The front tyres on my 2016 Citigo have worn more than the rear tyres.   It is due for MOT this week.   Is it okay to have the tyres rotated to even out the wear?   If so  should they be rotated simply front to back or diagonally?  Any advice would be very much appreciated.  

No problems doing that. Front to rear is fine. 

 

Never really understood the reason though. Just means you have to buy more tyres at the same time. I’d just rather do a pair, but then that’s me. 

 

Thank you very much.   The tread on both front tyres is fairly similar between 4.00 and 4.80, but the rear tyres range from 5.50 to 6.50.   Garage has said they will do it for me (for free)  but I am just undecided whether to go ahead - part of me thinks like you that I will eventually have to buy 4 at the same time.   Though I also wonder if the car will drive better with fairly even treads all round.  Thanks again for your reply.  

 

If just leave them as is and replace a pair as required. Besides if you believe the best grip is afforded by the tyres with the most tread on them then really you want them on the back anyway. 

Thank you for your advice.  I will have another chat with the garage and might well leave them as they are.  

 

Always better change all 4 at the same time. This way you have similar tyres back and front. Having different tyres back and front might be safety issue when you least expect. 

 

So yes it is good idea to rotate tyres every 15000km or so. 

Edited 26 August, 20196 yr by Emil

12 minutes ago, Emil said:

Having different tyres back and front might be safety issue when you least expect.

 

Get the same brand tyres?

 

I all seriousness I don’t think it’s really going to be an issue on a Citigo anyway.

Thank you Emil. Manual does recommend changing wheels every 10,000 km or so. Car had done 13000 when bought (now 16000) so probably good to do it now. Many thanks.

Each tyre seems to experience a different amount of scrub from the road surface as you drive and corner.The left hand front tyre is subjected to the most scrub as you make a left turn,and the left hand rear is also scrubbed to a lesser extent.The right hand front and right hand rear follow.This is the reason why you find different amounts of wear.

Some tyres are directional -marked on the tyre wall,so if fitted to the other side would be running in the opposite direction- not done practice  as the tyre structure is put under strain and can be unsafe.I prefer to have the best tread tyres on the front,for best driven grip.this is advisable if you are driving in poor grip conditions.......you usually end up buying a pair.

Just keep existing tyres running on the same side.

"Same brand" doesn't mean tyre is similar. In any means. Rubber also hardens when it gets older which means less grip. 

7 minutes ago, Emil said:

"Same brand" doesn't mean tyre is similar. In any means. Rubber also hardens when it gets older which means less grip. 

 

Exactly. Even if you order four tyres you have no guarantee they are the same age, have been stored in the same location or even made at the same location if you want to get that anal about it. 

Every tyre is stamped manufacturing date which you obviously check when you buy tyres. But if you buy 2 tyres every 5 years tyre model have surely changed. 

 

This is for "techie". 

 

 

Edited 26 August, 20196 yr by Emil

Thank you to everyone who replied to me. I know a lot more about the subject now and will be able to make an informed decision. All advice is very much appreciated.

7 minutes ago, Emil said:

Every tyre is stamped manufacturing date which you obviously check when you buy tyres. But if you buy 2 tyres every 5 years tyre model have surely changed. 

 

This is for "techie". 

 

 

 

Obviously? I can bet 80% plus of the driving population aren’t even aware of a manufacturing date on a tyre let alone check it after driving into kwik fit for tyres. Let alone buying whatever run of the mill budget tyre that’s on offer. 

 

What you say might make sense for a performance car on premium tyres but for a 60 bhp city car I would wager it makes no difference at all. 

5 hours ago, Janett said:

The front tyres on my 2016 Citigo have worn more than the rear tyres.   It is due for MOT this week.   Is it okay to have the tyres rotated to even out the wear?

If you want to even out the wear before the MOT, you have left it too late! But seriously, you have plenty of tread on all 4 tyres and should have no problem getting them through the MOT, as long as they are free from other damage. If you do rotate the tyres , you will probably not notice any difference in the way that the car drives. It is normal for front tyres to wear more quickly than rear tyres, and your rear tyres, which i think would have started out with 8 mm, will have worn down about 2 mm in 3 years. At this rate you could still have those original tyres in 6 years time when they will be 9 years old. By that time the age of the rubber might be a concern, but if you are not going to keep the car for a further 6 years, it will not be a concern to you, and you will avoid replacing those tyres. Of course you will not be lightening the wear on the front tyres if you decide not to rotate them, so it is a bit of swings and roundabouts.

 

It is all very well having a long term plan to rotate the tyres and even out the wear, but these things don't always go according to plan. You may get a puncture that can't be repaired, or damage to the tyre wall making it unsafe.

 

MOT testers will not care if front tyres are more worn than rears (they usually are on a front-drive car), so long as they are not damaged - the law only requires car tyres to have a minimum tread depth of 1.6mm in a continuous band around the central three quarters of the tyre, so if you have 4+mm you will pass, and 4mm is plenty to be safe for a while.

