Wheel Storage or All-Seasons?

I've been told that getting dedicated snow tires for the winter or all-seasons for year round is the thing to do if I travel to the ski slopes during the winter from San Francisco. Choice 1. Get dedicated winter tires. OK. My dilema is that I've got nowhere to store the summer wheels/tires. Maybe people living in an apartment can offer some advice. What the heck do you do with your summer wheels/tires? Rent some storage space? Will tire shops store wheels/tires for you? It would help guarantee your patronage by holding them "hostage"! Choice 2. Or go to the all season tires...but I really like the performance of the SP8000s. One person recommended the Pirelli P7000ss tires. Any other recommendations for all-season high performance tires? BFG T/A ZR4? Dunlop SP4000? Does their performance differ that dramatically in the dry from non M+S rated tires?

I put on snows 2 days ago. The folks there asked me if I wanted to store my snows there (free of charge) or not. In our apartment building we have a locker in the basement of the building, so I opted for that.

Hope this helps,
Gus

Andrew, After reading the archives and questioning participants on this board extensively, I'm having SP4000's put on my car tomorrow. I live in Central Indiana, not a lot of snow, but we do occasionaly rack up a medium to heavy snow. Since I'll be on dry most of the time, I opted for the all season instead of the dedicated snows. It's my understanding that the SP8000's go in the snow OK, they just don't stop. That could be a problem. One or two people have posted that the SP4000's were more than adequate in snow, and very good on dry. One guy said he was selling his 8000's and keeping his 4000's year round. He liked them better. I might try to sell my 8000's to the store where I buy the 4000's because I have a storage problem also. Good luck.


Klutes 1998 Silver A4 1.8 TQMS w/new shoes tomorrow

8000's do not stop in snow nor go in snow. They are great summer tires but are dangerous in the winter/snow/ice conditions. Go IU.

LouisE

By all seasons. I just put Michelin Z4s on my car and I love them. I would not drive in the snow with the Dunlops. Doing so will put your own life and others at risk. The Z4s do not handle as well but they are a lot quieter and better when the road is not dry. The Z4s are M+S rated. If you plan on going into a lot of snow, I would buy winter tires. All seasons are good in the snow but the winter tires are the best if it is deep snow.
Dave
98.5 2.8QSTip

Are you guys putting the winter/M+S tires on your stock rims or are you buying a second set of rims for the winter/M+S tires. I understand new alloy rims are expensive and I would prefer just changing the tires on the stock rims. My dealer says I should just buy a set of M+S tires on cheap black rims. This would make the car ugly. Are there some alloys that are inexpensive?

Yeah Ronal offers some cheap 15" alloy / winter tire packages. Dealers around this area offer some -really- nice Audi wheel covers on cheap black rims though.

I bought a set of summer wheels and tires (Ronal R-28's w/ Pirelli P7000SS). I kept my 5 spoke OEM wheels and have mounted Dunlop Graspic HS-2's on them. That way my car doesn't look "ugly" in the winter (with some crappy steel wheels), but I still get my different tires. Also I don't have to constantly have tires remounted and balanced (like you would have to if you only had one set of wheels).

I wouldn't recommend the P7000SS's for wintertime. They are adequate when it is wet, but caution is still advised. I would hate to try them on snow of any kind -- seriously.

As for your storage issue, most larger tire shops will store them for you for a price.

Jason

I have two sets of tires and wheels, summer and winter. Therefore, I need to store four tires and wheels all year, but my storage space is limited. So I keep them in my townhouse and make them into a piece of furniture. I just throw a sheet over them and put a plant or candle on top. It works so well that my wife never complains. Just an idea for those of you that are storage challenged.