TTom TTR

So I uh, kinda bought a car yesterday (A5) and it was 'sooner' than I was thinking of doing but my impulsiveness / planning said 'screw waiting two months they have exactly the one you want get it' and now I have an A5 that has the S-Line package so I have summer tires.

Also, it's vortex-a-geddon and 14 degrees here, but dry as a bone. It's supposed to be 70 on Saturday, so there's that.

In the past when I owned a nice Audi TT but it snowed so I had a separate set of wheels I swapped out, but then I moved here to NC and it doesn't snow, or if it does it's a 'shut the city down until it melts' kind of thing.

I know summer tires usually scream 'don't go below 40 they'll crack and stuff' so should I be looking for a set of rims/cold weather tires? The average temperature in Raleigh in January is usually 38 Deg F and 51 Deg F in February (lows in 20s)

Should I worry about it?

lmariorod

Interesting question. I'd also like to know others opinion on this. It's a whopping 4 degrees here in the Mid Hudson Valley of Upstate N.Y.

I do take the S5 out at 20+ degrees, and the ride is even stiffer than usual but don't do any long distance and surely only when I know I won't encounter any snow or ice.

Luckily, I have the wife's Q or my Silverado and don't need to take out the S5, which has Continental Z summer tires. But this question is truly important when the car is your daily driver.

snagitseven

It's not that summer tires will "crack" below 40F, it's that the tread gets hard and loses it's grip in all conditions including when dry. When wet, it's bad and below freezing on ice or snow, can be really dangerous. If you have two or three months where the temps get mostly below 40, you might want to consider a set of UHP all seasons for the winter rather than snow tires. They will last longer and since any snow you might get will be nominal, they would be fine. Also, you could keep them on for the whole winter with generally better handling and noise performance than a winter tire, switching back to your summers in the spring. Or, you could just stay home when it's below 40 degrees.

lemonpeal

I put UHP A/S tires on my S5 and am very please with the result. Good winter and summer handling. Deep snow can be an issue, but then the car's ground clearance makes it a snow plow in deep snow. Yes I know that A/S tires represent a compromise and that I lose some handling at extremes, but I venture to say that most Audi owners rarely use the full potential of their cars, such as driving up to the 150 mph top end on public roads (at least I hope not).

Drollomite Man

I would second the notion of a set of UHP all-seasons for the winter months in your climate. As pointed out, flexibility is the real issue with summer tires in cold temperatures. I'm running snows here in Wisconsin on my S5, but deeper snow is an additional concern for me. Michelin's latest all-season Pilot is reputed to be very good, and a lot of Audi drivers have had favorable experience with the Conti DWS. I've always believed in proactive investment in tires (the right tires for the temperature/rain-snow, replacing them well before they become slicks).

TTom TTR

Cool. Kinda what I figured, I had to go somewhere today and it's the coldest it's been in a decade so I was a bit concerned. My other car is two months from returning the lease so I may just use it when I need too. Then come fall I'll order a new set of rims/tires.

Did you stick with the 19" Wheels or did you go to a smaller rim for your all seasons?

lemonpeal

I run 18's. I'm in NYC and I think that the more side-wall I have the better. We have potholes here bigger than some states.

JBDinTX

Never had a issue in my 2010 S5. I bought the car late October and came to my house just north of Dallas for the winter. It does get cold there. 10-20 at night. The only issue was they would get loud when the temps were that cold. I ended up doing a lot of research and went with the Conti DWS because of the reviews all of the net. What a BIG MISTAKE!!!! They were crap. Very soft side walls they felt like jello in the curves. I replaced them after 8000 miles with Michelin pilot sport a/s plus. They were great. They did start to get loud at the end of their life but I trade the car before I need to replace them.

AUDIQSS

If you drive at 7/10ths most of the time then replace them. If you normaly drive at less than 5/10ths (like most of us), they'll do fine. Just be aware that summer tires have less traction in the cold and you can't push them. Personnly, once they wear out, I replace with all season tires because I almost never drive greater then 7/10ths; I value both my license and my life. My 2011 S5 Cab has summers on it and I drove it around town today at 6 degrees.

TTom TTR

Yeah, more than likely i'll never use their capability. It's not like I take corners hot or anything crazy. 'Pushing it' would be finding a corner where the yellow warning speed is below the speed limit and taking it at speed anyway

I don't do anything too nuts really, every once in a while I may find a back road where I want to take a corner 'hard' (60 in a 45) or something just because but this is mostly 'my' car at home and if I go somewhere by myself it's mostly to/from a customer site or airport. Then, if my kids let us, a rare date night.