byoung

I live in Toronto and am about to purchase a 2013 Audi A4 and am wondering if I need to also purchase snow tires which are a significant additional expense. Does anyone had advice on this - are the standard Audi All Season tires good for snow? the car is all wheel drive so that helps. Any advice is appreciated.

Rock Kickass

My 2011 Avant came with all season Pirelli P6 and they are 'good enough' for the GTA.

That being said my wife's A4 had a set of summer and winter tires and wheels and she would not drive any other way. There is a difference when the weather gets very cold and/or lots of snow.

I will probably replace the P6's with a summer/winter tires & wheels set when they wear out in a year or two.

byoung

Rock
Thanks this helps. I just read a review from the Globe and Mail and have decided to go for a set of winter tires....
When braking on ice from 10 mph (16 km/h), winter tires stopped at least 7 feet (2 metres) shorter, on average, than all-season tires. The best winter tire stopped about 15 feet (4.5 metres) shorter than the average all-season tire.
Winter tires were also better at accelerating through snow – they measured the distance it took the test car to accelerate from 5-20 mph (16-32 km/h) on moderately packed snow, like what you’d get on a well-travelled winter road.
“Winter tires took an average of 19 feet (6 metres) less than all-season tires, so in other words the average of all winter tires was about 80 feet and it took all-season tires 99 feet” Petersen said. “So winter tires don’t only get you out of snow, they can get you going faster.”
“What makes them grip so well in winter is their formulated trade compound which stays soft in the cold,” says Gene Petersen, tire program leader at Consumer Reports magazine. “Normally you should get 2-3 seasons out of winter tires – but if you use them all year long, winter tires generally don’t handle as well as all-season tires and wear out faster.”