gapo

Hello !

I realize this is a question that comes up a lot of time. So thank you !

I'm planning to DD new-to-me 2002 996 C4 through the winter. I'm at the point where my current tires are due for a replacement. She is at 107k miles so I will be driving her through the year. I am trying to figure out if I can manage with A/S tires through the winter in the Boston area. I previously had an 2017 A4 with A/S and was pretty OK. I do know that the AWD in the C4 is only 50% to the front and not comparably at all with the A4. I am mainly trying to see if I can get away from having to store the tires and wheels.

I am thinking the Michelin A/S 4. I did search through the forums but found people mostly sticking to Winter tires. They seem well reviewed ! Anyone run this ?

I have a 10 mile commute on Route 9 - so my daily route is generally cleaned. Maybe an occasional ski trip to NH if possible.

Is this doable or am I biting off too much ? Anyone DD through out the year with A/S ?

Thanks for chirping in !

PSEE

Since it's a C4, and your commute is going to be on already cleared roads, you can probably get away with A/S tires.
The occasional ski trip to NH will work as long as the roads are mostly cleared.

Of course, the best bet would be to have a second set of wheels/tires with dedicated snow/winter tires.

Everyone thinks about getting going in the snow - it's the STOPPING distances that are GREATLY affected in snow
with summer vs. A/S vs. winter/snow tires. It's about whether your vehicle can stop in time...

squid42

I dunno.

I switched from one car with good, recent Yokohama all seasons one winter to using Continental proper snow tires the next winter. I lived in BOS at the time. I won't do A/S again.

gapo

Curious to hear your thoughts on it. Was the handling that much of a big difference ?

squid42

I'm not so concerned with propulsion. But braking and steering had the high end winter tires really dig into the surface.

The all-season tires in comparison were not grabbing on to anything. They felt like the only thing that makes them not summer tires is that the rubber compound doesn't crack when you move them in the cold.

The Fat Kid

There is a joke in New England regarding tires, "All Season = No Season"

I lived with all-season tires on my old A4 and they were OK. I switched to dedicated summer/winter setups on my S4 and it was way better. PA4s on a 911 handle like a really good all-season tire in the winter, not like a squishy snow tire, and then you can run sticky summer rubber when temps climb.

Are all-season tires "good enough"? Probably, but you bought a 911 instead of a "good enough" 20-year old Subaru

hiroshikato1

As others have said, without snow tires you will not be able to stop or turn, let alone start moving. I have owned many AWD cars, from a B6 S4 to Infiniti FX70 to my current S6 and Rover HSE. All of my cars had or have snow tires. What is your life worth? Again, it isn’t the grip at launch that is the problem. On a side note, my Audi’s have always had summer tires and my GT3’s have all had Pilot Cup Sports or II’s and those tires are useless in anything below 40 degrees. All Seasons=Suck in all seasons. Just like there is no perfect car for all seasons... although I had ordered a RS6 Avant thinking it might be but having a 2017 S6, 2019 GT3 Touring and a HSE pretty much make buying it kind of pointless. If I could only drive one car it might win but when there is 8 inches of snow only a SUV with snows will do. Good luck!
Hiro

okroger

With all the horrible drivers on rt9, esp between Boston and natick, you owe it to yourself and loved ones to run dedicated snows. Everyone else already drove the point home very well.

Congrats on the car!

95_993

I have been running Conti DWS on my DD Cayenne and they've been good all round tires. Responsive and quiet in the highway, decent in snow. Also running them in my daughters Mercedes C300 4-matrix for most of the year but out dedicated snows on her car for core winter months just to give it the best footing possible.

HalfGerman

My dad used to day: 4wd just gets you further into the ditch before you get stuck. Slow down

Here in NH , realistically I am only driving "in snow" maybe 5-10% of the time, as they seem to be down to the pavement within 24hrs after the snow stops. But still run snow tires.

JasonAndreas

I daily drove an RS (and an A8) around New England and Quebec for years. Once you spend some time on a good set of snow tires (ex. Nokian Hakkapeliitta) you'll never consider A/S tires (useless in all seasons) again.

Jedi Apprentice

All seasons are horrendous. Get a tall, skinny tire and wheel combo and call it a day. I have used Nokia Hakkapelitta and they have great grip in snow for first 15k miles, after that they lose it a little. Wearing a Michelin on my accord right now and it is a little quieter.

lml999

I run the same tires on multiple cars as three season tires. For winter I change them out for dedicated winters - Nokian Hakka R3 for the Q7 and Cayenne...

*So* much more control!