I need to purchase tires for my 05 A8L. I currently have snow tires. What tires would you recommend?

 

I just got a set of Kuhmo 255/40zr/19's from Tirerack.com and I'm very happy with them. Kuhmo is an underrated tire company and you can often find aggressively priced tires from them. As long as they are ZR rated you are good to go. It is my opinion that paying a premium for Pirelli's/Continental's is not needed unless of course you are in Germany and spend your days on the Autobahn.

 

I have Yokohama Avid-S4 tires on my A8 (255/40R19), and I'm very happy with them so far. Light-years ahead of the POS Pirelli P6 that Audi and VW like to put on their cars from the factory. If the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS was available in the right size, I'd get that over the Yokos.

However, to give more accurate recommendations, what size wheels do you have on your A8L, and what are you looking for in your tire? I.e., are you looking for a summer tire, all season tire, etc.

 

^^^Ive never seen a set Pirelli P6 tires on an A8 before, we put on Pirelli P Zero or P Zero Nero all terain tires which are some of the best tires ever made. Hell Ferrari and Lamborghini use them. I have a set of Neros on my old S4 which has a tread wear of 400 and still has a traction rating of AA, not too many Kuhmos or Yokohamas have those figures, however they are a much better price and they do what they are supposed to. It has been my experince that the quattro system pretty much makes up from any traction loss of crappy tires. I drove an A8L that had uber crappy Korean tires called Hankooks and it drove just fine. Kuhmos would be the best tire for overall performance and price. Michellin Pilot sport PS2 and Pirelli P Zero's would be my tires of choice if it were mine.

 

Let me double check my spare. I could have sworn it was a P6. Might just have been hateful thinking, though.

l8r)

 

I stand corrected. My 19" spare is indeed a Pirelli PZero. Looks like only some of the 18" wheel equipped A8's came with P6 tires as OEM equipment.

l8r)

 

I just bought some 19" Vredestein Sessantas for my A8. Great tires at a great price. They will outdo your Pirelli's and Goodyears.

 

I am the second owner with P6's all around so I guess these weren't the OEM choice for this car?

Too bad, I like them on dry and wet roads, but not in the snow...booooooooo!

Are P Zero's really that much better? Are they better on heavier cars? Lighter cars?

 

Pzero tires are some of the best rubber you can put on a car. Night and day difference between P6 and Pzero tires. P6 tires are.....ok, but can't hold a candle to a Pzero. If a ferrari owner ever saw a set of P6's on another guys ferrari, he would probably slap the guy upside the head. Don't bother putting on a Pzero tire in the snow, its a high performance dry and wet tire.

 

I have a jeep grand cherokee with goodyear fortera tripletreds. It's due for new tires and although they are kind of expensive I plan to put them on again because they've never slipped once in a lot of Wisconsin winter driving, and I use my jeep to get to my plow before the roads have been plowed. The passenger car version is called the assurance tripletred, don't know if they make them to fit an A8, but if they do I'd recommend them.