I'm getting close to needing to replace the tyres that are on the rear of the vRS.

 

The front tyres still have a lot of tread and grip left.

 

Would most people put the fronts on the rear and new tyres on the rear or just replace the rears with the new tyres ?

I would swap them and put the fresh ones on the front.

I've replaced the rears plenty of times. With the fact my fronts seem to last less than half the time the rears do I'm driving half the time with better tread on the rears anyway.

 

Never had any grip problems in 8 years (touch wood).

I would swap them and put the fresh ones on the front.

 

I'd also do this. And try my best to keep a matching set. 

Leave the fronts and fit new to rear, as better/new tyres on the front can cause oversteer which is harder to control and more dangerous than a bit of understeer which is all your likely to get with new rears and used fronts

I find 15,000 to 16,000 miles for front tyres regardless of brand.

Rear tyres going as far as 40,000 miles with 3mm tread left.

Changed rears because signs of the tyre walls beginning to perish/crack..

This is always a can of worms, and always starts a debate.

 

Tyre manufactures, such as Michelin follow the the new way of thinking and insist new tyres on rear. They state more grip on the rear, the car is more likely to understear which is easier to control than less on rear that oversteers.

 

However, I am still 'old school' and place new on the front. This is because on a FWD car the front tyres apply the power, do most of the braking and steer. The rears are just casters, that follow in the tracks of fronts

I've always heard new tyres should be on the drive wheels, so have always stuck new tyres on the front. Never had a garage tell me otherwise and had new tyres put on the front in October, with the rears that have been on for a couple of years now and had no problems, touchwood.

When I put my summer wheels back on, I will need 4 new tyres.....

I don't have problems with age as I rotate tyres every 6 months. In winter I put winter tyres on front and summers on rear, At Easter I swap them around. In saying that I currently have 4 winters on, but the newest are at the front. Hopefully the worn rears will last a few more months until I can buy Asy2 or RS3s.

. The rears are just casters, that follow in the tracks of fronts

 

As long as you've got the same level of grip onto the tarmac they do!!!!

 

Reduce the grip of the rear wheels and the car will go sideways,end of.

Leave the fronts and fit new to rear, as better/new tyres on the front can cause oversteer which is harder to control and more dangerous than a bit of understeer which is all your likely to get with new rears and used fronts

As above, to put new on the front and leave tyres with minimal tread on the rear is dangerous. Total nonsense about 'front end grip in a fwd car' under steer is more controllable than oversteer to most people, especially if it happens unexpectedly.

Has nobody heard the old saying 'under steer is when you see the tree that you are going to hit, oversteer is when you don't see the tree that you hit' or words to that effect?

Our police vehicles always used to have them swapped by our own workshops (ie council) so that new were always fitted on the rear of fwd response cars, a bit different for rwd or 4wd of course.

However, when Vensons bought the complete fleet for a nominal £1 (yes, one pound sterling!), they hadn't got a clue, it was all about money, not vehicular and driver safety, so tyres were just thrown on.

Has nobody heard the old saying 'under steer is when you see the tree that you are going to hit, oversteer is when you don't see the tree that you hit' or words to that effect?

With the outcome being 'you've hit a tree' I'm not sure what solace you would take in the fact you managed to keep eye contact with it up to that point?

 

If you're tyres are bald enough to be losing grip during normal day-to-day driving then, to me, it doesn't really matter which end they're on? They need to be replaced.

With the outcome being 'you've hit a tree' I'm not sure what solace you would take in the fact you managed to keep eye contact with it up to that point?

 

If you're tyres are bald enough to be losing grip during normal day-to-day driving then, to me, it doesn't really matter which end they're on? They need to be replaced.

 

No ones mentioned bald tyres!

If your used tyres are half worn they will not give anywhere near the grip of new ones. 

True, and I concur, but the question was about replacing tyres and on which axle the worn ones should be.

