In my rush last night I did not elaborate on the problem, so here goes: Got a flat last night and for whatever reason it was not immediately obvious that my tire was flat. The cause of the flat was a KEY, which was a first for me, and I am guessing I drove a mile or two before I felt/heard the problem. I was stuck in traffic on downing and then on 6th and when I crossed over Colorado blvd. I finally hit 25 - 30 mph when I heard and then felt the flat.

I got my spare put on and found a really dingy tire/repair shop on Colfax where I got the tire patched but as I was taking the tire out I realized the sidewall was creased from having driving on it. Even the dingy tire shop owner told me it was in bad shape but i insisted he patch it so I could get around for the next few days and find adequate replacements.

I am asking here for suggestions on replacement options and a decent place to get those replacements.

What should I get? I have 234/45/17 Continental SportContact2 on there now.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

summer or there abouts. There seemed to be enough from a quick visual inspection to last through the summer.

But at this point that is not an option.

lol... There are some odd things floating around on this here interweb.

About the same tread depth as yours. They are just sitting here. Could get you buy for the summer if you want to take the time to shop for tires.

What characteristics in a tire are important (performance, noise, longevity, etc.)?

I don't push the Avant to hard but there are definetly times when I do push it.

Nord's comment below made me think that new would be in my best interest.

so it's a wash by the time u price the tire online

<ul><li><a href="http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AR4&url=%2Ftires%2Fsurveyresults%2Fsurveydisplay.jsp%3 Ftype%3DUHPAS">http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=UHPAS</a></li></ul>

I forsee some long trips to Montana this summer (2500miles round trip) for family reasons and it be a waste to do it on these tires. I am looking at buying some all-seasons for this year for this purpose. If you interested maybe we can talk about this.

How's the car (other than the tire)? I think I saw you tearing around town one day in it.

It's funny that there are a bunch of silver A4 avants around, and that one still stands out to me if I see it.

I did exactly the same thing a few months after I bought it. A flat on the A4 still rode smoother than my Cherokee did so I didn't notice it until I grooved the sidewall pretty good.

I had to buy all 4 then.

Go up to Discount on Colorado. Talk to Chris (Assistant Manager). He has hooked me up with some pretty good deals. Just ask him if that's the best price he can do on the tire. He'll usually come down.

The car is still kicking a ton of a$$.

I ended up with Dumlop Sport 9000's 235/45/17 and they fit perfectly.

I went through the discount on hampden &amp; broadway, same place I got my PA2's for the winter.

Still debating on dropping it a bit, this gap is killing me.

We should meet up soon for a beer or two. Club 404 is always cheap &amp; good...

Sorry it's taken a while to respond...

I moved, and I still don't have Internet access yet (until Wednesday).

How about next week?