Fresh tires on the front or rear?
- Thread starter dumkid
- Start date
Get 2 used tires of about the same quality as the 2 tires you are keeping and then rotate them until you need 4 tires.
My approach
With FWD:
Front tires wear down faster than rear tires and stay on until worn.
Rotate the still-good rear tires to the front.
New tires go on the back
Repeat
With RWD:
Rear tires wear faster than front tires
Go to the track and wear out the rears.
Put on new rear tires.
With AWD:
Keep tread with 2mm between front and rear via rotation. Time it so that during the wet season the rear tires definitely have more tread.
With FWD:
Front tires wear down faster than rear tires and stay on until worn.
Rotate the still-good rear tires to the front.
New tires go on the back
Repeat
With RWD:
Rear tires wear faster than front tires
Go to the track and wear out the rears.
Put on new rear tires.
With AWD:
Keep tread with 2mm between front and rear via rotation. Time it so that during the wet season the rear tires definitely have more tread.
But understeer means that front lost traction. If one applies more power than even less traction there will be.
Just IMHO.
Krzyś
If you don't utilize the accelerator, you're stuck waiting until the front wheels regain traction at which point it may be too late to avoid swerving into an object. I'd much rather gun it when understeering and let the front wheels claw their way back to where you want the car.
If the car was oversteering, correct. Fwd understeer already has the front tires past their maximum grip; letting off the accelerator to regain front traction would be the best.
There is a website called ChampTires that I've used a few times when only 1 tire was needed. I've seen brand name tires like Michelin and Pirelli before with 9-10/32nds tread for less than a brand new no-name tire. I suggested this to a friend of mine who got 2 Michelin Defenders with 10/32nds and 1 year old date code for $160 dollars when the off brand tires would have been $250 for 2.
You don't drive much in the snow eh?
On any surface, with a fwd car, if you need the front end to grip you've got get off the gas to start, or off the brakes a bit if you've stomped them, and let the tires rotate at close to the cars speed so they can apply some side force. A rapidly spinning tire or locked, can't help you change direction much, regardless of which way its pointed.
Just in general, in a public road situation, when you are doing evasive maneuvers, more throttle isn't going to help. Get on the brake early to give yourself some time and space to maneuver.
Go try a local autocross and you'll learn a lot about your cars handling in a safe environment. Also go for some rides with the experienced guys and you can see what they do to make the car handle.
Applying power in a FWD car cannot ever help you pull out of understeer.
Lol at all the fussing over this, op said he's in Arizona, it won't really make much of a lick of difference where the tires are placed. The shop will likely only put them on the rear though as sop.
Yes i know it meant oversteer.
Understeer can be reduced with the help of an LSD upon application of power. Obviously most FWD cars have an open diff though.
I've been involved in some glorious FWD under and oversteer situations.
One time with my Gen Coupe RWD I was hard into a turn on the track and it had a bump in it. The back end went up and left the ground. It was only my long learned rural dirt road skills that make it look like I planned it as the car lined up straight and I could hammer it again.
Always on the rear, I have a waiver that customers must sign if they refuse this advice. Too many lawyers looking for blood these days..... and probably 50% of the people agree to put them on the rear after I present them with the waiver they need to sign.
My approach:My approach
With FWD:
Front tires wear down faster than rear tires and stay on until worn.
Rotate the still-good rear tires to the front.
New tires go on the back
Repeat
With RWD:
Rear tires wear faster than front tires
Go to the track and wear out the rears.
Put on new rear tires.
With AWD:
Keep tread with 2mm between front and rear via rotation. Time it so that during the wet season the rear tires definitely have more tread.
With FWD, RWD and AWD:
Keep tread with 2mm between front and rear via rotation. That goes for my 3 season and winter tires on 6 vehicles. Current mix is FWD and AWD.
Town fair tire recommends them on the rear. Better traction. Can steer out of spin (hopefully) with steering wheel.
They put them on rear of a guys car, he wanted on front for better traction going up snowy driveway so they swapped them
They put them on rear of a guys car, he wanted on front for better traction going up snowy driveway so they swapped them
Always on the rear.
I did an experiment as a broke teenager that couldn’t afford new tires, or even gas.
I had two new tires and two BALD (slicks with cords hanging out) tires. In Florida downpours it was pretty unsafe to have the new tires on the same axle. I tried front and rear and it was just unsafe because the bald tires were flat BALD.
I swapped one good tire to the passenger front and one good tire to the driver rear so that I would have at least one good tire on each end. And it was safer and easier to drive in the rain that way. Stopped sliding into ditches at least.
If the tires are BALD and completely unsafe , that method will work ok.
If you still have 2/32 or 3/32 or 4/32 of tread left, put the worn tires on the front and the new tires on the back, as is industry best practices.
I did an experiment as a broke teenager that couldn’t afford new tires, or even gas.
I had two new tires and two BALD (slicks with cords hanging out) tires. In Florida downpours it was pretty unsafe to have the new tires on the same axle. I tried front and rear and it was just unsafe because the bald tires were flat BALD.
I swapped one good tire to the passenger front and one good tire to the driver rear so that I would have at least one good tire on each end. And it was safer and easier to drive in the rain that way. Stopped sliding into ditches at least.
If the tires are BALD and completely unsafe , that method will work ok.
If you still have 2/32 or 3/32 or 4/32 of tread left, put the worn tires on the front and the new tires on the back, as is industry best practices.
