Which All Season 18" Tires for 2012 A6 3.0T Quattro Premium Plus

[mototech]

I'm in the market for new tires due to a blowout and have recently discovered, that I can't just replace them in pairs, but must in 4's due to the Quattro drive train. Merry Christmas to me.

That said, I live in Austin Texas where it is mainly hot most of the year. The winters typically get into the 30's and rarely in the 20's which equals zero snow and very little, but some ice.

My A6 currently has Continental ContiProContact Grand Touring All-Season 245/45R18 100H XL tires. I am not looking to replace rims for anything bigger. Just looking to see if there are better tires for the money ($200'ish each).

I've been looking at All-Season for the most part but have one summer tire in:

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ <--tirerack seems to rate these pretty highly for an all-season.
Michelin Premier A/S
Michelin Pilot Super Sport
Pirelli Cinturato P7 Plus

Driving habits: occasionally like to get on the pedal on the open road, but mainly stuck in the I-35 daily traffic jam.
Goals: Low road noise, not too stiff of a drive but enough for some every now and then athleticism, long life, $200/each or so.

Thoughts on what the best bang for the buck is on the above or any that aren't mentioned?

Thanks,
Steve

[DGVR6]

I'll be throwing on some michelin a/s 3+ tomorrow. I've had dws for a while and loved them but dry traction was alright.
I'll let you know my initial impressions.

[zoomzoom!]

If the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06's are available in your size, I'd go for those in a second.

[Cruxin]

If the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06's are available in your size, I'd go for those in a second.

I second that!

[Merlin_AZ]

I still have my OEM ContiPro Contact currently.
I'd be interested in the comparison between the DWS06 and the A/S3+, looking for comfort/quiet over sport.

[mototech]

I still have my OEM ContiPro Contact currently.
I'd be interested in the comparison between the DWS06 and the A/S3+, looking for comfort/quiet over sport.

Here's TireRacks indepth review: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=216

The review basically says the following for your criteria:
DSW better for comfort
A/S 3+ better for speed and noise

It also includes the Pirelli P Zero which takes the overall win between the three tires.

[ericw.]

I still have my OEM ContiPro Contact currently.
I'd be interested in the comparison between the DWS06 and the A/S3+, looking for comfort/quiet over sport.

Something to take into consideration is that the A/S3+ has the lowest snow and ice rating out of the options you're considering.

[DGVR6]

A/S 3+ Is running a different compound now to improve snow traction.

Snow Review
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=211

[Merlin_AZ]

Something to take into consideration is that the A/S3+ has the lowest snow and ice rating out of the options you're considering.

Snow?
Ice?
What's that?
I live in Phoenix. ;) I guess I should have prefaced the question regarding that. More worried about dry/wet, but when it rains, it floods since the water has nowhere to go.

[rayray]

I have about 4500 miles on my A/S 3+ and I love them. I recently had to move from SATX to Central Georgia, so all seasons were a must. I thought about DWS06, but I went with the A/S 3+ based on reviews and the $70 rebate going on...lol!

Although, if I was still back in SATX I probably would have put another set of PSS on as I wouldn't be going much of anywhere if winter weather hit. I would use my Q7 instead!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Acuransx]

I have a /15 A6 3.0T and the original Conti Pro Contacts are still on my car. However, my Dad has an Acura TL that he bought used couple months ago. First time I drove it I noticed ride was quite harsh. It had a fairly new set of A/S 3+. We took those off and put on Conti DWS06 -- significant difference in ride quality and handles well enough. Hope this helps.

[wwhan]

If you do not drive much in snow, then the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ are great for all weather.

I previously had Conti DWS, for anything other than snow, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ is the better overall tire.

[mototech]

Thanks all. As this car will never see snow, I could care less about that rating even though as one commenter noted, the A/S 3+ have been re-engineered to make it better in snow.

That said, my main concern with the A/S 3+ is the "harsh" ride that some commenters and the tirerack review have noted. Those that own them, thoughts??

[mototech]

Although, if I was still back in SATX I probably would have put another set of PSS on as I wouldn't be going much of anywhere if winter weather hit.

Does PSS = Michelin Pilot Super Sport? If yes, did these have long life and would they be good enough in SATX winter weather ... I don't have a Q7 to fall back to

Regarding your A/S 3+, is the ride harsh as some say? Harsh = super stiff and all bumps would transfer straight to my bad back.

[Acuransx]

Thanks all. As this car will never see snow, I could care less about that rating even though as one commenter noted, the A/S 3+ have been re-engineered to make it better in snow.

