MCNIERNEYC

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

jjacobs122

What is the wheel offset on the 2010 Q5 prestige?

Are there other sites than tire rack worth looking at?

Thanks

mike678

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.