Tire question

[97328is]

i picked up my car just about a month ago...and today..i realized that i have 1 tire that's different from the rest. my rear driver side tire is a dunlop..but the rest are continentals...

is this a big problem? all the tires are in excellent shape..so i would need to replace them any time soon.

any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[bitcore]

I have two different tires in the rear than I do in the back. Not too odd. I'm not sure about only 1 different tire. Is the tread fairly similar? Does the car drift to one side?
If you haven’t noticed anything odd about it's performance or handling, then I guess you should be all right, just be sure the oddball tire is similar enough to the rest of them and you ought to be all right.

Check your spare tire. That may be the tire that had an untimely demise by a large sharp object into a sidewall (or something) and was replaced with the actual spare tire and the person who sold the car to you might not have told you. If I'm correct, and you don't have custom wheels, you should have a spare wheel just like the rest of your wheels, so running on a spare is unnoticeable and normal… except for maybe a mismatched tire brand. …Just a possible theory.

[97328is]

i havent really been driving the vehicle too hard yet..so i cant really tell if there's any difference in handling. but on visual examination..the tread is similar. i'll have to check the spare tire..thanks.

[thekid]

It should be ok in back, however, I wouldn't put a different tire in front (different then the other tire that is on the front), unless the tread pattern and compound is almost identical. Also note though that if you do drive aggressively or have to turn sharp quickly at the limit of your cars performance/ability, then you might notice a huge difference in traction in whatever corner the odd tire is on (either more traction or less traction). So if you don't replace it just be mindful and careful with it.

[Andrewsd1985]

Same thing happened to me and my spare was another brand.

[schnitz]

Its funny coz this thing happend to me as well when I got my car. tyre sizes are 215/40/17 front LHS 205/40/17 front RHS 225/45/17 rear LHS 215/45/17 rear RHS. ghead I ended up buying a whole set of wheels which cost me around £950 but I've learned my lesson well. Never have the car be delivered when it is already dark and raining coz when I checked the car before I agreed to buy it the day before, everything was ok and I am not able to get a refund or anything from the person who sold the car coz it says sold as seen on the receipt. now I have a set of 17's for spare sitting around in my garden MAYBE I'LL JUST PAY HIM A VISIT SOON!!

[007ben]

Originally posted by bitcore@Feb 4 2004, 10:09 PM
Check your spare tire. That may be the tire that had an untimely demise by a large sharp object into a sidewall (or something) and was replaced with the actual spare tire and the person who sold the car to you might not have told you. If I'm correct, and you don't have custom wheels, you should have a spare wheel just like the rest of your wheels, so running on a spare is unnoticeable and normal… except for maybe a mismatched tire brand. …Just a possible theory.

my spare in my 94 doesn't match the rest exactly. and I'm 99.99... % sure that my wheels are stock... the space is a BMW spare you can see "BMW" Stamped on it... It's pretty ugly. I may replace it whith one from a junkyard if i ever see one...