Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)
  • Two new car tyres – put them on the front or back?
  • igm
    Full Member

    Rear wheel drive car, changing from winter to summer tyres so all wheels will be off and I’m replacing two of the summer tyres at the same time.

    Do I put the new tyres on the front or back?

    Educated opinions and completely made up pontification welcome

    rickmeister
    Full Member

    Live in Milton Keynes ?

    Fit them both on the left side ……

    chestrockwell
    Full Member

    Depends on the condition of the ones you are keeping and the quality of the new tyres imo. Worn tyres on the front make significantly more noise inside the car so if you get a decent quality new set you should really notice the difference. At least that’s been my experience.

    Earl
    Free Member

    I vote the back.

    Imagine going around a roundabout on a rainy day. Would you rather the front let go or the back let go?

    gravity-slave
    Free Member
    Basil
    Full Member

    Unless surname is Moss, new tyres to the rear regardless of drive wheels.

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    I always thought it was new on the front, because you use that for steering and braking. However when i recently changed two, I was told that now the convention is to put them on the rear. The reason being, if a front loses grip, it’s more intuitive to steer in and regain control. For most of us, if the rear loses grip then we haven’t got the experience to counter steer to regain control and hence more likely to spin.

    Hence while old wisdom is still true to an extent, it’s a lesser of two evils scenario.

    That said; my new tyres were winter tyres so we put them on the front *anyway* because I did want them for grip and braking 😉

    wobbliscott
    Free Member

    I say the front – that is where the majority of your braking is done, also your steering and, god forbid, if you’re ever in a proper full on ABS avoidance situation where you’re demanding maximum braking whilst steering around an object in the road if the road is a bit wet, you want your better rubber on the front.

    Ultimately its not likely to make a difference unless your other tyres are bordering on illegal.

    Trekster
    Full Member

    I prefer to have good tyres for steering purposes.
    Depends on which end the worn tyres had previously been fitted? Rotating tyres became a thing of the past many years ago(some people still do)due to possible effects on steering due to wear pattern. If a tyre has an uneven wear pattern across its tread this can/may cause steering to pull to the side. Uneven wear across the tread may/can mean the whole tread is not contacting the ground evenly.
    Having worked on cars when swapping tyres was in vogue, part of a service I have experience of all of the above!!

    pdw
    Free Member

    Expert advice is pretty unanimous on this: rear.

    The big difference between new and worn tyres is how much water they can clear before they start hydroplaning, so if you’ve got a mismatch between front and rear you’ve got a choice of understeer (new on the rear) and oversteer (new on the front). Understeer is more intuitive to sort out, and doesn’t get dramatically worse if you’re slow to respond.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaXXrKFJctU

    properbikeco
    Free Member

    the rear

    if only for the reason your car is probably fwd which means this is always placing the most worn tyres on the driven axle, meaning they wear out faster and your car tyres should not expire due to perishing, instead they will actually wear out!

    munrobiker
    Free Member

    Michelin recommend the rear for the same reasons that theotherjonv states.

    igm
    Full Member

    Rear it is then, even on a rear wheel drive car

    mrmoofo
    Full Member

    Put them on whichever are the drive wheels ….

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    I put them on the rear for the reasons propperbikeco state. My rear tires would last for ever if i didnt rotate to front…..

    If your getting over steer on a front wheel drive because of tires that are slightly more worn than the front you need to stop treating the roads like a racetrack.

    munrobiker
    Free Member

    It’s happened to me recently trailrat. At 25mph on the very smooth bit of tarmac going into out business par, after I had put new tyres on the rear and more worn ones to the front.

    tomd
    Free Member

    Ultimately its not likely to make a difference unless your other tyres are bordering on illegal.

    Pure distilled pish

    convert
    Full Member

    if only for the reason your car is probably fwd

    That’s what I like, a bit of carefully considered advice based on analytical reading of the original post. 🙂

    wobbliscott
    Free Member

    What situation are you envisaging that you suddenly get unexpected snap under or oversteer? If you go into a roundabout a bit to quickly you might get it – but even so you’re going relatively slowly so the consequences are actually not that serious. Compare that to driving at 60mph and someone pulling out on you and you have to slam on the anchors. I know where i’d prefer to have the best tyres, and which of those two scenario’s i’d rather protect against.

    Under and oversteer are usually induced by hamfisted driving or external factors like diesel on the road, You can’t do anything about the second case, no rubber will help you there, and being a more careful/better driver is what is needed to counter the first case – not better tyres. However, one risk we all face every time we go out on the road is that we may need to perform an emergency stop. In that case you certainly want your best rubber upfront.

    The problems with a lot of these driving experts is that their advice originates from the track and driving dynamics rather than the risks you’re facing on the road. If you’re driving in the Le Mans 24hr race and its tipping it down with rain, you might very well want your better tyres out on the back so you can hunt out the limits of grip on every bend in 2 inches of standing water. Unexpected understeer and oversteer are simply not a big risk out on the road unless you’re driving like a cock. In 20yrs of driving its never ever happened to me – and I have driven like a cock from time to time.

    irc
    Full Member

    How worn are the good pair of tyres? Half worn or more – replace all 4. Get the benefits of new tyres on all 4 corners.

    Less than half worn – put the new ones on the rear. You’ll avoid oversteer and the tyres on the front still have plenty tread for braking, steering, water displacement.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    I bet you replace your pads in 4s and your shockers in 4s and your bushes in 4s…..

    Id have a different attitude if i was building a car to be used at the limits on the track but its on the road , the car should be no where near its limit if it is your driving it wrong and your a hazzard to not only your self but others also.

    Munrobiker see wobbliscotts comments about diesel.

    irc
    Full Member

    bet you replace your pads in 4s and your shockers in 4s and your bushes in 4s…

    I would if I could see the other pair only had another few months left in them. I’d rather replace a pair of tyres early and lose a couple of mm of wear (£30, £40?) than make two separate trips to the tyre fitter.

    On my car my fronts are at 3mm, my rears at 4.5mm. All 4 will be changed at the same time.

    dirtydog
    Free Member

    Basil – Member

    Unless surname is Moss, new tyres to the rear regardless of drive wheels

    Always thought grippiest tyres should be fitted to the rear in the case of front wheel drive, Grippy tyres on the front with worn tyres on the rear in certain situations can cause lift off oversteer.

    core
    Full Member

    Lift off oversteer is the dream, a Peugeot driver’s utopia!

    pdw
    Free Member

    What situation are you envisaging that you suddenly get unexpected snap under or oversteer?

    Well I think the Michelin video posted above does a pretty good job of demonstrating the situation. You’re going round a corner when you encounter standing water that is deep enough that it causes your most worn tyres to aquaplane.

    As for the braking situation, the biggest difference between new and worn tyres is their ability to clear water due to deeper treads, rather than outright grip, which is why that is what drives the advice of the tyre companies to put the tyres with more tread on the rear.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    Ah so its for people who like to make progress and cant read the road ahead.

    I can honestly say in 10 years of driving -5 of them in peugeots where apparently lift off over steer is the norm drivig to conditions and the visibility of the road ahead ( if you cant stop in the distance you can see your going too fast) has served me well after all puddle on the corner today could be a childs face tomorrow 😉

Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)

The topic ‘Two new car tyres – put them on the front or back?’ is closed to new replies.