I want them off my car NOW... one of them is flying apart (the same one that I've had rebalanced about a dozen times). They simply suck.

I do a lot of city driving, I'm running 225/45-17's on my A4. I found the HTR's to be weak sidewalls (soft in cornering), and basically haven't liked them from day one.

Looking to replace them...

I live in Sacramento, I drive up to tahoe a couple 3 times a year in the snow... (Light Snow) So I guess I'm best off with a M+S rated tire... (or am I?).

I saw the RE050's on clearance... but that's a summer tire =-( (But damn, Tire Rack's price is sooooo tempting! (For one of the top tires on the market) So here's a few I'm looking at.

Fuzion HRi... I have a set on my wife's Vibe... and I like them, but her vibe is a completely different car than the Audi. The Price rocks, and It's a Bridgestone Tire with UNI-T...

I've had some tire guys pushing Kumho ASX's... which I hear good things, but then I heard good things about the Sumitomo's (which have since gone way down on Tire Rack's reviews)... What's your take (gary?) on them? While I'm on this, I guess I could throw in the Avon M550's.

P-Zero-Zero M+S... I've never heard bad things about them.

Potenza G009's... Only drawback is the price on these... are they much better than the Fuzion's (at half the price)?

 

<a href="http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AR4&url=%2Ftires%2Ftires.jsp%3FtireMake%3D Avon%26tireModel%3DTech%2BM550%2BA%252FS">http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Avon&amp;tireModel=Tech+M550+A% 2FS</a>

 

If you thought the HTR+ had soft sidewalls, stay away from H rated tires like the G009 and Hri. I like both the Avon M550A/S and Pirelli Nero M+S in the UHP all season category. The ASX is good for the price but IMO is a step down in wet and snow traction from the other two I mentioned. Avoid the use summer-only tires in the snow no matter how good of a deal they are. <ul><li><a href="http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AR8&amp;url=/tires/index.jsp">Tires</a></li></ul>

 

Here's my issue... The two Sumi's on the front are about 9/32nds... they were replaced when I had a unrepairable tire... the rears are 6/32nds, and one is a tad under 4/32nds (yes, I know... I've exceeded the 4/32nds... which is why the car is parked) The 4/32nds is the tire I've had a ton of problems getting to balance from day one. (I nursed it with lifetime balances that Tire Rack paid for =-) But it seems that tire is defective... (but nobody will flat out say it... most tire shops around here (they all suck, tire shops in this town can have a week wait... for tire installs!) none are willing to spend time to check out the tire fully... even after placing/paying for it to be done on a Hunter Road Force) the weird part is that it's been rotated every 5K... yet it's got less miles than the other rear (about 15K) (the fronts were replaced about 5K ago... I had a nail nuke one... at the time I was only 3/32nds difference). That tire got pulled off as a "spare", car drove a lot better (no vibration at 65+ MPH)... then a month later... nail took out another tire and that one went back on... and the problems came back. (which is why I'm sure it's that one tire).

I have noticed the sidewalls seem soft... but I also had a stock front anti-roll bar... which I've recently replaced with a factory Sport... but the rear tire is scaring me enough that I've not really pushed it since installing the sport bar. Maybe that'll change my mind.

Ugh... Long, Long, Long story... sorry about that.


So... Do you think I'd be much happier with 4 new Avon's, or should I just pick up two Sumi's from the Rack and replace more worn tires. (if I remember Sumis are 10 or 11/32nds new. Sorta sucks to buy 4 tires since the front tires are fairly new.

 

We've had good experience with the quality on the Avons thus far, although I have to admit that I don't directly work with warranty issues often. The tire rack has an entire dept dedicated to that since it can be very specialized work.

 

Reading the reviews I couldn't see where spending $500 on a set of new tires was going to gain me that much when $170.00 for the pair gets me back on the road... and then I'll see if the new sport sway bar makes the difference... I'm thinking it might.

I figure if they suck still, I'll have a nearly-new set I can pawn off to someone for about the price I poured in the pair (as my other two have less than 5K on them), and then pick up the Avon's. What the hell. =-)