patas0381

2015 Q7 TDi Premium Plus. After close call on the Fwy with the last storm we had i decided that i need winters for my Q7 specially driving to mountains with my 2 year old. We go skiing regularly, being in Las Vegas area, its 200 miles to closest ski area in Utah. Sourced used OEM 20" rims. I never used winter tires, always all seasons. My question is which winter tires are good for use both in dry condition and snow. My plan is, every time we go to snow i change the wheels, so i don't ruin the winter tires, on dry pavement. So far I found Nokian Hakkapeliita R3 or Vredestein Wintrac Pro. All suggestions and input appreciated.

drjonez

Zero complaints with the R3s here in WI, certainly one of the better winter tires I've used over the years. You may want to look at some Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) tires, might work better for you.

YotoWerks

You dont have to take the winters off that frequently. With easy driving they will survive just fine even if you drive them 3-4mo out of the year.
Even the cheapest winter tire will be better than the best summer or all season tire.

With that said I am running Federal Himalaya that I bought in October at about 100$/tire. Similar tires from other more known brands are up around 200-250 so easily 1000$ in tires, not including wheels.

Its an easy decision to me to get some sort of cheaper winter tires on some cheap wheels but dont worry about wearing them out very quickly.

dreadlocks

Ditch the 20s and go get 18s w/Severe Snow Rated All Terrains on em, my Audi is unstoppable.. I've tried to get it stuck in >4ft drifts in the worst of a Bomb Cycleone and it never came close to stopping.

"Snow Tire" compounds are far far too soft for a vehicle of this mass if your driving it on dry pavement.. the moment you drive em off snow pack the'll start to burn off incredibly fast.. I'd only consider those if I lived and traveled in a location that had snow on the roads all winter long.

patas0381

Thank You guys for the response, i knew I could count on our Audi community. What size you recommend? Keep it stock size 275/45/20 or narrower 255/50/20? Can't find Federal in that size, so i guess I'll go with Nokian's.


Dread I knew You will push for the18s ) I thought about getting 19s, but i bought the 20" for bargain. Well unless somebody want's stock 20" black gloss powder coated. They'll be ready next week

tigerwillow1

Nokian has what they call "all weather" tires, supposedly ok to use in summer, but also carry the snowflake symbol.
https://www.nokiantires.com/tires/su...weather-tires/

Dr.Aronis

I have been using the stock tires that it came with for 5 years. Drive in all sorts of snow and ice without an issue.

M5 has snows though LOL.

Mike

dreadlocks

Snow Chains are often underappreciated, they are cheaper and will handle ice/snow better than most all tires alone.. you need to carry some very good gloves and practice putting em on in warm & dry conditions but compared to wheel swapping for a trip to the mountains it'd be less labor..

Ive taken a golf across the midwest in the middle of a blizzard via backroads when all the interstates were closed with summer tires and a set of chains.. I was passing stranded wheelers and trucks for hours and nothing stopped me, was like driving a tank even with FWD and practically no clearance.. If you've never driven a chained-up vehicle you have no idea how much confidence they provide in the worst conditions, if you want maximum safety and ability to keep moving regardless the conditions then they really cant be beat.

I'm preparing to lift and up my tire size significantly, major thing from stopping me from going for 33s is I'd like to keep the ability to run chains and I don't see having the clearance needed with that size so I'll try 32s instead.. I wanna take my trailer out in the winter and even with my great tires, I'll want chains on for mountain travel so I can enjoy the weather.. feeling the TC firing off all the time coming down a pass w/a rig behind you is far from fun.

Jayhawk94

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q7-...3006713/page2/
I run Nokians (https://www.nokiantires.com/studded-...eliitta-8-suv/) on a dedicated set of cheap takeoff OEM wheels. My ex has left her nonstudded version of the same tire on her MDX year-round for a couple years now (guess she just can’t be bothered to swap the all seasons back on in the spring) and they’re still kicking (I see the MDX’s tires every time I pick up my kids). They won’t wear out in a single winter.