my2ndaudi

i've had my 2012 S4 with 19" stock tyres and wheels for 10 days. let a friend drive.....and he turned too sharply and made slight contact with curb that scratched the rim and sliced the sidewall on front driver side! needless to say, i wasn't extremely happy. anyways, I've got three 400+ mile drives to make in the next 2 weeks. i was wondering if i need to get the tyre replaced immediately or if it's safe to ride on over those distances. there is absolutely no convenient time for me to put the car in the shop to get the tyre replaced as i'm living in hotels in a different city almost every day.

it took a .25" x .25" chunk out of the sidewall just above the rim. it didn't puncture the tyre, but did bite approximately .125" into the tyre.

thoughts?

needless to say, that's the last time i let a friend drive!

Foogie

Post a pic if you can. Frankly, with so few miles on the rest of the tires I would see if Discount or an NTB on your route can have that tire while you are in town. Swing by, takes them 30 min or less to change it out. Oh yeah, and your friend should pay for it too--a real friend would without question. Bottom line, I wouldn't drive long distance on a compromised sidewall.

Option 2, pull into a tire place and get an opinion. Your choice man. Good luck.

bbmaster

Ouch! I think you need to replace with the temporary spare to drive for the next 2 weeks. You shouldn't drive on a damaged tires, it can blow any time especially on freeways. When the car hits the curb, you might also need to do an alignment.

my2ndaudi

yeah, that's how i felt about the situation. i'm calling first thing in the morning to see if the local dealership can get the tyre replaced while i'm working.

DrGP

If you are talking about your local Audi dealer, I would suspect they will charge you signifcantly more than if you went to a local tire dealer

Goony

Especially with short sidewalls. Yet another reason I went with the 18's.

kczach

What tire do you have? Certain tires have a thicker bead of rubber by the bead that are designed to help protect the rim. I took a little "bite" out of my left rear this spring. It did protect the rims from getting scuffed up.