I replaced the very noisy Pirellis a while back with Kumho Ecsta Sports: it was like a new car!
Of course the Pirellis were worn all-season tires, while the Kumhos are high-performance summer tires. Much better in all departments: better ride, no hum under 50mph, better turning.

 

I took my Pirellis off after six months because they were so loud, obnoxiously so. I put new ContiExtremeContacts on. They are great summer tires, relatively quiet and great handling.

 

Hi all. I'm tired gleaming through all the different reviews and comments from the various tires websites. I've got it narrowed down to two. The Continental Conti Extreme Contact and the Yokohama's AVID W4S. Please chime in with any comments good or bad - I'm in Maryland so I don't need extreme cold weather tires. But, thoes Pirelli P6's are gone by next weekend.

 

B.F. Goodrich g-force super sport A/S's, they are 94W, which means they will have a stiffer sidewall. I currently have the BS RE960's which is a great tire, 34k so far, probably will make 40k. The BF's are about $40 less per tire

Seeing I live in the desert and only really have two seasons, I going to give summer tires a try for the first time. I am looking at getting Sumitomo HTR Z III's. The Sumitomo's are also 94W, so the side-wall flex should be less.

 

I got 36000 on the ContiProContacts that came on my new 06 A3. They got so damn loud that I finally had them replaced with some Bridgstone 960s. I am at 31000 on those now and will need them replaced by years end. They are not loud, but starting to shake a little. Got em for around $500.

Cheers

 

Howdee y'all;
I had the Continental ContiExtremeContacts' put on back on Friday. Driving home was totally an eye-opener. It was so quiet. As for the handling and all - I'll let y'all know what I think. In fact I'll be heading down to Virginia for business this week and will get a chance to see how they do on extended highway driving.
Those P6's did really suck. I only managed to get 22K out of them. The center was completely worn and that was with the pressure down by about 2lbs. I tried compensating for the extra wear I was getting in the middle. I talked to the mechanic (I've been going to this shop for years) - the allignment was fine and the wear was fine on all other parts of the P6's. I just chewed up that center line really well. Has anyone else noticed this same issue with their stock P6's?

 

I started to creat a page to comment on tires, but then I found that Tire Rack can pull all the comments for all tires for a particular car. Here is the link for Audi A3 http://tinyurl.com/47ovx7

Most reviews are for the universally disliked Pirelli P6 (guess folks like complaining) but there is some good ones as well. My suggestion would be to pay more attention to those who have at least 5,000 miles on them.

 

so... I've recently replaced the front two tires on my A3 3.2q with the stock pirelli P6 allseasons... WORST TIRES! (flats at different times)
At 20k its time to replace the rears as they wont hold air pressure for the life of them. I DO NOT want to buy anymore pirelli P6's (they aren't cheap for such a crappy tire), so I want to go with the Bridgestone RE960's allseasons (same size 245/45/17) in the rear.

Anyone foresee big issues with this? I don't feel like getting 4 new tires when I just shelled out for two new Pirelli's.... and I'm certainly not buying anymore Pirelli's!

Also, maybe since I'm trying different tire combinations I should just try the Falkens since they are so cheap and see what happens?

 

Hey Guys I went with Michelin Pilot Exalto's all the way around and I couldn't be happier. They are directional. My car is as quiet inside now as my dad's A8L. Traction is absolutely amazing, the wheels feel like they are glued to the road. Total price installed, balanced, and disposal fee was $810.00 The Continental's looked good, but I have had such good experience with Michelin in the past.

On another note, I tried to get Audi to perform an alignment for me for free. They said no way, that free alignments are gone after 12k. So if you are below 12k, go to your dealer and have them perform an alignment. Otherwise it is $300. I know the Pirelli's suck, but I am not convinced they were the only problem, I think my care was out of alignment from the factory.

 

My A3 came with Continental ContiSportContact 2s. At 19K miles I replaced them with Continental ContiSportContact 3s, which were better. Then I read the Tirerack review, which states that Sumitomo HTR Z III is even better (albeit slightly) than the Continental ContiSportContact 3, at less than 2/3 the price. In another month or so when I need new tires I will buy the Sumitomo HTR Z III.

If neither of these tires are grippy enough, you can get the Falken Azenis RT-615, which, according to many reviewers, offer near R compound grip. But this tire will wear out much sooner. I would buy these if I didn't have such a long commute.