Quattro question: one tyre or four?

[tjwood]

Hi,
I've just bought a 2007 A3 2.O TFSI Quattro. I read somewhere that when I come to buy new tyres I need to change all 4 at the same time - something to do with keeping the tyre radius the same at all wheels to prevent damaging the 4-wheel drive system. Does anyone know if that is true?

I'm just wondering what happens if I get a puncture in one tyre that can't be plugged? Would I have to replace the other 3 tyres as well to keep all the tyres the same diameter and to prevent damaging the 4-wheel drive? It seems like this could be one hell of an expensive car to keep on the road.
Thanks

[dandam]

It's true, you should replace all four at once. I have an A6, my wife has an A3 both quattro and when I went to Costco they will only sell you tyres if you do four at a time. Even on a 2wd car you should replace both tyres on the axle at the same.

The reason that was explained at the time was that different rolling radius of tyres with different wear can put a strain on the differentials, hence all four at once.

[CARPY25]

What dandam said i would agree with but his car is a quattro A4 your A3 is not would follow this advice though "Even on a 2wd car you should replace both tyres on the axle at the same."

Rob

[paul b]

My A6 is 2WD. I have Michelin Pilot Primacy's with about 6.5mm on the front and Michelin Pilot Sport 2s with about 4.5mm on the rear. So I try to keep the front wheels with the same tread depth and pattern as each other, and the same with the rears. I would never put different tread patterns on the A6 though. I've got all sorts of different tread patterns on my Mk4 Astra, but it's a shed and I'm not really bothered if somebody ran off with it to be honest. LOL.
Paul

[Samholden]

A4 Quattro - replace all tyres at once last year for Eagle F1s- what a grippy tyre!