Soliciting opinions - replacing one winter tire on AWD car (and complaint thread)

[ex-powderbroker]

I had a Hakka 8 shred on my a4 yesterday.

I found an exact wear Hakka 9 (10/32") that I could replace it with. The tread pattern is really close. Audi says a tread difference of 1/8" is fine but you read opinions online and people seem the think mismatched tires this will fuck the various differentials or whatever.

Is this just a bunch of bullshit to get consumers to bend over like not putting in 91 when gas gets to 4 bucks a gallon? Or should I sack up and just put on 4 new snows that match in mid-March like I'm made out of money and I don't have three good tires that should go another two seasons?

Sidenote: These are the last pair of Nokians I put on the car. One of the other four went flat (broke the bead on these shitty Quebecistan roads) and one sidewall shredded. That's a lot of bs on what were brand new tires mounted 12/6/18. Never had problems with previous X-Ice, Blizzaks, Nordfrost, or Winterforce and only run knock offs in the summer.

Fucking tire bs ruining a weekend rabble rabble pitchfork.

#cancelnokian amirite?

[stuckathuntermtn]

I've heard the 2/16" rule for Subarus, so you should be good. If anything, Audis can handle bigger differences, supposedly.
Ask yourself: are snow tires really necessary? Maybe for you they are, idk. I prefer finding a nice all season full of all kinds of sipes and ridges. Works well on dirt too. Having good luck with General right now. Pretty good grip with the more active awd/tcs/vdc/alphabet soup that modern cars use. My local hill's road can get pretty sketchy, especially with all the new transplants who can't fucking handle it.
Also, what is your tire size? If you want to stick to snows, maybe see if you can go down an inch in rim size? More sidewall should = more durable.

[Speedfreak]

He's in QC, so snows are required between 12/1 and 3/15.

IMO if they're the same size and the wear is essentially the same, go for it.

If not just buy two new tires so you have the same wear on the front/back respectively (front tires old, rear tires new, or vice versa). Difference in wear between the front set and back set is irrelevant. No need to buy all 4.

[XXX-er]

The government saving you from your self, i remember when they instituted mandatory snow tires it caused a run on snow tires in Canada cuz Quebec has 25% of the population so there were even shortages in BC

Kal tire my dealer would replace 2 tires & do some magic with the warranty which begs the quesiton

is there any warranty ?

I been running Haks for > 20yars & wouldnt run anything else

[Lostintime]

^^What he said. Go for it! Never had any problems with Winterforce either.

[ill-advised strategy]

Don’t just go on tire size and tread depth...mount, measure diameter, and shave if necessary.

[TCNROMPER]

I ran a one new snow with three snows that had a season of wear on a Subaru for several seasons and never had an issue. I do understand the reasoning behind the suggestion but if same brand/model/wear, I would personally worry very little about it.

[Bushwacka]

ASE trained Mechanic here also an Automotive Engineer........


I would put the matched tread wear tires on and be 110 percent fine with it. You can shave it to be perfect but honesty the diffs will handle a small difference with no perceivable extra wear.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Wait, just driving around in QC requires snow tires by law? That's crazy.

Go fully studded rally tires. If they're gonna do you like that, fuck up the streets.

[Ted Striker]

That's crazy.

Have you been to la belle province? People drive with the passion of Jacques Villeneuve but the skills of Monsieur Bean - and I don't mean the actor that played him.

If it were me, I'd do what yeti said. Or if money is less valuable than your time, buy a pair and run them on the front. They'll be the same circumference soon enough.

[XXX-er]

what yeti ^^ ?

buddy is drivivng an audi and worrying about the price of safety ?

don't scrimp on that other life saving rubber product ... the condom

[ex-powderbroker]

hey, they’re the best in the snow AND paris to dakar 1980!

thanks for the advice all, i am going to track down this unicorn h8 when businesses are open tomorrow and keep this thing moving.

and yah the roads here are shit.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...-worse-results

RABBLE RABBLE

[johnnyg82]

Wait, just driving around in QC requires snow tires by law? That's crazy.

Go fully studded rally tires. If they're gonna do you like that, fuck up the streets.

Yeah, the province is an insurance provider, they’re saving themselves money.

