Front tyres (bridgestones) on the vRs still have some reasonable tread (10k in), backs have significantly more.

Just wondering if it's worth swapping front to back now, then ditching all 4 in a few months and getting full set of Goodyear Eagle F1's. Rather than replacing fronts sooner with F1 and backs later.

There no cost / financing issue either way as it will go on company credit card anyway.

Edited 15 March, 201511 yr by Exeterj

I'm going down that same path with my mk2 vRS. Swapped them over at 12k with the intention of changing all 4 as I too want to change the Bridgestones to see if I get a quieter ride and more miles out of the Goodyears.

Front tyres (bridgestones) on the vRs still have some reasonable tread (10k in), backs have significantly more.

Just wondering if it's worth swapping front to back now, then ditching all 4 in a few months and getting full set of Goodyear Eagle F1's. Rather than replacing fronts sooner with F1 and backs later.

There no cost / financing issue either way as it will go on company credit card anyway.

Definitely.

 

Just wondering if it's worth swapping front to back now, then ditching all 4 in a few months and getting full set of Goodyear Eagle F1's. Rather than replacing fronts sooner with F1 and backs later.

I'm a staunch believer in regular cross rotation for better tyre life. Bring the fronts directly to the rear. RR to LF; LR to RF.

Probably won't be able to do cross rotation unless your will to pay to have tyre switched on rims as there more than likely rotational

I always do this to maximise the use of the tyres & usually means you can replace all 4 in one go.

I think with the Conti CS2, as they are rotational, you will have to keep them on the same side but rotate front to back.

 

I'm a staunch believer in regular cross rotation for better tyre life. Bring the fronts directly to the rear. RR to LF; LR to RF.

This works with non-directional tyres only, your stuck with same side with directional.. 

Nope, I always have a pair of full tread depth tyres on the back. Only a fool would do otherwise

 

I wear out the front tyres then I just move the rears to the front and put new on the back. Keeps the rear tyres fresh

I wear out the front tyres then I just move the rears to the front and put new on the back. Keeps the rear tyres fresh

That's a thought, but this time around I want to do a tyre manufacture change so would prefer to do all 4 at once, and then the next set maybe a full set of winters (thinking next autumn) depend on mileage and wear.

Nope, I always have a pair of full tread depth tyres on the back. Only a fool would do otherwise

 

 

How does that work then, as once you've done a few thousand miles you won't have the full tread depth left.

I always rotate my tyres to get more out of them the fronts on my octy vRS TDI are wearing really fast

How does that work then, as once you've done a few thousand miles you won't have the full tread depth left.

Stop being pedantic, you knew what he ment and why, its this front wheel drive understeer issue that many more experienced drivers are on about, its been mooted many times before.  I ragged the poo outta my cars, always have always will, always keep legal tyres too and I must say I've never had the backend let go but, each to their own AND (oh yeah, its a big and) the tyres companies do recommend new tyres be fitted on the rear with the worn tyres moved to the front so, I guess there's something it.  Probable more to do with rear tyres lasting so many years with low mileage drivers they'll perish before being worn out.

I was advised, on a previous vehicle, which didn't have rotation specific tyres, that when I asked them to swap diagonally as you used to in the old days, they advised only to swap front to rear.

I asked why and they said the tyres had "got used to?" the way they rotated and were best left rotating the same way.

My Subaru manual says to rotate the tyres diagonally every 6 months or 6000 miles and even has a service counter that pops up on the MFD when the rotation is due. I do this anyway as it pretty much exactly matches my winter/summer changeover.

Don't forget the vRS has ESP to prevent oversteer so I'd suggest having tyres with less tread on the rear (but still legal) than the front is not an issue at all?

The stock Sport Contact 2's fitted to my VRS are non-directional and can be swapped on diagonals. I was surprised to see no directional markings when I swapped back from winter tyres during the weekend. Lining all 4 up in a row showed exactly the same pattern with alloys facing me. It's probably one of the reasons they are so mediocre, but at least I will achieve relatively even tyre wear.

