Brent Christensen = wrote: ...My understanding is that all tires for a Syncro need to be = within 2.5 mm.
Is this the correct = spec?...

I'd really curious = if anybody knows this spec *for sure*.

The tires I've been = running for about 800 mi. were purchased slightly used, with 2 of them = having about 1-2mm less tread than the other 2. In retrospect, I = probably shouldn't have bought them, but the difference seemed so small = at the time... If it's going to end up messing up my drivetrain though, = I'll replace them.

The manager of my = local highly reputable tire shop said the difference - hardly = noticeable -  wouldn't cause a problem - he seemed pretty = knowledgeable about various awd systems (Subaru, Volvo, etc.) - and he = certainly had an easy opportunity to sell me a new set of tires, didn't = he?! The local VW dealer would only say "They all have to be the = same size and treadwear" and didn't know anything about acceptable = tolerances - not much help.

I know all about the = whole replacing all 4 (or 5) if one is bad thing, but how close do they = really have to be? The 1-2 mm difference only translates into several = rotations per mile - it seems as if turning while driving normally = would account for almost that much rotational difference on its own. = (Would you eventually ruin your VC if you drove the same direction = around a racetrack for miles and miles? Probably not, but I'm not an = expert. And assuming  500 laps at Daytona won't blow the VC, would = it make sense to match the treadwear left to right rather than front to = back? Hmmm...)

Any VW Syncro = engineers out there?

Doug = Fitz-Randolph
Yarmouth, = ME
dfrandolph@talkam.net
'90 Syncro