Audi S3 Tyres

I was reluctant to pay about ?30 more per corner for these tyres compared to the usual suspects Conti's and bridgestones. And due to the S3 quattro chassis I got awesome grip anyhow and was content with the tyres already used.

A friend convinced me to try the Michelin PS2 and since then I won't fit another tyre. Dry grip and cornering is excellent, wet grip and cornering excellent. Dry and wet braking these tyres really do stop the car and eat into the ground when doing so giving you so much confidence and grip.

They are very progressive on the limit and the road feedback is excellent too. I am happy with the wear rates from these as they are Ultra High Performance but with my spirited driving style these are a good buy. they grip from the first mile superbly right down to about 2mm and under 2mm they just go very hard and maybe lose about 10% of the performance but that would be the same with any tire under 2mm coming close to 1.6mm.

These are very good tyres. I fitted 4 to an S3.

I have the extra load (XL) version because of the relative weight of the Audi, and together with such a low profile (40) it helps to keep the side-wall rigid under hard cornering.

The tyres themselves I purchased online for about £75 each and I was chuffed with how they looked (?) I know that's meaningless but they look and feel like a quality product. Matador is owned by Continental and it shows in the quality of construction.

My reasoning for choosing this tyre was that because the car was made in 2002 it wasn't worth spending extra on the very best tyres available today (i.e. conti SC) as it wasn't designed with them in mind. This is a mid to high range tyre and really fits the characteristics of the car, there isn't much more grip to be had, any more and on-road handling would simply become unprogressive and snappy at the limit.

Performance wise I can't fault much, the new tyres replaced well worn Yokohama Parada 2's and Pirelli P Zeros, the Yokohamas gave a little more grip in very hot conditions but were dangerous in the wet. I'm glad I chose this tyre.

I've never experienced anything quite like this!
On this car, you wont find the limit in the dry. Full stop. 100% traction in the wet, progressiveness good, but deteriorates as the tyres wear.
Obviously this is a car with a grippy chassis anyway. However I managed to find the limits quite easily with my previous Pirelli Pzero Rossos.
If you have an S3 (8L chassis) and you want the limits to be set by your guts and not your car, these are the tyres for you.

These tires were about half the price of my previous Yokohama S-Drive but are about twice that good. I am someone who likes to drive fast every once in a while but who doesn't want to give up comfort. The Nexen N8000 are quiet and comfortable and also give you great grip and performance when you need it.
The Yokohamas had good grip but were noisy. Also had Goodyear LS2000 Hybrid which were super quiet and comfortabale but had the worst grip in both dry and wet conditions one can imagine. The N8000 give me everything I've ever wanted from a tire and the price is great, too.

These were my first winter tyres. At the first turn of the wheel the steering felt heavy and I could feel the high rolling resistance. Once the vaseline had worn away the grip on dry roads was very impressive (Felt like 80% as much as my Pilot Sport PS2s). Wet grip even moreso with a slow progressive breakaway when asking too much of them. They coped with unseen deep standing water just fine.
Once it snowed, my temporary 4WD system became redundant because traction was immense, lateral grip excellent and braking feels supernatural! If theres anyone who doubts winter tyres, try braking on snow with these on!
When the snow got REALLY bad out in the sticks I was the only person who could plough through the 18 inches of snow and ice at -15C. In fact, as I had devloped a puncture previously, I had a spacesaver on the rear and progress through the 18 inches of snow was still childsplay.
The biggest downfall of these tyres I found was driving through slush. At motorway speeds the car felt very very skittish through slush and at times I was concerned I might spin. For someone who does several trackdays with 140mph corner speeds it takes a lot to scare me in a car, but this was plenty enough for me to lift off the throttle.
Overall excellent tyre. As the tread appears as new after 5 1/2 months and 8k miles on these, I'm stowing them away for next winter and hopefully the one after that too!

Viva la Black Chilli rubber. Excellent grip in dry as one would expect. Great handling in wet. Slightly shorter braking distance. Helps put the power down on the road and I have 250 lb/ft torque at 2,500 RPM. Truly amazing sense of steering. Better fuel ecomony than the CSC2 version. Much better than the CSC2 and CSC3. Well done Conti. When the Michellin PS3 go on my other car I will replace them with the CSC5. Only 12,000 miles so far and 5mm remaining on front and 4mm on rear.

I had a SWB Shogun with 'sport' tyres that we supposedly good on snow too - the truth was that the oversized tyres were like rubber rings and were simply useless! My S3 was supprisingly much more capable on snow and ice than the Shogun. The problem was stopping! After much searching and reading of reviews I ended up with a set of SP 3D and the difference is simply, astonishing. The moment I pulled out of the garage with my new tyres (3-4inches of snow lying at the time) I instantly noticed the difference. Up hills on deep snow, ice, slush and compacted snow the car sailed up with no spinning whatsoever. Stopping is obviously not the same as on a dry road, but the difference is fantastic. I managed to stop and start on hills my Dad's Nissan Patrol (with all terrains) struggled with. If you are unsure about an making an investment in winter tyres, I wouldn't give it another thought. The safety alone is worth every penny. The look on people's faces when I motor pass then in an arrow straight line is pretty good too! I shall never have a car without winter tyres on during the winter months again!