So my 07 Quattro 17" wheels was making some terrible noise driving down the highway after I bought it. Nankang, tires LOL. The dealer refused to put new tires on the car before I bought it, but I had to take this deal because they were giving me so much for my rusty trade. So before the warranty ran out I changed the tires right quick to make sure there was no permanent issues like wheel bearings or worse, quattro damage. The tires resolved all the noise issues.

The tires I put on at first were Continental Extreme DWS because they received such high survey marks on Tirerack. There were two problems with this set of tires for me. One problem was that there was a defective tire in the set and it made the car drift to the right. WTF is that.... Second these tires had god awful handling, steering response, and road crown behavior. Now if you live in 24/7 snow these tires are probably sick. Here we get like 3 snowy months, big whup, and most of us have AWD. Beware of those Tirerack surveys, there are way to many mouth-breathers posting up on there.

Needless to say I returned these tires, Town Fair Tire has some good service if you figure out how to work with their employees. Not all their employees suck but you have to find the good ones at the right stores. This may mean repeat visits and complaining to managers, their headquarters.

Yokohama Avid Envigors W speed replaced the DWS Contis. Town Fair screwed up on the balancing on the first try when installing them. So I had to go back a week later, lol. The ride on the Avids vs the DWS was night and day. The Avids made my car feel like a luxury car again and the DWS made it feel like a light truck that the road crown tried to eat.

I only bought the Avids because I was short on money and in a rush to get new tires. According to my research I might have done better getting S. Drives or Bridgestone Pole Positions A/S tires. So what tires does everyone on here like the most? What have you tried, and how long did they last and ride?

 

I bought my car new with ContiSport 2s, which lasted 13,000 miles. Then I replaced them with Dunlop Direzza DZ101s, which lasted 14,000 miles. Now I'm on Sumitomo HTR ZIIIs. I've been happy with the handling, noise, and ride of all of these tires.

 

The tire service you received sounds absolutely terrible, specifically going to a place where you have to go back multiple times to find the right people?!?!

The Continental Extreme Contact DWS are good tires for the price, that is a shame you got a bad set, I have heard nothing but good news from the people I know riding on them. Goodyear Eagle GTs are alright but they do not have a very long life. Hankook Ventus V12s and Dunlop Direzza DZ101s are very popular and I hear good things about.

However, for a bit more cash Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus are great tires! I highly recommend them. They are quiet, handle well, and are great in the rain. If you want sport though, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 and Michelin Super Sports are awesome summer type tires.

 

i have the conti extremecontact DWS on my audi and they work great for me. i tried them in the winter and they are horrible in the freezing cold. the tread is a long life tread so it's harder so when it gets cold, they are even harder. so that forced me to get conti extremewintercontacts for both cars and they are amazing winter tires.

my OEM audi tires were pirelli P6 four seasons and those were fantastic all around all season tires. the treads wore down fast but that's the nature of a good all season.

 

I also have the Pirelli P6 four seasons. After about 41,000 miles the outer edges of the right tires are getting very close to the wear bars. I rotate and balance every 5,000 miles and get alignments on a regular bases. The grip has been ok, but since the tires have worn, they have hydroplaned a couple times. The biggest complaint has been the noise. They have been really noisy since the day they were put on.

 

Townfairtire can be very hack if you get a bad employee, however, there were some good people there who helped me out get straightened out. So I can't say one bad set of tires and one bad employee makes Townfair bad overall.

I'm surprised how that anyone could consider DWS sub-optimal for the snow with the tread pattern. This one review summarizes my feelings about Continental DWS Tires precisely:

2008 Audi A4 2.0T quattro S-Line Package More Tire Reviews for This Vehicle
No Photo Available Buy/More Info
Continental ExtremeContact DWS
Miles driven on tires: 1,000
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Driving Condition: Combined Highway/City
Driving Style: Spirited

3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
February 16, 2011

This is one of the worst set of tires I've ever purchased. Steering response was as bad as it gets, steering center was nonexistant leaving them wandering all over the highway, there was so much slop that going into a corner with any enthusiasm wasn't an honest possibility, and they hold flat spots more than any other tire i've ever had. The set I had had astrange non-balance related vibration as well, that would phase in and out in really weird ways. You can monkey with the pressure, but it doesn't seem to help much unless you pump it way up, and then you sacrifice quite a bit of comfort (which, at normal pressures, is decent, but not anything amazing), and your car will wander even more than it did at normal pressures. They had only two positive qualities, they were quiet (when new), and they were great in the rain. I don't understand how this tire can be marketed as a UHP all season. I'd sooner just run snow tires year round than these pieces of garbage. This would be a good tire for the type of person who doesn't notice when they have a flat, but not really for anyone who actually wants to enjoy driving. I returned them for a non-garbage set of tires.

 

i've cornered the hardest with these tires and they never quit. i guess it's all about personal preference.