Tyre tread patterns

[qprdude]

I have 4 tyres with the same tread pattern, but I will have to change one, or maybe two in the near future. Any problems with having different tread patterns on the same axle?

[SwissSPEC]

Yes & no, however its a bit more complicated. I personally prefer to run cars with 4 matching tyres, that way i can ensure that grip levels on all 4 tyres are the same, so if i had to do an emergency swerve the car should react in a uniform way, i.e. more predictable handling, also braking would be at its optimum as well incase you had to brake hard to avoid an accident.

Tread patterns have various functions, this makes some tyres noisier than others, more or less grip, better in the dry & the rain etc....one of the biggest differences though is the actual tyre construction which you can't see, as well as the rubber compound type which again can affect all the things above. I also never buy budget tyres to save a few quid when a decent tyre stops you in a more predictable & safer way & when weather conditions are poor has more grip & less chance of aquaplaning. When i mean decent tyres, it doesn't necesserily mean that they are expensive one's, there is plenty of information on tyre performance on the web.

Day to day driving you won't notice any difference if you changed one of your tyres so it didn't match the others, however, why not just replace the tyre with the same version which has the same tread pattern etc? At the very least i would have matching axle sets, although ironically i currently have 3 michelins & one continental on my C5 (it came with these fitted), all 4 tyres are low on tread & will shortly be getting changed for something much better & ironically cheaper.

[Northern_Mike]

I have 4 tyres with the same tread pattern, but I will have to change one, or maybe two in the near future. Any problems with having different tread patterns on the same axle?

The only difference you may notice, in my experience, unless you buy some utter crap, which I know you won't, is a slight increase/decrease in road noise depending on the internal structure differences in tyre make or rubber compound.

[qprdude]

Thing is, the car has 19" Federal Super steels all round. They were on when I bough the car nearly two years ago. The rear nearside must have been on for longer as it is the one which is worn. The other three have 5mm tread left.
I've had no real complaints about their performance. They stick well in the dry, are acceptable in the wet and pretty good and straight under heavy braking. I don't really want to change three reasonably good tyres, bearing in mind that I'm no boy racer, but I can't afford to replace them all for premiums right now.
I know Federals are a budget tyre, but they have held up well over 12,000 varied miles so throwing three away seems a bit silly.
I won't be putting on Accelera or anything like that, but these 19" tyres are expensive jobbies.
Do I start with one decent tyre and wait for the Federals to wear down, or do I buy another Federal? I know the reviews are mixed, with some people saying they are OK, and others saying they are ditch finders, but I sometimes suspect that the drivers have as much to do with finding ditches as the tyres. If you drive like a nutter, no tyre will keep you on the tarmac.

[Fake Concern]

@ SwissSPEC, I'm interested to know what you will get that are cheaper & better than Michelins as I have Pilot Sport 3 & rate them highly.
@qprdude I'd be inclined to buy one of whatever your preferred tyre is for now as with only 5mm left the others will need replacing soon & as the weather is improving (!) should be fine with one odd one.

[bobins]

You could try tracking down a good condition used Federal tyre the same as your presnt ones - yes, it'd be a used one, but only in the same sense that the ones already on your car are used, or you could replace one axle set of tyres with new ones for now and then the others later on when they wear down and that way you can soften the pain of buying four new tyres in one go.... and perhaps we could re-awaked the '2 new tyres should go on the front no they should go on the back' thread as it was such good fun last time around

[qprdude]

Not a bad idea to get a used one for now. Of course the other problem is that I have a brand new Federal spare.
I've done around 12,000 on the current tyres which weren't new when I got the car and they have 5 mm at least left on them, so really, at 8 mm for new ones, they have been incredibly long lasting.
It could be another 2 years before I need any more.
I need to keep an eye on the rear nearside anyway, as there is a lot more wear on the inside of the tyre than the outside.
I'm tempted to put the new spare from the full sized steel wheel on, and get a used one for the spare. Ideally I'd like 4 new quality tyres but that's not an option right now.
"New tyres always on the back for me".

