Yes, I have the 21" Wheels on my Q7... Yes, I need a little help.

[nicholi57]

A couple of months ago i got a Q7 2011 SLine to replace my V8 Touareg...
It's very silver, very spiffy and came with these very attractive 21" wheels.

But reality (and a bit rain, sleet and ice) have now hit...

In my limited experience there are no sensible tires for a Q7 in 295/35R21 size...
and I have not been able to find anyone, in any of the audi forums (how many audi forums are there anyway!?!), that has found a reasonable (all season) tire in this size for when the ground freezes.

So i have been reduced to getting new 20" rims and getting 275/45R20 which seem to be the original equipment size.

That said, i started thinking... if 275/45R20 is OEM size...
Why can't i use a 295/40R21 on these rims?

is there some internal vag com setting i don't know about that knows the difference between wether my q7 has the oem 20" setup or the oem 21" setup?

I say this as 295/40R21 is closer rolling diameter (1.8% diff) to 275/45R20 than 295/35R21 (more than 2% diff)...
and i ask as there are many more sensible tires available in size 295/40R21 than 295/35R21.

In the end... would ideally like to have a an all season tire on the 21"s...
Just trying to think it through.

Thoughts?
Comments? (other than get proper snow tires on 19" rims you jackass)

[GTMRS4]

I'd buy some 18" wheels with snow tires.

[D_Frost]

Another option is to get winter tires in 295/35/21 (Tirerack carries Pirelli Scorpion) and just swap tires when the season comes...

295/40/21 is 4% faster than 295/35/21...
295/40/21 is 1.7% faster than 275/45/20...

In general, the speedometers are not that accurate (if you have a GPS handy, you can try comparing the speedo w/ it)... usually the range is 5-10% off... so you should be fine as long as you are aware of your actual speed...

[nicholi57]

I'd buy some 18" wheels with snow tires.

could do that also of course...
that said, had nokian snows on 19s for my touareg and they worked great.

[nicholi57]

Another option is to get winter tires in 295/35/21 (Tirerack carries Pirelli Scorpion) and just swap tires when the season comes...

295/40/21 is 4% faster than 295/35/21...
295/40/21 is 1.7% faster than 275/45/20...

In general, the speedometers are not that accurate (if you have a GPS handy, you can try comparing the speedo w/ it)... usually the range is 5-10% off... so you should be fine as long as you are aware of your actual speed...

that's kinda my point...
clearly my 21's aren't reading the speedo accurately even though audi put them on...
if the standard size is 275/45r20 is the size the speedo is calibrated for...
i can get a 21" scorpion zero that's oem for the g500 that's closer in rolling diameter to the 275/45r20 and it's m&s rated...

this is less about snow and more about not worrying about getting stuck in the middle of summer on the dirt road after a rain shower...

[Beast]

ballin