Tires MICHELIN or Pirelli

I am running 235/40 R18 Michelin PSS with Neuspeed RSe 10s 18x8.5 for my summers. I am also lowered on Bilstein coils with no fitment problems.

And actually I never posted it, but I made a new top cover for the radiator. It was the first thing I did to the car. I made it out of aluminum sheet. It's amazing what a difference it made to the running temp of the car.

It is pretty good with snow tires. Sometimes I disable ASR AND ESC so the car under steers less. But it is a huge improvement over my MK VI with snows.

The X-Ices are the best on your list, especially with the discount.

being an Audi Technician I would say Conti Pro or Cross Contacts, or Pirelli P7 due to their even wear and descent grip on crappy weather.

You've had the AS/3's. Frankly, I don't find much 'hard edged' about them. The ride is a bit stiffer than the OEM P Zero A/S tires on my MkVI GTI, but not tremendously. The big payoff is they are MUCH quieter than the Pirellis ever were. And as you likely know, they give up very little in the dry and I have never had a tire of their caliber in the wet. Under most wet driving conditions they drive like the pavement is dry.

I don't have a lot to add about 18s, but my 225 45 17 Michelin Xices are great

I reluctantly put the A/S 3's on my Corrado 2 years ago. My preferred Nitto 555 was NLA in my size. I can honestly say that the all season Michelin is every bit the Z-rated summer only Nitto in 99% of my driving. I will be getting these again for sure. It's a can't lose tire and does live up to it's billing.

I thought the Pirellis were smoother and quieter than the Dunlops (all new cars here), but now that I am reading about how bad they become, maybe I am better off with the Dunlops

From my experience, when the pirellis start to go, they suck quickly. Didn't realize how bad noise / vibration was @ 20k until I got new Hankook v12s.