Unrepairable flat tire on Subaru. What would you do?

[Don Vito Corleone]

Shaving tires to avoid AWD trouble? Puhleez! You folks advocating 4 new tires also think not torquing your lug nuts will make your engine fall out. This isn't a Baja car with a world championship and thousands of prize money on the line, it's a daily driver.

It's not a matter of maximizing performance, it's a matter of not damaging the differentials. Driving with one new tire and three significantly worn ones will harm the car. In an ideal world the car wouldn't be so sensitive to this, but that's one of the costs of AWD.

 

[nwf_snake]

Just buy a good used tire off of ebay with the same tread depth you currently have on the three remaining tires. I have done it twice now with good results when I have flats that were non-repairable (one sidewall puncture and one blowout).

 

[Anubis]

In March, I had a 4 new tires put on my WRX at a local tire shop. 1 day later and 35 miles gone by, the driverside of the front transfer case was physically broken wide open. It took about a month of starring at the car in the driveway to realize that there was 3 205 55 16's and one 215 55 16 on the car. To make a long story short, I ended up with a big fat check from the tire shops insurance company.

I would say that the risk is not worth it.

I ended up selling the car about 3 weeks ago to a buddy.

thats a bit different then a slightly different tread depth

 

[exar333]

Not to mention poorer fuel economy with AWD. I love the way my FWD car handles the snow with TC and Stability Control. And I get 36mpg hwy. Not in the snow though hehe.

Not sure if everyone else drives in snow that is different than what we get around here, but stability control and TC mean sh!t in the snow. All TC does is stop spinning your tires when they slip, that doesnt help at all. Don't gun the engine and you are fine. If someone sits and revs their engine and spins their tires, they are stupid. 🙂

I turn off TC EVERY time I drive in the snow around town, unless I am cruising on the interstate or highway. It helps let you know if you are losing traction on a road when traveling, but otherwise is worthless.

Good driver >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> electronic 'nannies'

Just to be clear, I do know know why people even buy cars that do no allow you to disable TC/SC (*cough, cough VW*). To me, those features are more dangerous than not having them at all.

 

[HAL9000]

I don't want this to degenerate into an English language thread... but thanks. I'll make a mental note.

No problem 🙂

 

[hanoverphist]

I'd call it irreparable

while they both mean about the same thing, his reference to an object not being repairable was correct. really, they are pretty synonymous.


i used to put mismatched tires on my 4wd all the time. but id never drive it on concrete or asphalt like that. if you dont have the cash for 4 new, just get the one shaved.

 

[Bignate603]

Shaving tires to avoid AWD trouble? Puhleez! You folks advocating 4 new tires also think not torquing your lug nuts will make your engine fall out. This isn't a Baja car with a world championship and thousands of prize money on the line, it's a daily driver.

Might want to read this...

 

[JulesMaximus]

I'd call it irreparable

You're doing irreparable harm to the people by posting here. 😛

 

[exdeath]

Sure, you can "get by" in winter with FWD/RWD..but AWD is way more fun.

No wheelspin pulling out of that, either. And I can pull a 1.8 second 60' on street tires without hammering the car too badly. But for most people, I guess they don't really care that much.

/hate

 

[yottabit]

I'd try to find a matching used tire on craigslist or your local junkyards before you buy a new set

I've done this before on my jeep, there are junkyards around where I live that love to keep stock of used tires when they junk vehicles. If you call them up you can ask them if they have that particular tire + size

 

[AdamK47]

Burnouts to take them to 0/32.

 

[ShawnD1]

Sure, you can "get by" in winter with FWD/RWD..but AWD is way more fun.

Shens. Shoveling a car out of snow is the best part of owning a car and nobody can convince me otherwise.

Your picture is what residential streets here look like after it snows for 1 day. Traffic jams every single winter morning. Car stuck in the middle of the intersection because he can't get through the snow that fell last night. 3 guys are pushing and the damn thing still won't move. Cars with fake AWD are always funny to watch because 1 front tire is spinning and 1 back tire is spinning and the thing is going nowhere fast.

My asshole friend with a Subaru doesn't even keep a snow shovel in his trunk. He hasn't needed to use it yet.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I'm so glad I don't live where it snows. AWD is completely useless to me.

<--Hugs his motorcycle and 2 WD cars with summer performance rubber.

 

[Jumpem]

And does it define what it means by mismatched tires? Tires that are exactly the same but slightly different tread depths (which aren't really mismatched tires) or tires of differing brands/tread patterns/etc. (the true definition of mismatched tires.)?

Tires of differing diameters. If you have a tire go bad, it says to replace all four. It does also mention not use different models of tire.

 

[Jumpem]

Not to mention poorer fuel economy with AWD. I love the way my FWD car handles the snow with TC and Stability Control. And I get 36mpg hwy. Not in the snow though hehe.

And I get 30mpg with my AWD Outback. The new Impreza gets 36mpg.