[RShea]

I have never found any winter snow tires (in the States) from any Tire company that has any type of warranty. A number years ago (late 80's) put on 2 snow tires and within a month had slid and hit a little rock wall along a driveway and the snow tire sidewall failed. Even if it had been the tread and not the sidewall - dealer stated that I'd be buying a new tire. Kicker was even though it was just a month or so into the season, could not get the same tire (and was not even a AWD vehicle) and I was purchasing 2 tires again....

If the tread is really close but the measurement is a bit too much, then discuss shaving the tread.

[ill-advised strategy]

what yeti ^^ ?

I said be careful of just going by marked tire size and tread depth, actually mount it up and measure diameters and adjust diameter if necessary.

[El Chupacabra]

Will a shop shave down the tread on a used tire?

[m2711c]

Anybody know anybody that actually fucked up their differential from mismatched tires? For all the talk, you’d think it was a common occurrence.

[XXX-er]

Will a shop shave down the tread on a used tire?

sometimes there would be used ok takeoffs from replacing 2 IME

[XXX-er]

I have never found any winter snow tires (in the States) from any Tire company that has any type of warranty. A number years ago (late 80's) put on 2 snow tires and within a month had slid and hit a little rock wall along a driveway and the snow tire sidewall failed. Even if it had been the tread and not the sidewall - dealer stated that I'd be buying a new tire. Kicker was even though it was just a month or so into the season, could not get the same tire (and was not even a AWD vehicle) and I was purchasing 2 tires again....

If the tread is really close but the measurement is a bit too much, then discuss shaving the tread.

https://www.nokiantires.com/consumer...ited-warranty/

Might not be very much but also might be > a kick in the ass with a cold démarrage ?

[Cocximus]

Geek over it on audizine. From you will die to guys running staggered setups there really is no consensus. General number that floats around from Audi is max 4/32" difference. The fuck it tolerance will be affected if you have a sport rear diff. Careful taking subaru based advice. Most have different mech.

I get my tires at costco. They told me with AWDs you pay for the damaged tire and the other three get pro-rated replacement.

[RShea]

https://www.nokiantires.com/consumer...ited-warranty/

Might not be very much but also might be > a kick in the ass with a cold démarrage ?

Ok, so that would help if it was found to be defect or material and not any road hazard (which most times the side wall damage is considered even on all season tires) "an eligible tire is unserviceable as a result of workmanship or material related conditions, that the warranty period for the tire has not expired (five (5) years from date of purchase or six (6) years from date of manufacture)"

And while Nokian tires have a pretty good reputation, they come at a higher price compared to some other brands.

Tire Rack now is offering a limited 2 year road hazard add on for any tire purchased (original owner only) for free so that could be an option.

[Mustonen]

Audi says a tread difference of 1/8" is fine

I've heard the 2/16" rule for Subarus, so you should be good.

General number that floats around from Audi is max 4/32" difference.

From what I understand, guideline is actually 8/64”. YMMV

[XXX-er]

Ok, so that would help if it was found to be defect or material and not any road hazard (which most times the side wall damage is considered even on all season tires) "an eligible tire is unserviceable as a result of workmanship or material related conditions, that the warranty period for the tire has not expired (five (5) years from date of purchase or six (6) years from date of manufacture)"

And while Nokian tires have a pretty good reputation, they come at a higher price compared to some other brands.

Tire Rack now is offering a limited 2 year road hazard add on for any tire purchased (original owner only) for free so that could be an option.

well the takaway would be talk to your dealer and see what he can do for ya

Duno about quebec but In BC Kal tire is one big exclusive dealer, IME they take care of me

Nokian don't just have a pretty good reputation they actualy have THE best reputation, they come out on top in tire shootouts year after year, so I buy the best

[ex-powderbroker]

my tire saga is over. the h9 tread pattern is pretty much the same, depth is the same, size, same, price was right, and it’s on now.

nokian customer service wasn’t unhelpful, they asked me to check the manufacture date. the h8’s i bought in 12/18 were manufactured in may 14, hence the NOS deal. even though they’re barely used they’re outside of the defect warranty. it was worth checking but not much to complain about there either.

could have been worse. thanks for the opinions and lolz as i live life on the fucking edge with my hakka 3+1.

[Obstruction]

Glad it worked out. For future consideration I’ve bought a bunch of used matching tires (make, model and tread depth) from bestusedtires.com. My kids could shred tires and bust rims with the best of them and I’d be dammed if I was going to lay out for 4 new ones every time that happened.