I ran Michelin Artic Alpin last year, worked great. I wasn't all that impressed with the wear, but they were quiet and gripped great. For summer, I run BFG KDW type2's... These are awesome tires! Wear on these are even worse, but the performance factor is insane!!

 

what do guys think of the Pirelli Winter Carving Edge tire ??

 

Thank you guys for all suggestions, now I just have to wait for winter to see if the choice of Gislaved Nordfrost5 prove itself right.

 

Just ordered a set of Michelin X-Ice Xi2 from Tirerack (225/40/1 mounted on Bremmer Kraft BR05's.

I'll post some pics once they're fitted around mid to end Oct. I think they'll look pretty awesome and make the car super safe this Winter.

Standard mesh wheels are nice, but have some nicks and scratches from uncaring previous owner.

Andrew

 

My Marangoni winters are great.. No complaints.. Size- 225/ 45/ 17

 

The way I view a winter tire is about performance. In the foothills of Alberta, it is all about ice!
If the tire can get you stopped, it has done it's job. The quattro can get you going on any tire, how are you going to stop? I have Nokians and I have put studded Nokians on the cars of my young adult children drivers vehicles. Studded is in a league of it's own, way above the rest. They love them! I decided to go with the less noisy non-studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta R for the A5. It is a softer rubber for maximum traction. After half of the tread is gone the traction drops off rapidly. To me it is not about how they last but how they do their job! Any will likely do what they promise and definitely better than all seasons. Good luck with it.

 

I purchased my wheels and Blizzak WS70's from 1010Tire.com Their price was a little lower than Tire Rack depending on the exch rate you get. Mainly I liked that they mount and ship from Vancouver (Richmond), which I preferred over Nevada from TireRack. UPS delivered to my door. They mounted one in the wrong direction but promptly refunded me the cost to have it remounted locally..no hassle.
I have used Michelin Alpin Pilots for the last few years on my Volvo and have been happy with them. After reading many good things about the Blizzak, especially on ice, I thought I'd give them a try.

Now, if only my new Avant would arrive I could try them! It's snowing in Pemberton as I write this. and Whistler is open!

 

Got my winter wheels set up last month. Will get some pics online.

I stepped down a size from the 18" factory tires to 17"s for winter. Tires are Michelin Primacy Alpins mounted on some cheap alloy rims that I purchased for these tires.

Have had several chances to test them out with Vancouver getting dumped on a month ago as well as a few trips up to Whistler over the last month.

Surprisingly, they handle on the road WAY better than the stock 18" Continentals summer sport tires that came with the sport package on my A3: while "glue-y", the Contis feel weird, squishy, and seem to have very bad lateral stability. Infact, the car has shimmied a few times with them on. The 17" Primacys feel way better and they're higher profile winter tires!!!

Anyway, the tires have a nice mix of highway performance and snow performance. In rain and snow, they are fantastic. On ice, i have had a few sliding situations, but that's primarily been on water covered ice (super slippery) and I did purchase the Primacys, not X-ices which probably would handle ice a bit better. Still, it hasn't really been an issue as the ABS and the tires have worked hard to get the car to stop fast, even if it's been sliding.

Also, i had an "interesting" thing the other week where I was driving down some switchbacks covered in hard packed snow that was starting to transform into ice: I was on the inside, going down and the car started to slide out, to the outside of the corner. At the exact same time that the car started to slide out, a bus came up around the corner in the other lane - the one that I was sliding into! I had the car already in Manual (using it to gear down when driving down on the snow / ice) and a quick stomp on the throttle and a bit of corrective steering had the car pull right back into its lane. Of course, this all happened in about 2 seconds, but the car did slide out about 4 - 5 feet, which is enough to start to make you feel uncomfortable - especially with a bus coming at you! However the tires - and Quatro - did there job: absolutely awesome!

 

+1 for the Dunlop Winter Sport M3. Very good tires for both dry and snow.

 

you got another 2 thumbs up for those tires!! 2nd season ive been using mine!!!