Rotating Tyres

[Guzzle]

It's funny really, lease companies are always out to save money and maximise profit on the contract. I've never had one want to rotate tyres. So I suggest that doing so won't save you money, but just give you something to do. I guess it's a hobby...

I did it on my lease car because I was paying.

Saved me buying 2 new tyres before the car went back.

[mcmaddy]

Always rotate every 4K miles, evens the wear. And means best tread on front at all times.

Although, if weather holds intend doing it on the R in next day or two for first time. Will check tread depth and report back, the R is likely to have a more even wear factor. Always prefer to change the 4 in one hit, means you have a brand choice,no?
Fascinating stuff, not, scroll on.

General opinion is always have best tread on the rear not the front. 4k seems a bit over eager surely, I couldn't be a4sed with that. 

[CHB100]

Always rotate every 4K miles, evens the wear. And means best tread on front at all times.

Although, if weather holds intend doing it on the R in next day or two for first time. Will check tread depth and report back, the R is likely to have a more even wear factor. Always prefer to change the 4 in one hit, means you have a brand choice,no?
Fascinating stuff, not, scroll on.

General opinion is always have best tread on the rear not the front. 4k seems a bit over eager surely, I couldn't be a4sed with that. 

I spent a lot of time underneath cars, so not an issue here.Every 4k means low er wear differential of 1mm which negates the 'best tread issue, it merely evens it out depths. As it is with new tyres. Probably swap 3 times in tyres life.
Also a very good idea to remove wheels and check tyres for any damage? and a chance to clean them and under wheel arches thoroughly.
Depends on the individual and priorities like everything.

[fredgroves]

General opinion is always have best tread on the rear not the front.

I've no idea about tyre wear on a 4WD R, but on the FWD GTD I get about ~15k from the fronts and 56k from the rears.

The rears wear so slowly (particularly with the OEM BS's) that having the best tread on the rear will be the case for most of the time even if you don't swap em round.

Maybe there is a case for doing it after 2 sets of fronts? When you stick the third set on, swap em.

On the other hand, isn't most of the braking on the fronts? Therefore after spending the money, you'd still want the best tread on the fronts because its actually braking and traction in the wet that needs the tread depth....

[itavaltalainen]

I always tend to rotate my tyres. Keeps wear even and helps with sawtooth on the rears (which was very prominent on Pirelli P7s).

Lease companies don't really care much, as if you lease over long time it usually costs them less not to pay for rotating tyres (they'd be charged by tyre fitters for this unless they got new tyres at the same time), so they just replace when needed as they don't actually need to drive the car.

I once turned up at a tyre place because I needed 4 new tyres. Leaseplan in their great wisdom opted against fitting 4 Michelin tyres and told them to put 2 Pirelli P7 on the rear and 2 Dunlop Sportmaxx RT on the front. The freaking car was undriveable (very tail happy but not in a good way) until I swapped them and put the very hard P7 on the front and very soft Sportmaxx on the rear..... but obviously they don't give a sh!t, the message I got was that Pirelli and Dunlop are their preferred (read: cheaper) brands.

Now I always phone tyre company a few days in advance to check they got 4 tyres of one of their 'preferred' brands in stock - that I am also happy with.

It is generally best to have tyres with more tread (or grip) on the back, regardless of whether it's FWD, RWD or AWD as the rear axle is what gives a car stability. This is still the case with braking, it's always better to loose grip on the front rather than the rear. The average driver can handle this easier than rear sliding about which is what usually sends you spinning.

[Gulfstream11]

I rotated front to rear last Autumn. Needed to borrow a scissor jack.

Really, if you jack up the front does the rear not also lift?

I watched the ShopDAP video and that seemed the case. Had the trolley jack on full articulation and it never lifted the rear.