Replacing only 2 tires? 90q

[Livolsi, Stephane]

I've pondered this before and came to the conclusion that it really
doesn't matter with a quattro because they are all open diffs....  The
only time your diff is not compensating for different tire
speed/diameter is when you are going in a perfectly straight line.
Around here, I would guess that my diffs are compensating more often
than they aren't, so if I had different sized tires the diff would just
compensate more...

Of course if you lock the diffs, this all goes out the window as no
amount of 'same tires' will compensate for different turning radii and
you WILL wear out your tires fast.  But who locks their diffs on the
bare streets in day to day driving?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: quattro-bounces at audifans.com 
> [mailto:quattro-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Ed Kellock
> Sent: July 8, 2004 2:26 PM
> To: quattro at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: Replacing only 2 tires? 90q
> 
> 
> My gut feeling...
> 
> If there's a reason that two tires _must_ be replaced right 
> now and that _only_ two tires _can_ be replaced right now, I 
> wouldn't like it, but I'm not sure it would be the end of the 
> world.  Plus, if the other two could be replaced in the near 
> future, that would minimize the potential downside.  If it is 
> possible to replace all 4 right now and the concern is that 
> two current tires still have some life left in them, then 
> they could be saved for use later.
> 
> I'm sure over the years many quattros have had only 2 tires 
> replaced at a time, even some of a different brand of tire 
> with a different actual diameter due to production 
> differences, by owners and tire dealers who are less informed 
> or less concerned about the possible resulting effects.  
> Personally I've never heard of any blown center diffs, with 
> the exception of unfortunate towing events.
> 
> Am I completely astray here?
> 
> Ed
> 
> On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 23:03:52 +0200, Ado Sigal 
> <a.sigal at bluewin.ch> wrote:
> > David Thoresen wrote:
> > 
> > > I went to Discount tire today to get new front tires.  
> They measured 
> > > the back tire tread and said I needed all 4 since I had a 
> Quattro. 
> > > (Back tires are 5/32 & 6/32 tread left on Yokohama ES100 
> 205/40R17)
> > >
> > > Can I get away with new fronts and leave the back tires as is?
> > >
> > >
> > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> > > d a v i d   t h o r e s e n
> > > 2 0 6  .  8 5 1  .  4 8 5 8
> > >
> > > http://www.epicfoto.com
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > quattro at audifans.com 
> > > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/quattro
> > >
> > You can, but the central diff is going to have do the compensating 
> > work for the difference in tyre radius.
> > 
> > Ado
> > 
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> 
> 
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