SirAudi

Hello all. Bought my 2005 A6 a year ago with 50K miles on it. The spare tire is a brand new, never been used Continental Contipro Contact 245 40 18. It is mounted on a brand new matching premium wheel, so I put it on and have been running it around town for awhile. Going on a road trip next month and would appreciate any comments on trusting this tire. It looks like a brand new tire other than the DOT 4504 age. Continental website says their tires are good for 10 years. Thank you for any info you may have.

mej16489

The possible bigger issue is the diameter of the tire (and weight) in relation to the other tires.

If your A6 is a Quattro, you need all 4 tires to match. If its 2WD, fronts should match and rears should match.

SirAudi

Thank you for the response. Both the Continental (1) and the Michelin (4) tires are 245 40 18's on my A6 Quattro. The Continental has a slightly higher tread wear rating and weight rating, so it may be slightly heavier? Both are premium tires and are identical in size. I slightly snagged a sidewall on piece of rebar from a parking block on one of the Michelin's. Would like to run the brand new (2004) Continental about 2 years, then replace all 4 at once. Any info will help, Thanks.

mej16489

They aren't identical in size (regardless of the size markings on the tire) unless they have been driven the same amount of miles.

If your car is a Quattro (all wheel drive) you need to replace all 4 tires soon. Alternatively contact Tirerack.com (or any reputable tire dealer) and purchase the same make/model/size as the damaged Michelin and have it 'shaved' to match the tread depth to match the remaining 3.

If your car is only 2 wheel drive, you could purchase a new Continental tire of the same make/model/size and have it installed on the opposite side of the existing Continental.

Check your owner's manual and/or contact your local Audi dealer. They will tell yo what the tread depth mismatch allowance is (its generally something like 3/16ths of an inch) for matching make/model/size tires.

Be wary of anyone who tells you 'it doesn't matter'

SirAudi

Thank you

Reggie

Excellent advice

Doc@tirerack

10 years is the figure nearly all tire manufacturers use as a reference. The tire you have has been replaced by a newer model without the XL rating, so we would not have an exact match anyway. The (current) Audi OE tire sells for $ 215 each due to very small production runs, and for under $ 167 per tire you can get a much better tire in the Conti Pure Contact with the preferred XL rating (naturally getting a full set of 4).


Of course, there are several other options in your size !

SirAudi

Thank you again for your responses. Learned some things I didn't know. A reputable tire shop repaired my sidewall (wasn't too bad ) and it is back on the car with the new Continental in the trunk. Not worth risking tranny wear or damage with an unmatched set of tires.