^^^^
Totally agree. You definitely want to buy a dedicated set of winter tires and wheels for your car. I have always done that for all my autos.
I ordered mine from Tirerack and picked them up locally as they have a warehouse her in CT so it saved me shipping costs. I paid around $850 for my set.
The cost will really depend on what type/size wheels you go with. I went with 17"x 8" wheels. I figure it's winter so not going to spend a lot.
These are the wheels I bought:
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Wheel...Silver+Painted

And I bought the Blizzak WS60 tires as I have always had good luck with them.

http://www.tirebuyer.com/tirebuyerwi...Blizzak%20WS60

 

its just too cold to wash the wife's 4G

 

From my experience in New England, I have to say that I'm not impressed with the SH-AWD in the snow with the factory Michelins.
I strongly recommend dedicated snow tires. I really don't think that this has anything to do with the AWD, I just don't believe that any all-season tire can perform well in the snow. I friend of mine with a Lexus AWD SUV says the same thing.

 

AWD will only get power to 4 tires. The rest is up to the tires.

Tires are like shoes. They all have a specific purpose. You would not run in work shoes or play basketball in running shoes etc.

 

X2 --- the exact reason I'm running Alpine PA3's on my OEM 18's

 

The OEM tires completely blow in the snow. I got dedicated winters on my 18's and they rock. The OEM is unlikely to put anything other than the bare minimum on your car.

 

I put Michelin X-Ice 2's on the 18" oem rims. With our recent snow, this thing is like a Billy goat in the snow! Very hard to get it to slide/spin, but yes I know still cant stop any faster!

 

I live in AL where winter tires are sort of overkill, but this week we had ice, shiny, glazed ice in my neighborhood. I was able to climb the mountain I live on without too much drama, but stopping was another story. I don't know if snow tires would have helped, but as soon as I touched the brakes I was sideways, then backwards, then in my neighbors yard. When I stepped out onto the street, I started sliding so I had to grab the car door and hang on. There was about 1/4 inch of pure glazed ice over the street. Four of my neighbors slid just like me, and we were all in each others yards. Fortunately no injuries or damage to anyones vehicles. One neighbor had some sand which we put on the top of the hill so nobody else would suffer our fate. By the next am it was 55 degrees and all gone. Nonetheless, I was impressed with the tl's ability to climb the 2 miles of icy roads to my house, where many other 4wd SUVs and cars could not and were off the road ( one upside down).

 

I have the optional 19 inch ultra high performance summer tires on my AWD TL. They stick like glue on warm dry roads, but not so great on snow and ice. With AWD and traction control, the TL still worked better than many cars but I'm sure winter tires would totally transform this car.

I live on a private road that has a 17 percent grade (ie very steep). I had no problem driving up the hill other than occasional dash indication that traction control was engaged. Driving down was another matter. After creeping down the steepest part of the hill and around the downhill corner, I got cocky and allowed a little speed to build up. Bad move! The tires locked and I slid the last 50 yards into the main road. I'm fairly certain that a winter tire with it's much greater grip, would have prevented this potentially disasterous skid.

 

Summer tires on snow=fail. You'll notice a huge difference with all-seasons or snows.

 

Looks like we're both up in the NW, dealing with this atrocious winter. Be prepared for more snow in January.

A friend of mine had an A4 Quattro w/summer tires; during the east coast winters it was atrocious and he had major problems with slipping and sliding. He upgraded to decent all seasons, and all was well afterwards.

I had my summer HPTs changed to HP all seasons, and I highly recommend it (or a 2nd set of winter tires).