 

The tread is there only for wet grip, to prevent a build-of water under the tyres, so always have the 'best' tyres on the front wheels, which are the crucial ones for stopping and steering - most front-drive cars under-steer (so more prone to slip in the wet from the front).   I'm guessing a Citigo is very unstressed as regards tyres - unlikely to be doing 180 down the autobahn....

 

There are various schools of thought about rotating tyres on cars, but little scientific data, and I expect any results would vary from car model to car model, and from tyre to tyre. Most people are just sheep and do what a bloke in the pub says (actually for most things!)

 

My opinion is to swap front to rear to even out wear, but keeping tyres on the same side, and then, as suggested above, change all 4 tyres at the same time.. OK it costs more in one hit, but really, who wants 2 visits to a boring tyre place when you can do it in one?  I'd rather have an extra hour or two in the garden with a drink....

 

 

Edited 26 August, 20196 yr by freemansteve
spelling

Under steering is safer than over steering. That's why it is better have better tyres at rear. For same reason you should rotate tyres often enough. So you don't have too good tyres at front compared to rear tyres at any point. 

Edited 26 August, 20196 yr by Emil

3 hours ago, Tech1e said:

... but for a 60 bhp city car I would wager it makes no difference at all. 

Of course there is difference. Especially wet and snow conditions. 

1 hour ago, freemansteve said:

change all 4 tyres at the same time.

Nice trick if you can manage by means of rotation to get all 4 tyres down to exactly the legal limit of 1.6 mm at exactly the same time. It's more likely that you will have one tyre at 1.6 mm and the three others at varying amounts over 1.6 mm. If a new tyre has 8 mm of tread, there is just 6.4 mm of usable tread before it gets down to the legal limit, so each mm of tread represents 15.625% of the price of a new tyre.

 

If you have one tyre at 1.6 mm and the other 3 at an average of just 1 mm above the minimum, then by changing them all at this point you are wasting the equivalent of 46.875% of a tyre. That's almost half.

 

Another possible problem is that before you change the tyres you are running on 4 tyres that are all close to the limit. Would it not be safer to have 2 well worn tyres and 2 less worn tyres? (not sure about this, as the legal limit is supposed to be safe).

 

Never found Tyre & Exhaust centres boring and it is a drink from the machine and a flick through the mags for the 20 minutes that it takes.

There are even such a thing as Mobile Tyre Fitters that can come do the business, look at your garden and have the lovely drink and cake you offer.

2 hours ago, Emil said:

Under steering is safer than over steering. That's why it is better have better tyres at rear. For same reason you should rotate tyres often enough. So you don't have too good tyres at front compared to rear tyres at any point. 

 

Debatable with modern electronic controls on RWD - but that's off-topic...  I agree RWD rubbish for traction on snow though - but the OP is not in Finland!

 

It's pretty hard to get a modern front-drive car to oversteer when cornering - unless you like handbrake turns (as I sometimes do). The front tyres will lose grip first, which is why the tyres with the most tread should be at the front. Of course, the amount of tread only matters at all when it is wet (or on fresh snow).

 

Edited 26 August, 20196 yr by freemansteve

https://www.kwik-fit.com/tyres/information/tyre-rotation

 

Kwik-fit do not recommend tyre rotation. To me not everything that they are saying makes sense, but their reason for having the best tyres at the rear is concerned with punctures. They seem to be saying that tyres that are more worn are more prone to punctures, and it is better to have a puncture on a tyre at the front rather than one at the rear, as it is easier to control the car if the tyre gets punctured and deflates suddenly.

 

Whilst they do not recommend tyre rotation, they do recommend fitting the best tyres at the rear of the vehicle.

 

I am wondering whether front tyres are more likely to get punctured than rear tyres, as for much of the time the rear tyres will be following the front tyres, and objects that might cause a puncture will be picked up by the front tyres before the rear tyres can reach them.

 

 

1.6 mm is far from safety tyre. Better buy new tyres when there is 3-4 mm left. Otherwise you have to drive slowly on wet conditions. 

 

************

 

Example 8 mm front and 2 mm at rear is not safe. Doesn't matter if car is equipped with modern electronic controls. 

5 minutes ago, Emil said:

1.6 mm is far from safety tyre. Better buy new tyres when there is 3-4 mm left. Otherwise you have to drive slowly on wet conditions. 

 

************

 

Example 8 mm front and 2 mm at rear is not safe. Doesn't matter if car is equipped with modern electronic controls. 

Good for drifting on a frozen lake though.

26 minutes ago, Emil said:

1.6 mm is far from safety tyre. Better buy new tyres when there is 3-4 mm left. Otherwise you have to drive slowly on wet conditions. 

Driving more slowly in wet conditions is not such a bad idea, as stopping distances will be increased regardless of tyre condition.