RE040 Puncture - Needs Replacing 1 or both? Recommendations?
 

Question,

Having destroyed a stock RE040 tire after driving on it for a bit - us Canadians don't get the TPM, and the suspension is remarkable with a flat!
Anyway - story is - I'm stupid, and now the tire is toast - Wheel is fine though
Hurray for rim protectors!
Treadwear has been decent with the RE040's - 12,000 km and I am at 8.5/32 in the front, and 7/32 in the rear - stock is 10/32"

Now, I HATE the RE040's.
They are crap in the dry
They are especially crap in the wet.
Without even pushing it DSC is on around most corners.
With DSC off, I'm sliding around asphalt like it was a friggin' dirt track.
They aren't really confidence inspiring.
Problem is, they aren't worn yet - could easily get another 15k out of them with all of the HWY driving.

I am leaning towards the following choices and would like some advice:

1. Get single RE040 replacement for rear - get shaved to same tread - 7/32".
2. Get a set of S-03's for the rear - stock 225/45/R18 - have a spare RE040 for the next puncture.
3. Get a bigger set of S-03's for the rear - 245/40/R18 on stock rim. I think the wheel wells could benefit from a wider wheel. Tread is 9.0" on 245, 9.4" on 255.

Now my intention is to buy new wheels for next summer season - put winters on the stock wheels and get new wheels+rubber for the next season.

The 245/40/R18 will fit on an 8.0" at the lowest range. But is that pushing it?

My concerns:
1. Will I have to get a new RE040 shaved to account for the treadwear?
2. It I go with 225 S'03's on the rear would it change the handling balance from fairly balanced to total understeer - S03's rear, RE040's front?
3. If I go with wider 245's on the rear, what is the optimum wheel width?

I plan on swapping to winter wheels sometime in November.
With my current mileage, that is looking to be another 8-10k km's.

I am kinda leaning to getting a stock RE040 shaved, then drive the tires down to the wear bars in preperation for:
245/40R18's on 9" wide wheels - 9.0" tread width on S03's
255/40R18's on 9" wide wheels - 9.4" tread witdth on S03's

If you look at the RPM chart that Bridgestone provides:
225/45/R18 is 804 RPM - 27 lbs
245/40/R18 is 814 RPM - 28 lbs
255/40/R18 is 798 RPM - 30 lbs - OUCH!

My leaning iz for a full set of the 245's on a 9" light weight wheel next season.
The 245's get me into a whole host of other tires as well as it is a more common size.

Thoughts?
Bueller?

My suggestion (and I really like it ;), because it's what I chose to do in May when I had a puncture with ~12,000 km on the RE-040 tires): Buy a used RE-040 from someone on the forum. There's a bunch of people who have them for sale, check the for sale forum section, or post your requirement in the wanted section. I paid $125 Cdn for a tire that had ~5000 km on it - on the other hand, a new RE-040 will run nearly $400 Cdn!

Regards,
Gordon

running two different treads front and back is a bad idea. I ordered two tires from Tirerack a while back for my Prelude and a rep from TR actually called me to make sure that I wasn't swapping out my fronts only and leaving the rears with the stock rubber. I think you should get a used stock tire like Gord suggests and then replace all 4 when they're more worn.

Gordon,

Great IDea! - That was the biggest problem I had - $475 CDN for a new POS RE040 when I can get S-03's for $410 installed.

I must post a request.