[A4] Tire Size Debate

[Stephen Kormilo]

Richard,

I would tend to be on the 'exact match is not as critical as some might 
think' side & go with a pair, if the others still have lots of miles 
left on them.

Late last year, I got a flat on the original, nearly worn Pirelli P6's 
(~80,000 km) on my 2002 A4 and replaced the flat with the 'virgin' 
spare. There doesn't seem to have been any problem with doing that for a 
while, although I changed to my winter tires when the snowstorms 'hit' 
in November.

Rather than trying to 'nurse' the Pirellis through another summer, I am 
trying to decide what to buy to replace them. Right now I am leaning 
towards the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position 215/55ZR16. Mostly 
because of the good ratings they get on the Tirerack site.

The Potenza G009s are another possibility, but my local tire store said 
they would be noisier than the RE960's. OTOH, the G009s are a little 
cheaper than the RE960's (~$Cdn25 / tire).

I too would like some input to help me decide on a set of new tires, 
since winter tire season is effectively over, at least where I am 
located ;-)

Any other ideas? Summer tires only, good performance in the Spring/Fall 
wet is very desirable.

TIA

Stephen Kormilo
Nanoose Bay, BC

2002 Audi A4 3.0 - Silver
Departed:
1998.5 Audi A4 2.8 - Silver
1985 Mazda Rx7 GSL-SE - Black

email: stephen at kormilo.ca

Richard Hurt wrote:
> 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
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