[Xantidote]

I'm tempted to put the new spare from the full sized steel wheel on

That's what I do. I see no point having a good spare which is better than the tyres on the car. I take the view that I only need a barely legal tyre as a spare (I might take a different view if I were going abroad, or doing a lot of miles/year). Tyres deteriorate over time, and I'd consider I'd failed if I had a pristine unworn spare which was very old. Fortunately modern tyres are all dated.

Both my Citroens came with Michelin, so I've stuck with Michelin. I certainly feel happier with same type/make tyre on any axle, but I doubt my driving would highlight handling discrepancies if they were all different!

[Northern_Mike]

Not a bad idea to get a used one for now. Of course the other problem is that I have a brand new Federal spare.
I've done around 12,000 on the current tyres which weren't new when I got the car and they have 5 mm at least left on them, so really, at 8 mm for new ones, they have been incredibly long lasting.
It could be another 2 years before I need any more.
I need to keep an eye on the rear nearside anyway, as there is a lot more wear on the inside of the tyre than the outside.
I'm tempted to put the new spare from the full sized steel wheel on, and get a used one for the spare. Ideally I'd like 4 new quality tyres but that's not an option right now.
"New tyres always on the back for me".

Why not put your new spare on one the offside rear, buy a matching one for the nearside, and use the current nearside one as the spare? That's probably what I'd do.

I like my new tyres on the front

[Northern_Mike]

. I also never buy budget tyres to save a few quid when a decent tyre stops you in a more predictable & safer way & when weather conditions are poor has more grip & less chance of aquaplaning. When i mean decent tyres, it doesn't necesserily mean that they are expensive one's, there is plenty of information on tyre performance on the web.

This paragraph doesn't make a lot of sense. I went for Matadors on the Berlingo, it's now got Continentals. The Continentals are quieter and better in the wet and have considerabl better grip characteristics.

That said, the Matadors were a whole hell of a lot better than the far more expensive P6000s I have on one car, which were positively lethal in the wet. So lethal, that I crashed without even doing anything stupid!

Uniroyal Rain Experts are a very good tyre, and they are pretty cheap too - at least in the sizes I need them. about £47 each fitted and Balanced for the Berlingo, that'll do for me.

[Hell Razor5543]

Tricky one with the tyres, made more difficult by the fact that a Xantia is very light on the rear ones (I don't know how a C5 is in its' tyres). I intend to swap the rear ones onto the front just before I replace the front tyres, and then replace the worn down tyres. That way I should have good tyres all round, and not have a problem later on when the rear tyres age and crack. I know this means that the front tyres won't be new, but they should have plenty of tread.

[Xantidote]

I like my new tyres on the front

Me too

[Hell Razor5543]

I do not disagree with you, but when I got Gracie one of her rear tyres was cracking up. However, there was still over 4mm of tread on it. Doing what I intend to do should prevent that happening, as well as keeping new(ish) rubber all round.

[Fake Concern]

That said, the Matadors were a whole hell of a lot better than the far more expensive P6000s I have on one car, which were positively lethal in the wet. So lethal, that I crashed without even doing anything stupid!

I had P6000s on my Volvo V70 T5, a powerful car & I always found it very chuckable with them, I have read other adverse comments about them, but that wasn't my experience.

[Northern_Mike]

That said, the Matadors were a whole hell of a lot better than the far more expensive P6000s I have on one car, which were positively lethal in the wet. So lethal, that I crashed without even doing anything stupid!

I had P6000s on my Volvo V70 T5, a powerful car & I always found it very chuckable with them, I have read other adverse comments about them, but that wasn't my experience.

I think P6000s are very sensitive to what they are fitted to, and how it's set up. I've also read that they're ok on C-Class Mercs and the older T-5. It seems that on heavy cars, they're a decent tyre. I had them on two MX-5s and they were great in the dry, but so bad in the wet that the £30 Autoguards I fitted to a Focus once to get it an MOT were way better.