Best tires for the Audi A4
Top picks across four categories for the Audi A4, anchored to the current-generation OEM size 245/35R19. Every recommendation is selected from our 22,000-tire catalog by ranking on UTQG treadwear, mileage warranty, cabin-noise rating, and season class; no commission-weighted reordering.
Daily driver
Best all-season touring
Long warranty, low noise, balanced ride. The one-tire compromise that works for 80% of owners.
Goodyear
Eagle exhilarate
UTQG 500 with a 45,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Audi A4 owners.
Bridgestone
Potenza RE 71RS
Touring-tuned all-season compound; balanced ride, grip, and tread life for everyday driving.
Bridgestone
Potenza RE 71RS 245/35R19
Touring-tuned all-season compound; balanced ride, grip, and tread life for everyday driving.
Bridgestone
Potenza RE050A 245/35R19
Touring-tuned all-season compound; balanced ride, grip, and tread life for everyday driving.
Lowest cost per mile
Best budget
Best price-per-warranty-mile in this size. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options, not safety.
Goodyear
Eagle exhilarate
500 UTQG with a 45,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Kumho
Ecsta PA51
Lowest sticker price in this size that still meets the OEM load index. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options.
Toyo
Proxes sport A/S
Lowest sticker price in this size that still meets the OEM load index. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options.
Goodyear
Eagle F1 asymmetric 6
320 UTQG with a 30,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Lowest cabin noise
Best quiet
Tread patterns engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning. Pick this if you commute long highway distances daily.
Goodyear
Eagle exhilarate
70 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Goodyear
Eagle F1 asymmetric 6
71 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; well below the segment median. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Michelin
Pilot sport 4S
71 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; well below the segment median. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Bridgestone
Potenza sport
72 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; well below the segment median. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Side-by-side
Pick the trade-off that matches your driving
| All-season Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate |
|
|---|---|
| UTQG treadwear | 500 |
| Mileage warranty | 45,000 mi |
| Cabin noise | 70 dB |
| Season class | all-season |
| Type | performance |
OEM tire sizes by year
What size does the audi a4 use?
Recommendations on this page are anchored to the latest model-year's OEM size. Confirm yours against the driver-door placard before purchase.
| Year | OEM size | |
|---|---|---|
| 1994–1996 | 195/65R15 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 1997 | 205/55R16 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 1998–2000 | 195/65R15 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2001 | 205/65R15 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2002–2003 | 235/45R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2004 | 235/40R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2005 | 235/45R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2006–2007 | 235/40R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2008 | 225/50R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2009 | 235/40R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2010–2012 | 255/35R19 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2013–2015 | 245/40R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2016 | 225/50R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2017–2020 | 245/45R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2021–2025 | 245/40R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
How we ranked these tires for the audi a4
We started with the latest model-year's OEM tire size; 245/35R19; and filtered our catalog of 22,000+ tires to those offered in that exact size. From there, four parallel rankings:
- Best all-season ranks on a weighted score: tire type matches passenger car segment, season is "all-season", premium brand bonus (Michelin / Continental / Bridgestone / Pirelli / Goodyear / Nokian).
- Best budget ranks on cost-per-warranty-mile; the lower the better. Premium brands get no bonus here.
- Best quiet ranks on the EU tire-label dB rating; lower is quieter.
- Best winter filters to tires marked 3PMSF severe-snow rated or all-weather class, with a small premium-brand bonus because winter-compound R&D is capital-intensive.
For sedans and compacts, the all-season touring tire below is the best default; long warranty, low cabin noise, reasonable cost per mile. Switch to the quiet pick if highway droning is a deal-breaker; switch to the winter pick if you see significant snow each year. Use the side-by-side comparison above to weigh the trade-offs against your specific driving; highway-heavy, winter-state, performance-oriented, or budget-constrained.
NHTSA-reported issues for audi a4
Top issue category: Tires (General)
Most reported: Tires (General) (46) · Sidewall (11) · Tread / Belt (9) · TPMS (1)
Reported across: 1996 – 2024 (17 years)
What owners described
Bubble or bulge in the tire appears in 30% of these reports; about 5.1× as often as across all tire complaints. Percentages are shares of the 57 reports covering every model year of the Audi A4 that include a written account; a single report can describe more than one problem, so they do not total 100%.
| Reported problem | This subject | All tire complaints | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bubble or bulge in the tire | 30% | 6% | 5.1× |
| Sidewall failure | 23% | 15% | 1.5× |
| Blowout or sudden deflation | 19% | 20% | 1.0× |
| Tread or belt separation | 11% | 13% | 0.8× |
| Cracking or dry rot | 7% | 9% | 0.8× |
| Loss of control, rollover or collision | 7% | 8% | 0.8× |
Mileage at failure
39 of these reports state an odometer reading. The middle report is at 18,300 miles, with 8 in 10 falling between 3,000 and 41,239 miles.