That said, my main concern with the A/S 3+ is the "harsh" ride that some commenters and the tirerack review have noted. Those that own them, thoughts??

See my post above. Michelins were very stiff and ride was harsh. The DWS 06 is noticeably better than the Michelins. For best ride the Pirelli you mention in your original post is the one and here I speak from experience, not just Tire Rack tests, etc. We have these tires on wife's 13 Volvo S80 T6 and I had them on my /06 Acura TL before I bought the A6. The Pirellis are super smooth riding grand touring tires that provide a much better ride (at least in the TL) than either the Michelins or Contis that you are considering. All depends on how you drive/what you expect out of a tire. The only detractor for the Pirelli is as Tire Rack notes, poor performance in the wet which of course can be the difference between a close call and an accident. IMHO the Conti DWS 06 is the "mamma bear" tire of the three. While I wanted my 85 year old Dad's TL to ride smoothly, he and I both agreed that the enhanced wet weather capabilities of the DWS 06 over the Pirelli was worth sacrificing a bit of ride comfort.

Finally, our experience with the TL (2007) applies only up to a point with the A6. The A6 is a better riding car by virtue of better/more modern suspension design/tuning. FWIW I have driven a friend's wife's 2016 A6 that is equipped with Continental DWS 06 -- rides very smoothly as a luxury car should (base suspension -- 18" wheels/tires). Such being the case I see no reason to risk the wet weather deficiencies of the Pirelli.

Good luck with your decision!

Best,
Jeff

[DGVR6]

Had a chance to drive the a/s3+ for a few miles (haven't broken it in yet).
255/40 19 y100
So far the traction is up to par with summer tires, haven't found the limit yet in wet or running in 30f dry weather.
Haven't drove in the snow we had. Ride is a bit harsh compared to dws, and the road noise is a tad louder than my summer pzeros but dry traction is way beyond what I would expect from all seasons.

I know texas weather, hot in the day, freezing at night. I'd consider the a/s 3+. If it were +40 in your winter season I'd say go for PSS.
Running 18s might not be as harsh as the 19s.. coming from the black optics, it's noticeably less jarring than the 20s with pzeros.


Edit:
Here is a quote from a review in tirerack with an s4 from this pass weekend light snowstorm in NYC.

"Today I woke up and we had 3-4" of snow overnight. Had to jump in the S4 to try out snow performance for the first time. The Michelins performed amazingly. I have driven summer tires in snow, I know how cautious you have to be. These tires with quattro were very confidence inspiring. I tried heavy acceleration and braking. Great job on both. Car drove like a snowmobile. Really don't think you could do much better with the Contis"

[rayray]

Does PSS = Michelin Pilot Super Sport? If yes, did these have long life and would they be good enough in SATX winter weather ... I don't have a Q7 to fall back to

Regarding your A/S 3+, is the ride harsh as some say? Harsh = super stiff and all bumps would transfer straight to my bad back.

Yes, Pilot Super Sport. I never had any trouble with them in SATX through the odd cold and rainy couple of years down there. I got about 30k miles on them before I changed to the A/S 3+ (right at the wear bars). The harshness takes a bit to wear off...I'd say about 1500-2500 miles or so, but after that, its great IHMO. The PSSs only took about 500-1000 to settle in because of the softer compound. I too have a bad back and neck, courtesy of the military, so comfort is key for me also.

[mototech]

Well.....

Since everyone was either recommending the Michelin A/S 3+ or Continental DSW, and TireRack did a 3-tire comparison (link is in one of my previous threads) between them and some Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus tires. I ended up buying the Pirelli P Zero's from TireRack based off of the review mentioned. They are now installed and the process went remarkably smooth considering they were ordered online and sent to one of TireRacks reputable known installers.

Initial thoughts are the tires are fairly quiet and the ride is a bit stiffer than my previous set of Grand Touring Continental Procontact tires. Not a harsh ride though, just a bit stiffer. Other than that, it is too soon to give a full review. I'll be back once I have a few miles on them.

Thanks for all the feedback and help in this decision making process.

Steve

[DGVR6]

Finally got to test out the a/s3 + in 5inches of snow.

It did very well, just as good as my old DWS (not 06)
Only draw back is that its easier to find the limits and on snow over slush it's pretty loose when turning (have to be a bit easy and make more corrections).
On packed snow it's awesome. On light snow it's awesome. They're not snow tires but it works!

Still was very confident on these tires and you really can't beat dry traction.