Pirelli Cinturato P7: Sliding all over the place in NoVa

[jks02a4]

As many of the No. Virginia drivers can relate, consistent light/medium snow and ice here over the last few weeks. Having owned a b6 a4 before, I must say that although conditions are not perfect, I feel like I am sliding around A LOT on coated roads, much more than I did with my A4. My first instinct is to blame the Pirelli P7s, which are supposed to be good all season tires from what I read. A few weeks ago, I was going fairly slow on slight downhill on a coated road, and literally the brakes locked up and I slid a few hundred feet, through a red light. Pretty scary. Even making slow medium/low speed 90 degree turns, I am sliding out in fair conditions today.

Either that, or quattro capability has fallen significantly from 02 to 2010. I don't think alu kreuz, my only suspension mod, can be faulted, although the extra stiff front end doesn't seem to be helping. Anyone experiencing the same, or have some insight?

JKS

[AudiDTMA4]

Pirelli P7s are horrible, complete junk.

[mcoomer]

I think you might start blaming your tires. I don't have experience with the Pirelli's but Dunlop Wintersport 3D's haven't let me down yet. Haven't driven in anything like you folks back east are seeing this year but a little compact snow and ice in the mountains. Quattro works for me. Not sure that an all season tire is up to the epic winter you folks are seeing.

Mike

[Race Shooter]

The P7 is available as both an all season and a summer tire. Are you sure you have the all seasons or could you be on the summer tires which would completely explain everything?

Summer

All Season

[MVR 155]

Another vote for the tires...... the surveys from tirerack.com show pretty poor snow/ice performance from that tire.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....+P7+All+Season

[AllroadCorbin]

As many of the No. Virginia drivers can relate, consistent light/medium snow and ice here over the last few weeks. Having owned a b6 a4 before, I must say that although conditions are not perfect, I feel like I am sliding around A LOT on coated roads, much more than I did with my A4. My first instinct is to blame the Pirelli P7s, which are supposed to be good all season tires from what I read. A few weeks ago, I was going fairly slow on slight downhill on a coated road, and literally the brakes locked up and I slid a few hundred feet, through a red light. Pretty scary. Even making slow medium/low speed 90 degree turns, I am sliding out in fair conditions today.

Either that, or quattro capability has fallen significantly from 02 to 2010. I don't think alu kreuz, my only suspension mod, can be faulted, although the extra stiff front end doesn't seem to be helping. Anyone experiencing the same, or have some insight?

JKS

The P7 just isnt a good snow tire. Had it on my Allroad and it was OK but not great at all. That said I was driving in snow well over 1 foot deep in New England on I-95 during full blown blizzards. I have conti Pure contacts now which are honestly not much better in snow but great in rain/ dry. When you have a car with any good amount of power, you really need snow tires keep traction. Especially because Audi tends to use a pretty wide tire. Narrow tires actually do better in snow believe it or not. Next year I will be switching to Michelin Alpins or Dunlop Wintersport for winter, and getting AG M590 wheels with Conti DW for summer. All season are just "Meh" all year long... except the P7 was really quiet. I liked that

[AZT]

We have the P7 Cinturato All Season PLUS on our Accord and they have been fantastic in snow this winter. I can't remember a FWD car driving this well since I last had one with winter tires. Not sure what the difference is with this PLUS version but I just saw it is also the highest ranking snow/ice performance in all season GT survey on Tirerack

[zps123]

get a set of blizzaks and you'll have a lot of fun in the winter :)

[Dr GP]

Just wondering how many miles you have on the P7s? since A/Ss are not the optimum winter weather tires. Any loss of tread compromises the grip even more. That is why Conti DWS have built in tread wear indicator. As the tire wears, the DWS imprint goes to DS and then to D, Indicating the loss of foul weather performance. From Winter to Wet and Dry to Dry

[Ray Khan]

We have the P7 Cinturato All Season PLUS on our Accord and they have been fantastic in snow this winter. I can't remember a FWD car driving this well since I last had one with winter tires. Not sure what the difference is with this PLUS version but I just saw it is also the highest ranking snow/ice performance in all season GT survey on Tirerack

I haven't driven on them, but my mom just got the all season P7's for her FWD Acura TL and she said they were really good compared to whatever the stock Michelin tire on that car when it came to slush and snow. The reason she went with this tire is because Tirerack recommended it for an all season tire for a FWD car in an area like Boston.

[Dr GP]

The P7 is available as both an all season and a summer tire. Are you sure you have the all seasons or could you be on the summer tires which would completely explain everything?

Summer

All Season

I'm wondering the same.

[CaptSlow]

I have yet to drive out when it snows because of this, the snow yesterday sucked in NoVa/DC.

Make sure you don't have the Summers. I thought I had All Seasons too until I almost drifted onto a curb when I drove over a small patch of ice. Luckily there were no cars near me. I'm swtching to A/S 3's the first chance I get.

