Hi All,

I have the Audi A3 2.0T 2008 model and it is not the greatest in snow, but sadly I could not afford the 3.2 so I need snow tires. Is it best to just buy snow tires and throw those onto the current wheels (17") or should I buy a whole new set of wheels (16") and snow tires?

I am not sure what the best set up would be or where to buy or what the size of the tires should be. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

Any winter tire is going to outperform an all season tire so you really have a ton of options in terms of brand and price. One other consideration though is wheel size. Narrower wheels are better in the snow as they cut through the snow so for example the tire you put on a 16 inch rim on an A3 will likely be a 205 vs the likely 225 on a 17 or 18 inch rim. The point is with the smaller rim you can get a tire that perfoms even better in the snow. Total cost aside I think it comes down to whether you want to deal with the hassle of having to take tires off one set of rims and have another mounted and balanced. The tirerack has great deal and if you don't mind the steel wheels you can get those on 16 inch rims for a very reasonable price. I'd suggest either the Blizzaks or Dunlop Winter Sport 3ds but again in my opinion any winter tire is going to be unstopable on the a3 with or without quattro.. Hope that helps.

 

I have 3.2 and I still have winter tires. Quattro don't help us stop any better.

Best bang for the buck with some performance IMO, Hankook W300.

 

I have not found it to be too bad so far this winter (i have a 2.0t with all seasons on) but it has not been that bad in Toronto yet, i notice the ESP helps allot compared to what i used to drive anyways, i was looking at getting winter tires as well, i guess i will see how the weather will be and then make my mind up.

 

I don't get why anyone in TO would decide against winter tires. I mean, if you are planning on keeping your car for more than 4 years, prolonging your the tread life of your summer tires alone will make the purchase worth while. Not to mention a much safer drive. When you are faced in a situation where you wish you had winter tires on, it usually is too late already.

 

Alright I have the set up. 2.0T 06 I went with the complete package from Tire Rack(hell the amount of times we all send someone to them they should advertise on here & gives some type of discount.) I got 16's with Blizzaks(use the tire of your choice) on a cast wheel they weight is actually probably less then the stock setup. The nice part of this set up is being able to switch out when I want to and not when a tire store has time. Also by doing it this way you wont find yourself driving into the summer on the snow tires and killing there life in the heat because you never got in to have the tires switched on the rim.
So as a bunch of us will contest the whole package is the best way & easiest to go. Good luck and its really not all that expensive.

 

I have a 2008 A3 2.0 Sline with titanium package. I picked up a set of A8 Avus 17" wheels with a set of one season old Blizzacks for winter wheels/tires. Craigslist is your friend. So far in the snow the A3 has been very competent in the several Colorado snow storms so far, almost as good as my urS6. Buying the A3 compatible tire pressure senders (Tirerack best price)for the wheels was PITA and $$ though. YMMV.
Front wheel drive and the titanium package summer radials was not option for me here.

 

I purchased the 16" Blizzaks with alloy wheels from Tirerack. They are great. Live in upstate NY and my A3 will go anywhere. They're a little noisy but not objectionable.

 

There are 2 separate questions here and one misconception. The misconception is that quattro without snows will be OK if you are driving in the winter. Ain't necessarily so. Quattro (or any 4-wheel drive or all-wheel system) is irrelevant on ice. You still need 4 snows.

The other 2 questions are:

(1) Is a 16" better than 17" snow set? Yes, on an A3 a 16" is better since you don't get snow packed in the wells as much and the wheel permits a taller, and narrower tire.

(2) The second question has to do with cost and that is because a 2008 A3 set-up has a valve sensored TPMS system. This means you either have to ignore a constant readout for TPMS failure or kick in at least another $200-300 for 4 more TPMS valves. The point is you have to factor this in.

 

I bought a set of 205/55 Dunlop Winter Sport 3D's on MSW wheels from Tire Rack. We set a record in Vancouver for snowfall in December. Although the tires are probably wider than they should be, they performed very well. My biggest problem was the fact that the car is lowered. On unplowed roads I was constantly scraping the bottom of the car. BTW, Tire Rack's service and followup was excellent (and no, I don't own shares).