In owners' own words
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about Audi A4. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.
ALL FOUR TPMS SENSORS NEED REPLACING ALONG WITH NEW TIRES. RIGHT SIDE MOTOR MOUNT IS LEAKING FLUID, AND WIPERS STREAK. 80,616 MILEAGE. IN 2012 I BOUGHT NEW TIRES, WIPERS AND REGULAR OIL CHANGES. I'M DISAPPOINTED THAT NOW I'M FACED WITH A LEAKING MOTOR MOUNT. I TAKE VERY GOOD CARE OF MY CAR, I SHOULDN'T HAVE THESE MAJOR REPAIR ISSUES. [XXX] 'S.C. 552(B)(6).
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 AUDI A4 EQUIPPED WITH BRIDGESTONE POTENZA TIRES, SIZE: 225/45R17. WHILE PARKED, IT WAS NOTICED THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TIRE HAD TREAD SEPARATION. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THE TIRE WAS REPLACED. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE TIRE WAS REPLACED PREVIOUSLY FOR THE SAME FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE TIRE AND VEHICLE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE DOT NUMBER AND VIN WERE NOT AVAILABLE.
AT 31700 MILES I NOTICED A BULGE IN THE SIDEWALL OF THE LEFT FRONT TIRE. I REPLACED BOTH FRONT TIRES WITH THE IDENTICAL BRAND. AT 41239 MILES, I AGAIN NOTICED A LARGE BULGE IN THE LEFT FRONT TIRE IN THE SIDEWALL. I AGAIN WILL HAVE THE TIRES REPLACED BEFORE I HAVE A BLOW-OUT. I HAVE READ OTHER REVIEWS ON THIS TIRE AND IT SEEMS MANY OTHERS HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM. IT COULD BE QUITE HAZARDOUS IF I DIDN'T CATCH THE PROBLEM BEFORE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. *AK (TIRESIZE: P205 55 16)
CONCERN WITH PIRELLI TIRE MODEL P235/45R17-PIRELLI P6.- I HAVE A TOTAL OF 28,000 MILES ON AN AUDI A4. I HAVE HAD TWO BLOWOUTS AND THREE TIRES THAT HAVE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. SPECIFICALLY, THE SIDEWALLS OF THE TIRES BUBBLE OUT IN WEAK SPOTS. LAST WEEK MY WIFE WAS DRIVING MY CAR AND GOT A FLAT ON THE SIDEWALL, AND I NOTICED WHEN FIXING HER TIRE THAT NOW ANOTHER ONE OF THE TIRES HAS A BUBBLE. I WILL ONCE AGAIN HAVE TO REPLACE TWO TIRES. I BELIEVE THIS IS A DANGEROUS PROBLEM THAT COULD RESULT IN LOSS OF CONTROL OF A VEHICLE.*AK I AM NOT A HIGH PERFORMANCE DRIVER. I DRIVE FOR WORK AND FAMILY RELATED MATTERS ONLY SO THIS PROBLEM IS NOT RELATED TO EXCESSIVE DRIVING SPEEDS OR HARSH HANDLING. I AM FOLLOWING THIS COMPLAINT WITH A COMPLAINT DIRECTLY TO PIRELLI AND TO AUDI OF AMERICA. IF DESIRED I CAN FORWARD A DIGITAL PHOTO OF THE TYPICAL BUBBLE. BRUCE HENDEE
Complaints are voluntarily submitted to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation and are not verified by NHTSA; they represent owner-reported problems, not proven defects. Counts can be useful as a relative quality signal across comparable tires or vehicles.
Tire recalls & safety complaints for the Audi A4 →
FAQ
What's the best all-season tire for the Audi A4?
Should I get a cheaper tire for my Audi A4?
Does the Audi A4 need winter tires?
Can I run a different tire size on my Audi A4?
Where can I buy these tires?
Last verified 2026-10-07.