender extensions may require modified rims with different offset, width and diameter.
q5!
09-02-2009, 04:08 PM
These were the rims and tires I was looking at, both are on sale. Great deal!
In the shopping cart, it asks me to select the options...
///////
If you would like the Bridgestone Blizzak DM-Z3 tires mounted and Hunter Road Force® balanced on the Sport Tuning Gunner wheels in your cart you will need to purchase sensors for the vehicle's tire pressure monitoring system.
1. Add TPMS sensors for $188.00 and mount and balance the tires on the wheels.
2. Mount and balance the tires on the wheels without sensors.
3. Mount and balance not required.
///////
What should I select for my P+ Q5?
Thanks,
~Palani
kleinbus
09-02-2009, 07:10 PM
In the shopping cart, it asks me to select the options...
///////
If you would like the Bridgestone Blizzak DM-Z3 tires mounted and Hunter Road Force® balanced on the Sport Tuning Gunner wheels in your cart you will need to purchase sensors for the vehicle's tire pressure monitoring system.
1. Add TPMS sensors for $188.00 and mount and balance the tires on the wheels.
2. Mount and balance the tires on the wheels without sensors.
3. Mount and balance not required.
///////
What should I select for my P+ Q5?
Thanks,
~Palani
No mount: Rubbers are not on wheels
With vag-com you can turn tpms off for winter so it works with or without sensors.
I got the first one so I don't need to worry having one from here, another from there and so on, just throw in when snow comes and check the pressure and off I go...
mike678
09-02-2009, 08:08 PM
Hi Kleinbus,
In an earlier post in this thread you mentioned going with 18" rims over 17" due to brake clearance issues. Could you elaborate on that? Tirerack recommends a 17" package for the Q5 on their site and I was looking at a (different) 17" set with Blizzaks before I read your post. I have a Q5 Prestige with stock 19" all seasons.
Thanks!
kleinbus
09-02-2009, 09:01 PM
Hi Kleinbus,
In an earlier post in this thread you mentioned going with 18" rims over 17" due to brake clearance issues. Could you elaborate on that? Tirerack recommends a 17" package for the Q5 on their site and I was looking at a (different) 17" set with Blizzaks before I read your post. I have a Q5 Prestige with stock 19" all seasons.
Thanks!
I have stock Dunlop Grand Trek All Season Crap and well, nice all season tire from summer season but no thanks me going to snow with that crap :D
As I have no tire dealer here who would have rims to try, I had to play safe and stick on same size as summer 18".
On mine with 18", rear haves plenty of clearance but front haves only about 1" gap between brake caliber and wheel barrel.
Depending quality of wheels you are looking, forged are known to be lighter and with thinner walls that could give more room and make 17" work without issues, I spent a moment looking those top notch wheels and when I saw one wheel is 2000-3000 usd, I turned the page off and went back to tirerack and bought whole set, rubbers-wheels-tpms shipped around 1300.
Less top notch wheels are casted as it is cheaper method to make wheels, and it means more weigth and thicker walls meaning you may have caliber clearance issues as caliber gets too close to the barrel and may hit, for example, balancing weigths.
I rechecked Audi Finland pages and now they show 17" Audi wheels for Q5 so you should be fine.
I can say 18" and above is fine, 17" I would test before closing the deal.
I also went to tirerack to check 17"s and found out you went directly to winter setup and they recommends the whole range, from 17 to 20" for prestige.
If you go look just wheels, there is no 17" available :confused:
jjacobs122
09-03-2009, 04:52 AM
What is the wheel offset on the 2010 Q5 prestige?
Are there other sites than tire rack worth looking at?
Thanks
mike678
09-03-2009, 05:37 PM
Thanks kleinbus.
I went out and measured things and it does look like there would be less than a quarter inch clearance with the 17" wheels. I think I'll go with the 18s to be safe.