Hello all -
Our friends' son has a late-model (2022?) Audi S5, an absolutely outstanding car.
He is thinking of trading up to a 2023 Audi RS5, but will have the S5 through this coming winter, and wants to have a good set of winter tires on dedicated rims that will also work on the the RS5 in the future.
The S5 is presently running Continental 265/30R20 96V 3-season tires.
The Audi dealership is offering him a very good deal (close to free, on the condition that he proceeds with upgrading to the RS) on a set of four Pirelli W240 Sottozero 2 tires, sized 235/40R19 96V, on 19" alloy rims. The retail price, including mounting, balancing, TPMS, and installation would normally be c. C$5K.
Of course TANSTAAFL*, and in this case it's hard to separate out the value of the tire/wheel combination from the cost of the total transaction, but on the face of it, it appears to be a good deal.
So, leaving the financial side of it alone, I have technical questions:
Thanks all for your input. I don't know a lot about tires, and am hoping to both learn and pass on some good advice to the Audi pilot.
* There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, typically attributed to the great SF writer Robert Heinlein.
Our friends' son has a late-model (2022?) Audi S5, an absolutely outstanding car.
He is thinking of trading up to a 2023 Audi RS5, but will have the S5 through this coming winter, and wants to have a good set of winter tires on dedicated rims that will also work on the the RS5 in the future.
The S5 is presently running Continental 265/30R20 96V 3-season tires.
The Audi dealership is offering him a very good deal (close to free, on the condition that he proceeds with upgrading to the RS) on a set of four Pirelli W240 Sottozero 2 tires, sized 235/40R19 96V, on 19" alloy rims. The retail price, including mounting, balancing, TPMS, and installation would normally be c. C$5K.
Of course TANSTAAFL*, and in this case it's hard to separate out the value of the tire/wheel combination from the cost of the total transaction, but on the face of it, it appears to be a good deal.
So, leaving the financial side of it alone, I have technical questions:
1. Is the Pirelli W240 Sottozero 2 considered to be a good tire? Is Pirelli generally considered a good match for high-end German cars?
2. What do you think about going to a narrower (265 mm down to 235 mm) tire? I think the narrower width will be an advantage, overall - less likely to float on top of the snow. I don't think the reduced width would noticeably compromise handling.
3. How about the profile? I like the idea of going from a 30- to a 40-profile tire, especially for winter. Our roads can get quite bad by spring, and the extra cushioning should help protect the suspension. Again, there's likely a theoretical reduction in handling capability that's probably not noticeable in real life.
4. What about the alloy rims? I prefer steelies for the winter, as they are much less likely to leak, don't degrade as badly due to road salt, and less likely to experience loose lug nuts due to steel having a much lower thermal coefficient of expansion.
And yet, it is common to see cars here, particularly high-end German ones, running alloys in the winter.
Is there any reason that alloys would be a better choice? I wonder whether steel wheels are simply not capable of matching the characterists of 96V tires. (Of course alloys reduce the unsprung weight and rotating mass, so there's that.)
Thanks all for your input. I don't know a lot about tires, and am hoping to both learn and pass on some good advice to the Audi pilot.
* There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, typically attributed to the great SF writer Robert Heinlein.