[LINDW4LL]

A few weeks ago, I was going fairly slow on slight downhill on a coated road, and literally the brakes locked up and I slid a few hundred feet, through a red light. Pretty scary. Even making slow medium/low speed 90 degree turns, I am sliding out in fair conditions today.

Either that, or quattro capability has fallen significantly from 02 to 2010. I don't think alu kreuz, my only suspension mod, can be faulted, although the extra stiff front end doesn't seem to be helping. Anyone experiencing the same, or have some insight?

You probably have the P7 summer version.

[MVR 155]

I haven't driven on them, but my mom just got the all season P7's for her FWD Acura TL and she said they were really good compared to whatever the stock Michelin tire on that car when it came to slush and snow. The reason she went with this tire is because Tirerack recommended it for an all season tire for a FWD car in an area like Boston.

After owning 4 new Acura vehicles (3 of which came with the Michelin tires you reference) I can tell you that just about anything is better. That tire has got to be the absolute worst tire EVER for inclement weather!!!! They wear like steel, are very quiet and offer mediocre dry performance but that is where it abruptly ends. For the P7....... It looks like the "All season Plus" has good reviews for snow performance, the regular "all season" is pretty poor and obviously the "summer performance" is going to be downright awful in the snow.

[jks02a4]

I'm going to check which version I have ..... I'm pretty sure there the AS, but the performance to date would note indicate that. Car has about 37k and I think the tires are original. That being said, I will be swapping to something new when i upgrade to 19 in rotars reps in 10-12months.

[CaptSlow]

It should actually have All-Season labeled on the tire if it really is

[SchreibCity]

This is what the little square pics on the summer tire should look like... looks like a gas pump, a leaf, a road, and a music note with a line across it. Hope this helps

[Works2shoot]

I'm buying a set of 18" dealer takeoffs ASAP with all-seasons. I love having summer tires, and honestly our snow really only needs a set of all seasons for our winters. As long as you're in a job that you could potentially work remote on the WORST of the storms. Winter tires are too hardcore for NOVA winters (unless you are in an "emergency personnel" type position).

[CaptSlow]

I'm buying a set of 18" dealer takeoffs ASAP with all-seasons. I love having summer tires, and honestly our snow really only needs a set of all seasons for our winters. As long as you're in a job that you could potentially work remote on the WORST of the storms. Winter tires are too hardcore for NOVA winters (unless you are in an "emergency personnel" type position).

Dude, I'll sell you my 18" wheels...only they have summers :)

[Works2shoot]

Dude, I'll sell you my 18" wheels...only they have summers :)

Defeats the purpose! :-)

[jks02a4]

and it appears I've been riding around on summer tires all winter..... mine have the squares with pictures and no 'all season' language. No wonder I've been sliding f*ing everywhere. The guy who sold me the car gave me an extra set of tires and told me those the summer tires, so naturally i assumed the ones on the car were all season..... whoops.

[anerbe]

^ Haha, that would do it. You should update your original post with a conclusion.

[AZT]

Usually you can spot a summer vs all season just by glancing at the tread - all seasons are dense with small horizontal or diagonal sipes/cuts, whereas the summer has very few and alot more smooth rubber. This (cold/snowy) winter I found myself often checking Audis/BMWs/etc in the parking lots just out of curiosity and was surprised to see a few with summer tread.

[6mt.sauce]

Just picked up my B8 2 weeks ago...since then we have had a couple bad storms in CT...I too was sliding all over the place, brakes locking up on very slow stops, sliding down hills, very very scary stuff that ive never had issues with in my past AWD cars with all seasons. Same Pirelli Cinturato tires. Will be buying a winter setup for next winter for sure.

[MrFunk]

Sliding down a hill under braking with no traction has nothing to do with quattro. That's all tire or even worst - uneven braking force.

[petecoyle1]

Anyone else have experience with Michelin pilot sport a/s 3's being terrible in snow?

[AudiDTMA4]

Anyone else have experience with Michelin pilot sport a/s 3's being terrible in snow?

They are good, but only as good as A/S tire can be...Conti DWS & Mich PS A/S 3 are top dogs for all season traction.

Snows FTW in winter ideally

[PitchS4]

I have them and they are passable but certainly no snow tire. I don't go looking for trouble but if I get caught in a storm they are fine. Their dry performance makes up for it.

[AndyLien79]

conti dws all day every day

[chris dds]

I have the Michelin AS3 on my S4. They are marginally acceptable in light snow or slippery roads. If you live someplace were you get snow once a year, they will get you by if you are very very careful. But, if you live somewhere where you encounter snowy roads with some frequency, you should look for something else. They are a nice tire for three seasons, but not great in the winter.

I had some Conti pro contacts for a while...they were better in the snow, but no as nice on the dry roads and do not wear down well.