Don't forget the vRS has ESP to prevent oversteer so I'd suggest having tyres with less tread on the rear (but still legal) than the front is not an issue at all?

ESP won't override the laws of physics. It can however make one feel overconfident of the cars characteristics.

My Passat had it's original rear tyres on the back when I bought it (had a 2006 code on them so were original or NOS)... They were 6 years old and had 80k+ on them, perished to hell and saw toothed but not that worn. It was quite happy going sideways in the wet with a bit of lift off oversteer.

I tend to replace two tyres at a time. The fronts usually wear first, so I move the rears to the front and fit the new tyres to the rear (and ditch the fronts I have had removed).

 

Here's why:

 

Excellent video I saw something like that on an episode of 5th gear a few years ago

I always do this to maximise the use of the tyres & usually means you can replace all 4 in one go.

I think with the Conti CS2, as they are rotational, you will have to keep them on the same side but rotate front to back.

CSC2 are assymetric, not directional

 

Probably won't be able to do cross rotation unless your will to pay to have tyre switched on rims as there more than likely rotational

Depends on the Bridgestone (OP said he has Bridgestone).  Except for the RE050, most of the other Bridgestones are assymetric (RE050A, S001, R003, R002). 

 

I agree, totally pointless exercise swapping a directional on a rim in order to achieve a cross-over - unless there's some very odd wear patterns you are trying to counteract.

 

I can't think of any OEM tyre fitted to a VW group vehicle lately that was directional ( someone will prove me wrong). 

 

 

Re: best on the rear.  I'm all for it but if you want to change all 4 tyres in one hit then you have to compromise a bit and make a judgement call.

 

I've got a set of 18" rims & near new (6.5mm & 7mm tread depth) RE050A sitting in the garage waiting to be fitted.  My current 17" RE050A were at 3mm front & 4mm rear.  Safety Inspection (MOT) is due in July & I want to get the maximum life out of them before fitting the 18" rims so I did an x-rotation with the 4mm up front & the 3mm at rear.  By July they'll be 2.5mm all round and ready for retirement.

 

The 7mm will go on the drive wheel & the 6.5mm on the rear.  When the drive wheel wears down to 5mm I'll put them on the rear an bring the rears on the front.  Both ends will hover around the same tread depth.  It's a compromise but I don't buy new tyres anymore - I usually buy a set of near new 2nd hand rims & tyres and change the whole lot together.

I was advised, on a previous vehicle, which didn't have rotation specific tyres, that when I asked them to swap diagonally as you used to in the old days, they advised only to swap front to rear.

I asked why and they said the tyres had "got used to?" the way they rotated and were best left rotating the same way.

This is partially correct.  The drive axle will get a "twist" in the tyre but it can be removed / relaxed.

 

Imagine the components in the tyre when new line up like:

IIIIIIII

On the drive axle after a while they will twist like:

\\\\\\\\\

If you kept them on the drive axle but swapped them left to right the driving of the wheels would try & force the twist in the opposite direction from:

\\\\\ to //////

this can cause problems as it is happening too quickly and can cause tread delamination (at worst) or just vibrations, etc.

 

If you move them from the drive axle straight back to the lazy axle without changing the direction of rotation then the twist will naturally relax itself:

\\\\\\\ to IIIIII

at the next tyre rotation to the drive axle you can swap sides & change the direction of rotation.

Mine get swapped because I want them to wear evenly, and then replace all 4 with something different. There's no point throwing away good rubber (mediocre in case of SP2's), and I definately will not be buying 2 of the same OEM tyres again.

Regarding running older tyres on the rears, this would be my preference within a FWD front-grip limited car like the Octy. Within my VRS it is virtually impossible to loosen the back end deliberately, even in ESP Sport mode on very wet roads. I much prefer the fronts to have the deeper tread because they are used for ~80% of braking. The video above appear from the late 90's, on a RWD rear-grip limited car, without any electronic safety measures. Rear tyres would need to be in very poor condition (below legal limits) for the Octy's rear to step out.

I`m still putting the new ones on the back, I don't car what anyone says