A quick tyre question please

Hi. I know there is an ongoing thread about tyres, but I have a quick question.

I have the 6 spoke alloy wheels and the car currently has 185/50 R16 tyres on all wheels

I mainly drive on rough country roads with potholes, and I tend to drive carefully (so roll isn't a big consideration for me) I also don't care about the look of the wheels or tyres.

What would be the comfiest tyres to fit please?
 
Those that know me are going to groan at this as I am like a stuck record on this topic!

I don’t know whether you’re intending to drive many miles and on the same tyres year-round, however I would consider Michelin CrossClimate+ as they are reinforced and excellent at dealing with potholes without damage.

They’re expensive but then they deal with any type of weather in all four seasons very well and last for a very long time. They don’t fit the standard 16” alloys though, however if comfort is your focus you should consider going down to 15” (either the standard alloys / steels or pepper pots), as that will give you an appreciably softer rider - these tyres come in at the standard 175/60/15 size and this will be the most comfortable.
 
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Hi. I know there is an ongoing thread about tyres, but I have a quick question.

I have the 6 spoke alloy wheels and the car currently has 185/50 R16 tyres on all wheels

I mainly drive on rough country roads with potholes, and I tend to drive carefully (so roll isn't a big consideration for me) I also don't care about the look of the wheels or tyres.

What would be the comfiest tyres to fit please?

I have tried all possible settings - 185/50/16, 195/45/16, 185/55/16, currently on 195/50/16, which is the best for me.

185/55/16 give softer ride indeed but then the car sways to the sides on the corners, and not on the steepest ones...

Besides, an added 1 centimetre of width across a tyre 185+1 makes braking distance shorter.
(Yes, yes, I know that because of wider tyres the car uses more petrol. Those people who care about every drop of fuel
should probably abandon cars and use bikes instead).

Most tyres in 195/50/16 are XL tyres though. The first 195/50/16 tyres I had had were Pirelli Cinturato P1 with H load.
They were really soft. I have now Conti EcoContact 6, which are XL. I must admit that they really reduce the usage of fuel
as advertised by Contitech yet with their 72db they are way too noisy against those Pirellis with 68dB.
 
You are going to get your best results in terms of comfort from changing wheels altogether to 15" wheels, as you automatically have an extra ½" of sidewall under you no matter how far you then oversize the tyres from the standard OEM 175/60x15, which is the exact equivalent of the 185/50x16 which you run now.

The standard A2 15" rim is this, a forged lightweight rim originally chromed from new but most will have had surface corrosion and been refurbished:
1613481684538.png

There was also this option 6-spoke style, quite rare in this country but often seen on LHD A2's.
1613481239716.jpeg


'Pepperpots' from the A3 also fit the A2, are also forged and even lighter than the standard style, and are quite sought after:
1613481742270.jpeg


I have a set of Pepperpots with Michelin Cross-Climates on, in 185/65x15 size, which is about 6% above OEM rolling radius. Although they are XL-rated tyres they are like driving on clouds compared to 185/55x16 or 195/50x16 that I have also had on that car. They handle adequately for my needs - I'm not really about hooning it through the twisties, as long as the nose goes where I point it without having to be particularly cautious. The downside is the oversize - while I don't get any rubbing, the +6% is enough to overcome the estimated -3% standard speedo error, and more - speed cameras need to be passed at an indicated 1-2mph less than the speed limit to be absolutely sure of not exciting them.
 
There are also a good selection of alloys of the A1 range that are a direct for to the A2 but the tyres used on the A1 are not a great match to the A2 with some running likely, but particularly the 15” A1 alloys if you can pick them up without tyres are a really good match for the A2 and a nice look img wheel to boot

Paul


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks all for your help. I shall look into getting some 15" wheels and go from there. I still have good tread all round so got a bit od time to find a decent set. Is there such a thing as an Audi wheel swapmeet I wonder?
 
Those that know me are going to groan at this as I am like a stick record on this topic!

I don’t know whether you’re intending to drive many miles and on the same tyres year-round, however I would consider Michelin CrossClimates as they are reinforced and excellent at dealing with potholes without damage.

They’re expensive but then they deal with any type of weather in all four seasons very well and last for a very long time. They don’t fit the standard 16” alloys though, however if comfort is your focus you should consider going down to 15” (either the standard alloys / steels or pepper pots), as that will give you an appreciably softer rider - these tyres come in at the standard 175/60/15 size and this will be the most comfortable.

You've convinced me now, CrossClimate it is on my 15 inch steel wheels.
 
Hi - I finally got round to changing the wheels and tyres.

Got some Mk4 Golf rims from a breaker (3 of which still had barcode stickers on) and some budget 175/65R15 tyres

The ride is much better now
 
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