Poll

What do you normally do?

Place rear tyres to front. New tyres on rear.
13 (52%)
New tyres straight on front, leave the rear untouched.
12 (48%)

Total Members Voted: 22

Author Topic: Where do you fit new tyres???  (Read 6112 times)

Offline R32UK

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Re: Where do you fit new tyres???
« Reply #20 on: 17 April 2009, 09:55 »
Option 1.As recomended by my garage. :smiley: :wink:

Thank you.... A professional opinion  :grin:

Offline dan_apps

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Re: Where do you fit new tyres???
« Reply #21 on: 17 April 2009, 09:57 »
The difference with RWD cars is that you can always counter the back breaking loose with more/less power. Not the case with FWD cars.



not entirely true, as alot of rwd drives have very 'snatchy' handling due weight etc on front rather than rear (as i found out a few weeks ago!)

thing is we are talking here about a situation where we let the rear tyres go to a minimum tread wise, if you look after both fronts and rears then no bother, i went through a few sets on my mk5 and always put new on front, this mainly being because they get eaten down the fastest and wanted the best traction on the front end as i thought it was felt more. when i sold the car i had brand new assynmetrics on the front and falken soft compound tyres on the rear and found it by far the best combo i ever used! i guess its down to preference but when tyres look like they need changing i just get them changed rather than wait for money etc etc :smiley:

Offline smartypants

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Re: Where do you fit new tyres???
« Reply #22 on: 17 April 2009, 10:10 »
Option 1.As recomended by my garage. :smiley: :wink:

Thank you.... A professional opinion  :grin:

Dammit! :)

The cynic in me says they will see quicker repeat business this way ;)

Offline pazz

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Re: Where do you fit new tyres???
« Reply #23 on: 20 April 2009, 13:12 »
Dont be stupid. New tyres to the rear.

Just be careful hammering into the corners with new tyres on (rear).

Offline keyser

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Re: Where do you fit new tyres???
« Reply #24 on: 20 April 2009, 18:37 »
New rubber on the front.  FWD car.  Lions share of the braking, all the power and of course the steering goes through them - why would you wan't anything but the freshest rubber there?  The back wheels are effectively castors to stop the boot being dragged on the floor.

If you drive like a lunatic and your back end often comes out - you need to stop driving like a tit.  In ten years of driving this has never happened to me and I do enjoy the odd B road thrash now and again.  A slightly weaker argument is that with ESP you are much less likely to end up deid these days.

I understand the point fully, and there is some merit to it, but ultimately if you find yourself in the situation that your back end is flicking out (and its not due to ice / diesel spill etc etc) its your driving that needs adjusting - not the tyres!

Couldn't put it any better.   I remember TT and others making the point for new on the rear and like others I can appreciate the reasoning.  But in the real world, grip (or more important lack of it) is more evident from the front wheels, particularly when it is wet.  As has been said, if you are driving so hard that you are concerned that the rear end will step out, you need to adjust your driving.  I think that sometimes on this forum we are guilty of over analysing things.  In theory it makes sense to put the new tyres on the back, but in practice they're much better on the front.  Just my opinion
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Offline R32UK

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Re: Where do you fit new tyres???
« Reply #25 on: 20 April 2009, 19:10 »
Option 1.As recomended by my garage. :smiley: :wink:

Thank you.... A professional opinion  :grin:

Dammit! :)

The cynic in me says they will see quicker repeat business this way ;)

Not really.... the rate of wear will still be exactly the same.  :nerd:

Offline ub7rm

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Re: Where do you fit new tyres???
« Reply #26 on: 20 April 2009, 21:40 »
A few months ago I replaced my front tyres and the difference was astonishing.  More confident acceleration, steering much sharper in the wet and dry, braking distance much reduced.

Last week I changed my back tyres.  Certainly a little sharper in turning but not the same leap in driveability as I got when I changed the fronts.

If you want to mitigate against disasters you should line your houses with lead, fill an underground store with canned goods and put your freshest tyres on the back.  Alternativly you will see the best real life return for your investment by putting the new tyres on the front and not letting the back go bald.

When my front tyres are down to 2mm I replace them.  When the back goes down to 2mm I replace them.  No faffing about.  Simples  :cool:
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Offline smartypants

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Re: Where do you fit new tyres???
« Reply #27 on: 20 April 2009, 21:53 »
Option 1.As recomended by my garage. :smiley: :wink:

Thank you.... A professional opinion  :grin:

Dammit! :)

The cynic in me says they will see quicker repeat business this way ;)

Not really.... the rate of wear will still be exactly the same.  :nerd:

How come? Only other powerful front wheel drive car I had was a Mondeo ST24, and I used to chew through the fronts twice as quick as the rears.

Acceleration (and deceleration) is what runs tread down, and its particularly fast on front wheel drive cars. I was much more frugal with my tyres in my Z3 even though I got the back end out frequently - just because I didnt actually accelerate and decelerate as hard.

Probably comparing apples with oranges, but I do drive nearly 20k miles a year so I know what works for me :)

Offline smartypants

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Re: Where do you fit new tyres???
« Reply #28 on: 20 April 2009, 21:56 »
A few months ago I replaced my front tyres and the difference was astonishing.  More confident acceleration, steering much sharper in the wet and dry, braking distance much reduced.

Last week I changed my back tyres.  Certainly a little sharper in turning but not the same leap in driveability as I got when I changed the fronts.

If you want to mitigate against disasters you should line your houses with lead, fill an underground store with canned goods and put your freshest tyres on the back.  Alternativly you will see the best real life return for your investment by putting the new tyres on the front and not letting the back go bald.

When my front tyres are down to 2mm I replace them.  When the back goes down to 2mm I replace them.  No faffing about.  Simples  :cool:

+1

Offline R32UK

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Re: Where do you fit new tyres???
« Reply #29 on: 21 April 2009, 08:38 »
A few months ago I replaced my front tyres and the difference was astonishing.  More confident acceleration, steering much sharper in the wet and dry, braking distance much reduced.

Last week I changed my back tyres.  Certainly a little sharper in turning but not the same leap in driveability as I got when I changed the fronts.

If you want to mitigate against disasters you should line your houses with lead, fill an underground store with canned goods and put your freshest tyres on the back.  Alternativly you will see the best real life return for your investment by putting the new tyres on the front and not letting the back go bald.

When my front tyres are down to 2mm I replace them.  When the back goes down to 2mm I replace them.  No faffing about.  Simples  :cool:

so at some point you will have brand new tyres on the front and possibly only 3mm on the rears.....  :lipsrsealed: :rolleyes: