im not a fan of swapping them round, wont a tyre wear to the axle its placed onto and swapping them means the wear will increase slightly on them until they bed back in?

anyways a long time ago wasnt it was pointed out that the best tyres should be on the rear of a car :/ there was even a video showing the advantages of it and no it wasnt a bmw, so as the fronts would wear quicker then there going to have less tread

Granted, but...

Was just onto the 3rd set of fronts on my Scirocco when I had a horrible spin cause by the back end losing grip (bit of aquaplaning). Given the ability of powerful FWDs to get through 3 sets of fronts to one set of rears, maybe worth doing every other pair of fronts? I will do when mine arrives.. A new set of rear tyres has cured its wayward behaviour now.

tlx, on 03 May 2012 - 19:52, said:

I was surprised to find that the full size steel spare ordered with my Fabia FL is marked like a spacesaver, i.e. 'do not exceed 80kph/50mph' and is rated H, a lower speed than the other tyres. Hence it cannot be rotated with the other tyres. This does seem rather odd - why supply a full size spare wheel and then fit a 50mph rated tyre? It doesn't seem to make any sense. Could a standard tyre be substituted, perhaps by a worn original tyre, making the speed of use unlimited - a much more satisfactory arrangement?

it's the same on the previous ford focus models.

the tyre and rim are exactly the same as the standard steel road wheels on the cheap spec cars so can be obviously be used at speeds up the the rating on the tyre.

by the way, H is rated at up to 130mph so you should be fine

they put the 'max 50mph' label on to cover their @rses.

Further to my 3 May post, the standard tyres are Continental Conti Premium Contact 2 205/45 R16 83W and the optional factory fitted spare is Bridgestone Turanza ER 300 195/55 R15 85H. The spare is a 15" steel and the car wheels are 16" alloys. The spare is narrower (195) than the tyres on car (205), and the tyre profile (depth) is 45 on the car and 55 on the spare (as it has to be to compensate for the smaller diameter of the spare wheel). The load rating is 83 (487kgs) for the car tyres and, strangely, more 85 (515kgs) for the spare. The speed rating is W (168mph) on the car and H (130mph) for the spare, so as pointed out of no practical consequence. In summary, the spare tyre has a slightly narrower profile and is mounted on a smaller wheel but has the same rolling circumference since the spare tyre has a higher profile. The spare tyre cannot be rotated with the car tyres as it is a different radius, but there is no practical safety or other reason why the spare should be limited to 50mph.

anyways a long time ago wasnt it was pointed out that the best tyres should be on the rear of a car

I think its actually the other way round!

Put the better tread to the front steering end of the vehicle, as braking force etc throws the weight there and you will get better grip. It was said years ago to put the best rubber on the DRIVEN wheels but as most cars are now fronties, again, the best goes up front. Even on rear "pushers", rather then "Pullers", it is still the best place for them up front...

75% of thr braking force, give or take, is up front so who wants that to lose grip?

anyways a long time ago wasnt it was pointed out that the best tyres should be on the rear of a car I think its actually the other way round! Put the better tread to the front steering end of the vehicle, as braking force etc throws the weight there and you will get better grip. It was said years ago to put the best rubber on the DRIVEN wheels but as most cars are now fronties, again, the best goes up front. Even on rear "pushers", rather then "Pullers", it is still the best place for them up front... 75% of thr braking force, give or take, is up front so who wants that to lose grip?

It's recommended to have the better tyres on the rear because this reduces the chance of oversteer induced by the back loosing grip first in the wet. The thought is the general driving public will lift off and control understeer moments but will have a big accident if the car goes into oversteer.

Me personaly, I prefer the best tyres on the front.

Cheers

Lee

tlx, on 03 May 2012 - 19:52, said: I was surprised to find that the full size steel spare ordered with my Fabia FL is marked like a spacesaver, i.e. 'do not exceed 80kph/50mph' and is rated H, a lower speed than the other tyres. Hence it cannot be rotated with the other tyres. This does seem rather odd - why supply a full size spare wheel and then fit a 50mph rated tyre? It doesn't seem to make any sense. Could a standard tyre be substituted, perhaps by a worn original tyre, making the speed of use unlimited - a much more satisfactory arrangement? it's the same on the previous ford focus models. the tyre and rim are exactly the same as the standard steel road wheels on the cheap spec cars so can be obviously be used at speeds up the the rating on the tyre. by the way, H is rated at up to 130mph so you should be fine they put the 'max 50mph' label on to cover their @rses. Further to my 3 May post, the standard tyres are Continental Conti Premium Contact 2 205/45 R16 83W and the optional factory fitted spare is Bridgestone Turanza ER 300 195/55 R15 85H. The spare is a 15" steel and the car wheels are 16" alloys. The spare is narrower (195) than the tyres on car (205), and the tyre profile (depth) is 45 on the car and 55 on the spare (as it has to be to compensate for the smaller diameter of the spare wheel). The load rating is 83 (487kgs) for the car tyres and, strangely, more 85 (515kgs) for the spare. The speed rating is W (168mph) on the car and H (130mph) for the spare, so as pointed out of no practical consequence. In summary, the spare tyre has a slightly narrower profile and is mounted on a smaller wheel but has the same rolling circumference since the spare tyre has a higher profile. The spare tyre cannot be rotated with the car tyres as it is a different radius, but there is no practical safety or other reason why the spare should be limited to 50mph.

They down rate the speed due to one tyre having different handling charachteristics than the other three 45 v's 55 profile and different width. On cars with 195/55's as standard there's no downrating of the spare.

Cheers

Lee

My Fabia has done nearly 19000 miles now and the tyres have worn pretty evenly. I was going to swap them round, but decided not to bother when I had looked at the tread! Most of my miles are done on reasonable straight roads and I try not to scrub the fronts when doing tight manouveares.

Unfortunately that means 4 tyres to replace at one go unless the backs last a bit longer of course!

Edited 7 May, 201214 yr by threadbear