Gotgame810

Just got an S7 this year, love the car but I forgot what winters are like in nyc. My car has 20’s with pirelli pZero summer tires & its been snowing!!

Need guidance towards either option.

A) get conti winter tires or pirelli winter tires & keep the same 20” rims

B) get the package from audi with the winter rims & tire package.

Note:
I drive everyday & if I can get away with just putting on different tires it would work also, but if you have experienced something different please guide.

Thanks

tenspeed

C. Buy a set of mounted wheels from TireRack. I would suggest 19" which I believe will clear your front calipers and absorb potholes a bit better.

jpg522

I'm in the same situation. I just got a '16 S7 with summer only tires. I bought a pair of 19's and am putting on a set of Pirelli Winter Sottozero's. Every few months, you have to swap them. I've done this for the last 8 years on my other cars. It forces tire rotation also.

jpg522

Make that 'bought a SET of 19's'. All four.

mukman

I live in Seattle, just bought my '18 S7, and swapped out the P Zeros for Continental DWS06 all-seasons (20's). Given the weather around here, and that our vacation home is on the other side of the Cascade mountains (GREAT drive, BTW), I plan on leaving the all-seasons on year-round. I'm going to give it a try before doing the whole tire-swapping exercise each year.

tpitsti93

jordonb

when I bought my s7, the dealer threw in a winter setup with the 19" audi rims, and Pirelli sottozero tires. they are decent, but not as good as blizzaks or pilot alpins. overall I am happy with them, and will probably get 3 winters out of them before they need replacing. at that time I will switch to a better winter tire.

tpitsti93

I bought 19’s from Hartmann (see post #6 below) and Alpin’s from tire rack. It was cheaper, they match my Audi wheels almost exactly and to me these were much better looking than the Audi package option. I’ve lived in Wisconsin and now Denver and they have been great. I think there is probably some truth to narrower, higher sidewall tires being better in the winter but I don’t know anyone who has done a side by side comparison. Mine drive wel and I do think I’ve spared my summer wheels some scratches and dings by swapping them out in the winter. Is that worth an extra $1200-1500 vs just buying winter 20”s? That’s up to you.

My wife has a new Q7 that came with 21” summer tires. We just put winter tires on her stock wheels and that seems to work fine too but time will tell regarding scratches, dings and overall performance.

jpg522

How much clearance did you have around the brake calipers with the 19" Hartmann's? I just bought another brand replica, and there is barely any clearance. The tire shop warned me that I may eventually have a problem.

jordonb

Even with 19" audi rims there is probably less than 1/8" clearance around the calipers. No problem so far.