"Put the good tyres on rear"... I don't agree...

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What to do in snow ?

Put good tyres on the front and bad on the rear and be carefull not to skid ?
17
61%
Follow advice and put good tyres on the rear and risk not stopping ?
11
39%
 
Total votes: 28

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myglaren
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Post by myglaren »

RichardW wrote:The reason that tyre co's advocate new rubber on the rear is that is promotes rear stability, and makes the car much more likely to understeer when pushed / in marginal road conditions, rather than oversteer. The response of the average driver to loss of control (either end!) is to lift off - if you have the car set up for understeer (ie good rubber on the back) then this tends to correct the understeer and said driver goes on his way; if you have oversteer (ie bad rubber on the back) then this exacerbates the problema and said driver goes backwards through the nearest hedge. Tyres last forever on the back of a Xantia, so I almost always put the new rubber on the front.
I was previously of the opinion that new tyres should go on the front as the rears only trail around after the rest of the car.

After several experiences that almost required a change of underwear and experimenting with putting new tyres on the rear I am convinced that this is the correct position to adopt.

Spun my Accord (smashed the boot in and demolished a huge road sign) a couple of times on barely damp roundabouts and have fishtailed the C5 a few times on sliproads when leaving roundabouts - and there are LOTS of roundabouts in this area.

Would still normally change tyres before they reach the legal limit - cheaper to buy the tyres and feel safer than pay the fines or crash.
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Post by andmcit »

There really are two threads to this one discussion.

1: best new pair of tyres on front or rear axle

2: which axle should have best tyres in snowy conditions

As far as the first question, I'll hand you over to the AA:
New tyres to the front or rear?
Check the car handbook first as some vehicle manufacturers give specific
advice on this. If there is no information in the handbook, then it's good
practice for safety to fit the best/newest tyres on the rear – in wet
conditions, this favours understeer rather than oversteer. So if you have
the front tyres renewed it's best to have the rear ones moved to the
front and the new tyres fitted to the rear.
http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/sa ... tyres.html

Michelin: (warning cheesy American narrator!)


and Vicky Butler Henderson!:


:D

Andrew
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Post by andmcit »

Some interesting reading:
Braking on Snow and Ice Covered Roads
On snow or ice covered roads only winter tyres reduce the braking distance
by those vital metres. The comparison shown here proves the point.

http://www.tyres-online.co.uk/images/wi ... nter5a.jpg
http://www.tyres-online.co.uk/techinfo/winter.asp

http://www.avon-tyres.co.uk/car/drivers ... nd-driving
http://www.pirellityre.com/web/technolo ... fault.page
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Post by Toby_HDi »

On the Coupe I have put the two new tyres I bought on the rear. As addo pointed out, it's surprisingly easy to get the back end of a 406 out. They seem to love lift off oversteer as with the 205.

I think its very much vehicle specific, as on my HDi I replaced the front tyres first knowing that the car was neutral to lift off oversteer.

As for understeer being safer, personally, I find oversteer more natural to correct. Maybe thats because I'm odd though :lol:
Toby


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Post by Xaccers »

Remember, if the car is fitted with 4 new tyres, by the time the fronts need repacing, the rears should have loads of tread on them.

So fitting new tyres to the rear, you're fitting practically new tyres to the front.
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Post by Citroenmad »

I never run tyres down to the legal limit. It drives me crazy when i see cars with seriously bald tyres, the drivers obviously have no thought for safety. It would seem that a lot of people rarely check their tyres, the number of cars you see with soft tyres which have worn because of it is slightly alarming too.

I do swap my tyres from back to front, though i usually always fit new tyres on the front, as thats where i feel the car needs them most, mainly for aquaplaining which is where new tyres perform, any other time and a tyre performs similarily. I always fit good quality tyres and find even at low tread levels premium tyres offer good grip on the rear. Even throwing it around in the wet its grippy.

