Actually there are a boatload of complaints about Pirelli p6 All Seasons with sidewall failure... one of mine had a bubble when I purchased my car, with the treadwear minimal. I got the dealer to replace it, but as I said, the tires were so completely and utter crap that I swapped them in less than 10K miles.

http://www.google.com/search?q=pirel...ddress&ie=&oe=

Sorry to prolong this discussion to continue my personal vendetta against the P6, LOL. Look, if you live in an area that gets a lot of snow, and winter temperatures support winter tires (daytime ambient temps below 35F) then by all means put them on your quattro. For my area, Southern PA, none of the above applies, and the traction is more than adequate with AS rubber. Just sharing my experience. :beer:

 

The package is something you pay up front, when you buy the car from a dealer. It's not from your dealership, it's a different company that does it, but your dealership offers it, and different dealerships offer different companies for th rwheel & tire package. The way mine works is: $700 up front and you're covered for 4 years. They replace/repair any flat tire you get, and will also replace your wheel if it gets dented. They won't replace it if it's scratched though. iI the tire puncture is anywhere on the sidewall or close to it, beyond the last outside thread "channel" in your tire, they automatically replace it, otherwise they may try to fix it. They usually replace it though, with the same type of tire you destroyed.
I already had two flats so far in my first 6 months, so...It has almost payed for itseld already. One more and I'm pretty much even.
Some companies will only replace one tire at a time, so if you go through a nasty pothole and get 2 flats at once, they'll only replace one. this happened to my dad's Eos. Mine will replace all 4 even if you do them at the same time.
But best part is, if you buy different wheels or tires, they'll cover them too.
It's the only extra the dealership offers that's actually worth it in my opinion.

 

Megailko, I never heard of that kind of coverage sold by the dealer (maybe because my last NEW car purchase was in the 90's) $700 for 4 years coverage sounds pretty decent... especially if you bend a wheel. Matter of fact, I would start looking for potholes to ruin the wheels my wife has curbed!

 

Actually you don't have to get it through the dealer. I'm pretty sure you can just buy the service directly from the tire & wheel company and there are a lot of them. I don't wanna post any names and get banned, I'm not sure what the forum rules are about this kinda stuff, but you can google it and find out. You do have to pay for your new tire at the dealer, or whereever you have it changed, but then the dealer contacts the tire company and they send you check in the mail. it covers mounting, labor - all that kinda stuff.
To be frank, both times they send me a check, it was short. the first one was $20 short, the second one, just a couple of dollars, and that's for the same "asking" price from the dealer (around $240 each time), everything was the same, so... I was gonna call to bitch about it, but I never found the time.

 

This is the first winter I've had with the A4 and I must say, Quattro is an amazing piece of engineering. Coupled with traction control (ESP) it is the most impressive bit of driving in the snow I've ever experienced. TC drops the hammer on you when you need it and keeps you moving and in directions that you can easily expect if you know the basics of car handling.

Like most suggest, get out in an empty parking lot after a fresh snowfall and turn of ESP and get your bearings, have a little fun with it and see how it will handle.

Personally, every time it snows he in WI, I show up at work about 15 min early and just do donuts. So much fun!

 

Yeah, I try to do this every time it snows too, and you're right, quattro is amazing. The problem is it's very hard to find a nice empty parking lot around here, especially one that's out of the view of cop cars patrolling around. If anyone in the Chicago area has any suggestions, especially in the northeast suburbs, I would appreciate it. I'm up for driving 20-30 miles to get to it too. It's just so damn populated here, I've yet to find a place where I can play in the snow at peace.

 

not trying to beat the dead horse on this thread but I have Pirelli P4 all seasons and today we got 3 or so inches and I feel like they did fine. the only thing that worried me was stopping. The abs liked to go to work under braking, even slight braking. It was slushy on top, icy underneath. Its my first snow with this car so i'm happy with the way it handled, much better than the mini cooper I had

 

My all seasons were the P6 fourseason Pirelli's. they went throught the snow ok with a little wheel spin, but they were horrible when it came to braking in slick weather. Also, If I cornered to fast and gave the car gas coming out of the corner, the back end would slide sideways very suddenly quicker than the stability control could react. This would happen even when the tires were new. The Continental Extreme Winter Contacts that are on my car in the winter transform it. Almost no wheel spin, short stops, and no fear of the back end breaking loose. The Audi wheel tire package that Audi sells and recommends are 205/55 16's, which are narrower than the 235/45 17's helping the tire roll through the snow better. They're about to be put on for season #2 in a few weeks.