Tire Rack Consumer Reviews

Initial Review, 750 Miles on Tires
October 23, 2012

The new 2012 A6 is an amazing car. The Pirelli P Zero summer tires that came with it though were weak performers and gave poor wear (220) … after 19K it was time for new rubber. My first choice was the Michelin Pilot Super Sport. I read so much abt their performance and was anxious to try them myself having had PS2s on a previous 5 Series and liked them.

However, the folks at Audi have engineered this car to be so amazingly smooth that when I mounted the PSS with its stiffer sidewalls all the subtle vibrations were transmitted everywhere in the car—gas pedal, brake pedal, shifter, wheel and so on. It wasn’t dramatic but it was very noticeable….and annoying. And the drone from these tires was surprisingly bad even after a break-in. At 60mph the drone was unbearable compared to the quiet Pirellis. I quickly exchanged the PSS for Conti Extreme Contact DW. Big difference in noise and smoothness. Highway cruising is enjoyable again and no drone. All the vibrations went away, too. Yes, the sidewall isn’t quite as stiff as PSS and hence not quite the handler but the DWs are definitely a better handler than the P Zeros and will last longer (340) and are much cheaper. For the A6, I think the DW is the ideal summer tire for this car if choosing between the P Zero, PSS and Contis.