[A4] Tire Size Debate

[Richard Hurt]

Ok,
  Where did we leave the the tire size debate when replacing tires?  On one
side we had people that said that you absolutely must have the same age
tires on all 4 corners.  If one tire failed for any reason you had to
purchase all 4 to make sure there were no size differences no matter how
small.  In the other camp we had people that said that as long as you had
the same original size replacements you were OK.  A little tire wear was not
going to make the Quattro system work any harder or damage it in any way.

The reason I ask is that I had a tire self destruct today after losing air
pressure due to a nail.  Now I am faced with purchasing two new tires or all
four.  I am in the "a little wear wont hurt" camp but would like to hear
from others on the subject.  Also, what are the current recommendations to
replace a damaged Bridgestone Potenza RE950.  They don't make them anymore
and I didn't really like them in the first place.  I generally like
Bridgestone but the RE950s are really really loud.  :(

I'm currently looking at the Potenza G 009 (recommended by my tire guy),
Dunlop SP Sport A2 Plus, Sumitomo HTR H4, Yokohama AVID V4S, Fuzion HRi, and
the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S.  Tirerack is my dealer of choice, but I'm
willing to look elsewhere.


Thanx!
  Richard