YoungBlood

That's true too, and traction control helps a bit, although I've found my gas pedal foot to react faster than traction control can anticipate on several occasions

Nuke

You're not looking hard enough.

Jas5

that makes sense.. and is kind of scary to think about. Only perfect solution is to buy a set of 4.. but then i'm wasting lots of tire tread


Thanks, found them, guess they dont show up when I search by tire size, but rather Yokohama tires

I'm tempted to get a cheaper tires, the Advan S are nearly $300 each... but with 180 treadwear, they're much grippier than the 300-560 ones that are far less cost...

With 350+ whp, I think tire compound is the last thing one should comprimise on... a 200whp civic is different

Art161

There's yet another possible solution, although not perfect. If you can find a shop that shaves tires, you can buy one replacement tire and have it shaved so that the tread depth is equal to the good front tire.

Jas5

Good idea...

Do you guys think its a big no-no to use 1 or 2 tires that are different from the others? I can get Yokohama AvidENVigor's (had a set on my last car) for $177 a piece... almost 1/2 the Advan S's. Would probably get just 1.

I mean what would happen, driving down the road and the S's grip more than the Avid's, and pulls me to one side? Or one hydroplans, and one doesnt? Its not like I autox or track it

Then just get a whole new set here in a year or so

Nuke

A different tire on any one wheel can result in some drastic changes in handling from what you're accustomed to. Straight line down the road and no abrupt maneuvering and you may not notice but in an avoidance situation, things could get ugly.

CPTCO

As long as the tire is holding air, don't worry about it. I've plugged lots of tires, never had a problem with any. If your tire shop has patched it now, even better. Just keep an eye on it. Do you have TPMS? If so, you shouldn't be too worried about a blowout.

As far as replacing, are you planning on replacing both the back tires? As long as the back two match, you'll be fine. The biggest problem with replacing one back tire, is that it can ruin your differential if it's not the proper size. I will have to respectfully disagree with Nuke. I don't think you will ever notice a different tire on one wheel, assuming that the tire is in good shape (not the 5% one you talked about putting on). But if we are talking about the same size tire, with good tread depth, I would say no big deal.

Of course, I'm not a tire scientist either, but I should be for as many as I buy .

Jas5

Thanks for replies guys

tire blowouts: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=13

After reading about tire blowouts (typically caused by too little air in the tire, and rubber separates from the thread inside), it's one of those things you cannot be certain about, in terms of my situation.

The simple physics of a patch and plug on the inside of the tire, with air pressure pushing outward on it (and the sticky patch covers a much larger area than the hole), there's no way the plug/patch will be pushed THROUGH the hole = tire blowout

However, since both the stealership and tire shop said it's "damaged and needs a new tire", even after I said i want to order online since they're very expensive tires, i'm going to get the mis-matched $187 yokohama S.drive for peace of mind. I also feel that I won't even notice any difference after the initial 1 month break in period (the most outter/new rubber on a tire is slick and not very grippy). Only way i'd notice a difference if the tire size was different, or if I used the 5% tread one. Those nearly-bald tires felt very unsafe in wet conditions....scared the hell out of me. I bought the car with those on it like that.

jRaskell

Tire shops and dealerships have taken a hard line on tire patching for two primary reasons, liability and sales. Doesn't matter that you've told them you're buying somewhere else, that's another sale period, and they've all taken the same stance.

A catastrophic tire failure from a puncture by a nail or screw is about as likely as engine failure from sucking to much water in through the intake. That is to say, it's only going to happen through gross negligence. The tire carcass has to get VERY hot in order for delamination to occur. If that does happen, it's because the driver wasn't paying attention, not because the tire was plugged. Although the plug may indeed cause the air leak the results in the overheating, you'd have to be a completely oblivious driver to not notice the flat tire before it failed.

I'm with CPTCO, I've patched several tires, and never been the least bit concerned about any of them. But then, I regularly check the air pressure in the tires and daily visually check the tires for gross underinflation, whether they've been plugged or not.

Here's a good question for you to think about. How long do you think that nail was in your tire before the dealer found it?

CPTCO

The main thing is that you feel comfortable with the tire. If you get a new one, don't pitch the old one, keep it for a spare. Get rid of the baldies. 95% of the time if you have a flat, it will be the back tire, so always good to have an extra.

As for tire shops and dealerships, they are always in selling mode. We live on dirt roads and have flats at least once a week. I even have my own tire machine. Was in the city once and had a flat. Tire shop says, "we can't patch this, company policy is a tire can only have five patches". The tire had eleven patches already, lol. If I only put five patches on a tire, I'd be replacing the, every 10,000 miles. I talked them into patching it.