got new tires on back and old ones on front (fwd) :(((((((((

[TRD Man]

even on rwd i would put the better tyres up front.

Of course you would. One doesn't have to be a Rhodes Scholar to work that out.
Any tyre shop that recommended the reverse ought to be shut down. They're simply not qualified to offer advice.

On a FWD car the front wheels provide the traction, the steering and the braking. Of course in this set up you'd fit your best tyres to the front - where the action is.

In a RWD car only the traction is transferred to the rear. This is the least important of the 3 tasks and not enough to justify any other setup.

It's long been believed that the 'average driver' handles understeer better than oversteer. This is because simply lifting off the throttle neutralises the understeer and brings the front around.
What the theory doesn't allow for is the fact that the 'average driver', having overcooked a corner, actually leaps onto the brakes. This serves to lock everything up and accentuate the understeer thereby causing the car to leave the road or cross the centre line.
Having the tyres with the least grip on the front will only exacerbate this problem.

[EVLGTZ]

depends if ya turn left more or right more.

Put the grip ones on the outside wheels and the baldies on the inside.... or is it the other way around???

hmm flag it just buy 2 more tyres and be safe

[Mr Revhead]

Any tyre shop that recommended the reverse ought to be shut down. They're simply not qualified to offer advice

i think youll find thats beaurepairs company policy.

and i also dont agree with it. but for the average joe driver..... more grip on the rear is better.

just for general driving, head into a corner and the front will loose grip first.
what you are all assuming here is they will scream into a corner with masses of overspeed induced understeer.
what is more likely to happen is they are traveling just a little to fast and itll be gradual understeer. lift off, and sorted.

pros and cons to each scenario

[TRD Man]

I think youll find thats beaurepairs company policy.

Certainly not at the Beaurepaires branch that does my work.

more grip on the rear is better.

I'd love to hear your theory Warwick. Any suggestion that a driver would be better off losing grip to the wheels that control direction & speed than to those that simply follow on behind and keep the bum from dragging on the road is, of course preposterous.

what you are all assuming here is they will scream into a corner with masses of overspeed induced understeer.

I think you're assuming that you know what everyone else is assuming. Assumption is the mother of all @#%*ups.

what is more likely to happen is they are traveling just a little to fast and itll be gradual understeer. lift off, and sorted.

Read my previous post.

[Mr Revhead]

[barryogen]

more grip on the rear is better.

I'd love to hear your theory Warwick. Any suggestion that a driver would be better off losing grip to the wheels that control direction & speed than to those that simply follow on behind and keep the bum from dragging on the road is, of course preposterous.

[/quote]

I know, why not just buy a trailer with bald tyres, and put the good tyres on there, take the bald ones, and put them on the car... that way, the trailer wont lose traction in the wet and pull the back of the car around.

problem solved, and you also get a trailer in the process...

Man, I'm smart.






but seriously, in a FWD car, I'd rather have bald back tyres than front, I mean ideally, none bald, but if any, the rears.

[Mr Revhead]

yeah.

but what the enthusiast wants/likes isnt always what THE COMPANY wants.
i know id prefer the new ones on the front. but i can perfectly understand why tire fitters fit new ones to the rear.

[Punter]

I can see pros and cons as well, but in your run of the mill FWD you have to be doing something a bit silly to make the back come round (bald tyres or not).

So it seems to make more sense to have good tyres on the front, for best braking/turning abilities in an emergancy.

[Cahuna]

To be honest my personal preference is to have the better tyres on the back on my road car for the same reason that Stealer mentioned - I feel more comfortable dealing with a little understeer than lift-off oversteer and can better feel the limits of the car (knowing that if the front is holding on then the rear will too). Having said that FWDs tend to be nice in that if they do let go at the rear they tend to spin in a relatively controllable manner.

That is on a FWD road car. With my old RWD Commodore I preferred having the better tyres on the front to give me steering and to use the throttle to control the tail.

The rally car is different again. I want as much grip as I can for drive/braking/steering on the front wheels and largely leave the tail to look after itself, so the best tyres go on the front every time. I don't mind handling the oversteer here as the car is set up for it and I'm ready to catch it when it does slide.

[TRD Man]

i can perfectly understand why tire fitters fit new ones to the rear.

That's tyre fitters Warwick. Tire is what you do when you've fitted a lot of tyres.

And I can understand why too! There's probably a number of reasons.

1. The worn tyres will wear faster on front & you'll be back for some new ones sooner.
2. The new tyres on the rear won't wear so quickly so the company's product will look good.
3. By putting the new tyres on the rear the customer is less likely to notice that you haven't balanced them properly.
4. You don't have to kneel down quite so far to jack up the rear.

there must be many more ...

[barryogen]

I can see pros and cons as well, but in your run of the mill FWD you have to be doing something a bit silly to make the back come round (bald tyres or not).

turn progressivly harder at ~70km/h and hit the foot brake progressivly harder... once you get good at it, you can drift, although somewhat lamely, and not as quickley... so not really at all.

[fangsport]

i can perfectly understand why tire fitters fit new ones to the rear.

That's tyre fitters Warwick. Tire is what you do when you've fitted a lot of tyres.

And I can understand why too! There's probably a number of reasons.

1. The worn tyres will wear faster on front & you'll be back for some new ones sooner.
2. The new tyres on the rear won't wear so quickly so the company's product will look good.
3. By putting the new tyres on the rear the customer is less likely to notice that you haven't balanced them properly.
4. You don't have to kneel down quite so far to jack up the rear.

there must be many more ...

Bruce, you forgot to mention :
1. they all have mates in the car wrecking business
2. they all have mates in the car sales business
3. if they make sure they bloody things wear down to the steel, they also get a kickback from their mates in NZ Police and VINZ.

[THA SHZ]

u wana know the real reason why most tyres shops will tell u to put the good tyres on the rear of a front wheel drive car ?

cause they want u to wear the fronts out faster so u are bak for another 2 tyres shortly afterwards .
i always ask my customers wot they want done , but i wood recommend puttin the new ones to the front

and if u wana know if a tyre shop will change it around for u cheap ....
just ask me

[BZG Wagon]

Dont forget:
TYRES TAKE A WHILE TO BEAD IN!. Dont expect them to be grippy for a few hundred kms. They are covered in sylicone etc.
Another reason for putting them on the front is the fact they will wear in quicker.

Stupid Question; what kind of tyres have you put on the rear? What kind of tyres do you have on the front?

[deaf_rattle]

Dont forget:
TYRES TAKE A WHILE TO BEAD IN!

yes a green rubbish bin out mt wellington way nearly learnt that one night when i got new tyres for the supra

haha

[fangsport]

Dont forget:
TYRES TAKE A WHILE TO BEAD IN!.

and that's why you put them on the front, they'll heat up quicker, especially on FWD as you can huss at every intersection

[barryogen]

Dont forget:
TYRES TAKE A WHILE TO BEAD IN!. Dont expect them to be grippy for a few hundred kms. They are covered in sylicone etc.

Just spin them a bit, it'll burn right off