Hi everyone,

I hit a pot hole and tore one of my tires up beyond repair. Turns out this tire is on national back order and impossible to find. The three good ones are new so I would hate to replace all four. I bought a tire online that I thought matched but my mechanic was hesitant to put it on my car. The three good tires are Firestone Affinity Touring P225/60R16 97T M+S. The replacement I ordered is a Firestone Affinity Touring T2 P225/60R16 97T M+S. My mechanic and I are concerned about the " T2 " in the name. Otherwise everything else seems to match perfectly. Can anyone give me advise about whether or not this tire could damage my car?

Since the new ones are hard to find, have you considered a used tire which matches your other three?

 

Here is one on eBay with 11/32" of tread left. You should be able to measure your current tires, and see how close this tread depth is.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ONE-Firestone-225-60-16-TIRE-AFFINITY-TOURING-97T-P225-60-R16-11-32-TREAD-/310338512125?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item48419de4fd

(ebay item 310338512125 if the link doesn't work)

 

 

Otherwise, you might be able to find a matching used tire on Craigslist, or by calling around to the used tire shops.

Measure the circumference of the tire after mounted and inflated properly, and compare that to one of the tires on the car. If it's within 1/4" of the ones on the car then you are good to go.

The Touring and Touring T2 appear to have different tread life ratings - 70,000 vs 50,000 miles respectively. So if you mix them, the new tire might wear differently over time...