my front two tires are **** and are going to die a the next few days and i a was just trying to get some general information before purchasing a new set. right now i have a set of four BFGoodrich traction T/A and the rear's are still good, do i have to keep all the tires the same with an all wheel drive vehicle or no? also, which tires should wear more, the front, rear, even? should i get two new traction T/A's, falkin azenis 615's, or save some money and get neogen's. I dont really like the neogen but my brother has them on his M3 and he along with other people say they are great

 

Rule of thumb on AWD vehicles is replacement of all 4 tires at same time, especially on performance AWD cars like the S4. You want to have matching tread pattern and tread wear. Different grip on the tires could ruin your diffs or another component in your drive line.

After you get new treads, as long as there is less than 10% to 15% tread use, you could get away with replacing just two tires (both fronts or both rears) if you puncture one beyond repair. Some tireshops offer additional insurance for remaining three tires if you puncture one beyond repair, as the road hazard warranty only applies to the bad tire and not a full set replacement. I think that it's important to explore that option if you drive a lot on poorly maintained roads where you might puncture a tire.

Also, if your tires are wearing faster up front, it's because they are not being rotated enough. Most likely you have directional tires, so you can only rotate front to rear on the same side. If you rotate your tires every two oil changes, you'll get more even tread wear and better life out of them.

If you can't afford to replace all 4 tires right now, you can rotate them, this should give you a few months to save and research what rubbers you want to go with.

The tires I choose for my ride are the Bridgestone Potenza RE960as, which are highly rated all season tires. I live up in the Pacific North West, so we get a good amount of rain, and some snow; plus I go up to one of our local volcanos in the winter for snowboarding, these reasons are why I choose them. And I think that they are awesome in the snow and rain, and still have incredible handling in the dry.

Cheers,
B

 

Oh yeah, your front tires will wear faster because your brakes are biased towards the front.

Unless you've upgraded your center diff, you'll have a 50/50 split of power front to rear, so under power, you should have even wear.

 

ok thanks alot. i havent owned the car very long and the front two tires have been worn down really bad. i think the previous owner must have been buying two at a time because the rear tires look alost new. i think i will go ahead and get the two traction T/A's and put them in the front so all four tires after being rotated correctly will eventually wear down so i can get on my own schedule of replacing four at a time.