Winter tire destroyed, is it safe to replace one tire on quattro?
 

Hit a pothole last year in my 16 inch 93 Coupe Quattro wheels, the tire (Graspic DS-1) got ripped on the sidewall but the wheel itself only bent ever so slightly on the very edge of the lip, and looks like it is still good (you can barley even tell). My question is is it safe to replace just the one tire? The old ones only have about 4500 miles on them, all in winter/snow. You can actually still see the colored lines they put on them when they were new.

Other issue is they dont make the DS-1's anymore they only make DS-2's so im thinking I should do two of them? What is the safe wheel height tolerance? I mean they had to build somethign into the quattro to take slight differences no? otherwise low tyre pressure would ruin your center diff...

I would like to do all 4, but im having financial troubles due to my divorce and am trying to do this as cheap as possible... Dont want to roll on BBS low profiles with summer tires in the snow...

thanks guys..

RE: Winter tire destroyed, is it safe to replace one tire on quattro?
 

On a similar note I got a flat today on my quattro, the tires are really pretty new I think. (Just got the car) and probably only have 5000 miles on them. I've heard that you have to replace all four at the same time but I don't know how big of a deal it really is... anybody know?

RE: Winter tire destroyed, is it safe to replace one tire on quattro?
 

If the tire size/overall height of the DS-1 and DS-2 are the same, you should be fine with just one new tire, provided the tread depth on the older tires are good, and the tread pattern is at least similar. You just generally wouldn't want to mix tires of different (of course size), speed ratings, traction/temperature ratings, or tread designs ona quattro. 5000k miles shouldbe minimal tread wear and replacingjust one tire should notbe aproblem at all.

RE: Winter tire destroyed, is it safe to replace one tire on quattro?
 

Thanks Bogie.

I was searching around a bit more and found this from Boston Driver:
So 0.125" of an inch is a HUGE difference in tread wear I'm going to go get a new tire and check the difference. HTH sirfalconx

RE: Winter tire destroyed, is it safe to replace one tire on quattro?
 

I just thought I would add this...

For the tire differences...
I had goodyear tires that started wearing on one side (right) only at the front.
Since they are directional tires, I did alignment and rotated the tires front to back (keeping same side).
Then the front right tire wore out the same way again.
So I finally found the problem with my lower control arm fix it and did alignment.
The tires has about 5k miles on them and I didn't want to spend the time or money to remount them.
So... I switched FR wheel with RL wheel. so, 2 of the wheels are reverse thread direction.
I did that because I live in SoCal and rain is not a problem.

Then it was raining very heavy on the way from LA to SD... I did 80 mph all the way and my car was very stable regardless of the reversed thread.

btw.. there is no problem with the differentials or the quattro until today. I have changed my rims and tires to a new set.

that said... one new tire on quattro should not be a problem especially with that kind of low milage for your car.

RE: Winter tire destroyed, is it safe to replace one tire on quattro?
 

I am having the same problem as well. The streering felt shimmy at low speed and not noticable >60mph. But found out that onl y FR tire is worn out and have a bubble in it. I am still not sure if it is good idea to just replace one tire since all 4 tires has about 20,000 miles. Do you think it is better to change all at this point?

RE: Winter tire destroyed, is it safe to replace one tire on quattro?
 

At 20k miles... I would just go for new tires as a set.
My V rated tires lasted only 20k miles for me.
I changed them at 25k and they were legally bald (yes there is 2 kind of tire bald. there is a legal limit to thread dept and then there is having no thread.)

Another option is to get a used tire but you might have some problem when wet due to having different thread pattern.
If you drive like I do, it is probably not worth it.

I would use the tires abit more and change them as soon as a good deal come by.
Not sure about SF but here in San Diego, Goodyear shop had Dunlop tires for about $80 each (205/55R16).
I consider that to be good deal.

to sum it up... it is possible to change just one tire. quattro should not give you any problem at all.
But at 20k miles your tires are just about dead (at least over half their life) so if you just change one tire, what are you going to do with that tire when the other 3 go bald?

RE: Winter tire destroyed, is it safe to replace one tire on quattro?
 

That's why I like the road hazard warranty, given by WalMart and Costco.