By comparrison cheap tyres are horendous and i always replace them if i buy a car with them, even if they are brand new tyres. Our first C5 estate had a brand new set of Hero tyres, made from plastic i think, I managed to get it 4 wheel drifting at roundabouts, they would run wide even going 15-20 round a roundabout in the wet, terrible. That was enough for me, they had to be binned for some quality rubber.

I push my cars quite hard so it does eat through front tyres, usually the tyre on the N/S fronts edges are bald long before the tread has worn down to 3mm. Infact my fronts are down to 4.5 now and the N/S is nearing bald on the edge, Toyos are possobly too softer compound for a big car i feel. I usually change my tyres at about 2.5mm. Anything less and i find grip really drops off, not something i like to comprimise on.

Ive noticed a lot of modern cars go through rear tyres much quicker than older ones. We replaced our Xms original rear tyres at 78K miles. A lot of cars go through rears in 20-30K. C4s, Berlingos, Scenics, etc are prone to it. Mainly because they are all set to toe in at the rear. The C5s seem to toe in slightly at the rear too, but tyres seem to wear reasonably well on the rear, though they are heavy on fronts.

So i say:
New tyres to the front - so long as rears are reasonable and not ancient.
Chris
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New tyres on front.

Post by Baldy-Old-Troll »

I always fit the new tyres on the front, I haven't had the C5 long enough to know how it handles on the limit, it came with cheap tyres which were deadly, but it now has a fresh set of Michelins so we'll see. My Espace has Michelins all round as well and when the fronts were worn I ordered a new set from Costco, when I went for fitting I was told that they would not fit them on the front axle , they ended up giving me a refund and being stuck with two special order tyres rather than fit them where I wanted them. I prefer my car to be neutral to loose when it comes to handling ,my Espace is a big front heavy monster , with worn tyres on the front and new on the rear it would be a real handful ,so I think I'll make my own decisions as to where the tyres go and not leave it to someone else who is making decisions based on drivers of limited ability and experience.

Stuart.
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Post by amjake »

Having been pleased with the performance of Toyo Proxes on my last car I've recently put four on the C5 and if worn for winter would go for new on the front worn to the rear in snow. And not wishing to preach to the converted it also pays to change driving techniques

However in heavy snow I'll go to boot and put the snow chains on!

Haven't been used in years but they came in handy on a number of occassions with the snow this year.

A good investment as I go to Cairngorms and Glencoe in winter to play on the mountains and for an investment of the cost of a tyre or two well worth it.
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Post by KP »

Having always had some kind of performance car in the background or foreground i have always fitted new tyres to the front. I found with my R19 and my 20vTurbo that i could go through 2 sets of front tyres before i would need to think about replacing the rears. Roundabouts used to be the main problem for me and the fact that late night driving on a roads even with a full car meant that sometimes stomping on the brakes to avoid taking out a fox or badger (rabbits aren't too bad... ) helped attack the fronts and i used Avons on the R19 and goodyear eagle f1s on the 20vt. Rachels SSS has goodyears all round and they are still a good soft compound but as rachel doesn't push it that hard the fronts have lasted 14k and still above the wear markers at the front and the rears are well off yet.

I'll be replacing the fronts on hers with some dunlops or conti's on a 205 width instead of 195's as they are cheaper and more available in that size and round here the roads are so bad with pot holes and tracking slots in the roads that front wheel grip is more important to her and the kids safety than rear grip to me and certainly if it snows or floods again as i know with a decent amount of water the undertray on the car and its super low weight means it rides up on water very easily.....
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Post by Kowalski »

Paul-R wrote:I voted front but that's only because there wasn't an option for "Whichever end is having them replaced because they're worn" - which is what I do!
VBH says put them on the rear....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5YsQ_a_ijA
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Post by myglaren »

Kowalski wrote:
VBH says put them on the rear....
Oh dear oh lor' wait 'til Malcolm spots that :shock:
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Post by andmcit »

VBH...
andmcit wrote:Michelin: (warning cheesy American narrator!)


and Vicky Butler Henderson!:
Like what I said earlier? :roll: :lol:

Andrew
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