I asked my friend, who's still a traffic cop and a BARDS instructor, and he said the same as me, for the same reasons.

Again, it's fine to have oversteer, but only if you're expecting it, but if it catches you unawares then most drivers will panic and nit ge able to catch it, whereas under steer in a front wheel drive car is more obvious and easier to recover from.

Never have thus problem of course with SWMBO other car, a Grand Cherokee with snow tyres.....

 

 

No ones mentioned bald tyres!

If your used tyres are half worn they will not give anywhere near the grip of new ones. 

 

I still maintain that if your half worn tyres often lose grip on your daily commute then you have problems beyond which axle they are installed on.

If my rears are low and the fronts are ok I always put the fronts on the rear and buy new fronts however generally I swap them round every 6 months or so to get a sort of even wear however the rear will never wear as fast as the front.

 

I always wound better tyres needed on the drive wheels as others have said.  Rears can go for a year on 2-3mm easily where as fronts have no chance.  Also when on the track your rear tyres very rarely get as hot or worn as the fronts as most of the grip is the front as thats where the weight is.

I still maintain that if your half worn tyres often lose grip on your daily commute then you have problems beyond which axle they are installed on.

where does 'often' come into it????

if you swerve hard to miss something/avoiding action and your car goes into oversteer thats when your in trouble.

there's no argument to be had here, it's fact you should put new tyres on the rear

I said this was like opening a can of worms didn't I. :p

I've changed my mind, after more than THIRTY years of doing it wrong and rotating tyres, I can clearly see that it's a MIRACLE that I'm still alive!

 

From now on, I'm going with the RoSPA brigade, I'm going to forget everything I thought I knew about driving FWD cars, when I think all those Pug and Golf GTI's I owned for all those years with slightly better tyres on the front than the back I could have been KILLED a thousand times over, it makes me shiver, I must be the luckiest hot hatch 'survivor' in the whole wide world.

 

No more risk for me, I'm off outside right now to measure tread depths and get this sorted once and for all.

I always wound better tyres needed on the drive wheels as others have said. Rears can go for a year on 2-3mm easily where as fronts have no chance. Also when on the track your rear tyres very rarely get as hot or worn as the fronts as most of the grip is the front as thats where the weight is.

My point exactly; if you're on a track, you are driving to the limit and expecting under steer or oversteer, so the issue is not the same as on a public highway.

Let's face it, on a track you are all, or should be, travelling in the same direction, on a wide bit of Tarmac, and if you have an 'off' you may obliterate a few molehills, nests of shrews etc, or Armco if you're really unlucky. On Her Majesty's finest highways you're more likely to be caught out, and have an intimate meeting with a tree or a foreign piloted HGV.

By the way, if you're going out now to change your wheels and tyres round, look out for some over steering **** coming round the bend whilst trying to apply great armfuls of oppo.....!!!!

Speaking from my Personal experience.

I would put new ones on the rear and move the rears forward.

I bought 4 x UR2's. Fronts are running low and will be kaput in a month or so. When that time comes I will put the rears onto the front and put new tyres onto the rear.

I've changed my mind, after more than THIRTY years of doing it wrong and rotating tyres, I can clearly see that it's a MIRACLE that I'm still alive!

 

From now on, I'm going with the RoSPA brigade, I'm going to forget everything I thought I knew about driving FWD cars, when I think all those Pug and Golf GTI's I owned for all those years with slightly better tyres on the front than the back I could have been KILLED a thousand times over, it makes me shiver, I must be the luckiest hot hatch 'survivor' in the whole wide world.

 

No more risk for me, I'm off outside right now to measure tread depths and get this sorted once and for all.

 

Should have known the forum know all would know better than the people that design and make the tyres

Everyone knows new tyres go on the rear surely

I would swap them and put the fresh ones on the front.

 

New tyres should always go on the REAR! Or the tyres with the most tread left. Common sense if you think about it!