Tyre rotation

[Apprentice]

The Karoq will be in for a 2 year/second service (my choice as do lowish mileage per year) so planning on getting the 4 wheels rotated, the 17 inch Hankook tyres are asymmetric so what is the better form of rotation I.e. NSF to NSR etc. or NSF to OSR etc.?

I take it the only other thing to do afterwards is reset the TPMS after checking pressures?

[pragmatix]

NSF to  NSR, etc, though contrary to popular believe it best to have the better tyres on the rear, personally I wouldn't bother.

[BoxerBoy]

I swapped 2 sets of winter wheels for summer wheels today. A good work out.

 

So that’s my “rotation” taken care of twice a year.

 

I honestly don’t get the “better tyres on the rear” idea when a FWD vehicle makes the front axle Do All The Work.

 

The rear axle simply keeps the tail of the car from dragging on the road.

 

Each to his/her own.

[KenONeill]

Try driving the car; the tyres will then rotate! 

 

More seriously, if you must follow this myth, try OSF to NSR, NSR to NSF, NSF to OSR, OSR to spare, and spare to OSF.

[Phil245]

"I honestly don’t get the “better tyres on the rear” idea when a FWD vehicle makes the front axle Do All The Work"

 

The theory is that it is easier for the average driver to correct understeer rather than oversteer...

 

But as my days of driving on the limit or anywhere near it are long since gone I don't worry about that...!

 

But I do let the fronts wear out first, then buy new, putting the new on the back and bringing the back to the front. Not for any handling reasons, but so I only have to buy two new tyres at a time !!

 

On a 4x4 there may be an argument to rotate them to prevent axle wind up, but not sure about that on a Karoq..!

 

 

.

Edited 2 May, 2021 by Phil245

[Baxlin]

8 hours ago, BoxerBoy said:

I honestly don’t get the “better tyres on the rear” idea when a FWD vehicle makes the front axle Do All The Work.

 

The rear axle simply keeps the tail of the car from dragging on the road.

 

Each to his/her own.

I agreed with this for years, but was put right by an Advanced driving instructor.  Can’t remember the reason, but it made sense at the time!

[Apprentice]

Thanks for all the replies, the idea of putting the tyres with the most tread or when fitting new tyres to front wheels and then getting those wheels on the rear has been around for many a year, plenty of explanations online.

 

 

[kenfowler3966]

18 hours ago, pragmatix said:

NSF to  NSR, etc, though contrary to popular believe it best to have the better tyres on the rear, personally I wouldn't bother.

You must do only this if the tyres can only rotate in one direction as is the case with many now. My winter tyres are like this and you can only swap front to rear on each side. Many guides suggest speaking front to other side at rear.

 Check for the rotation arrow if of this type

 

I swap my wheels around when I go from summer to winter tyres to even out the wear so that all are eventually replaced in one go. I prefer all four tyres to be same make, wear  and age for best performance.

Edited 2 May, 2021 by kenfowler3966

[KenONeill]

6 minutes ago, kenfowler3966 said:

You must do only this if the tyres can only rotate in one direction

OP explicitly states that tyres are asymmetric.

 

[kenfowler3966]

Yes I know but a lot of owners may not know what that means

[BoxerBoy]

13 hours ago, Baxlin said:

I agreed with this for years, but was put right by an Advanced driving instructor.  Can’t remember the reason, but it made sense at the time!

I’ve tried and failed to find a satisfactory reason for putting your bald tyres on the front axle while your treaded tyres are on the rear axle.

 

When the front axle is doing all the work on a FWD car. And Most of the work on an AWD car.

 

 

 

 

[Baxlin]

From Eden Tyres website

[KenONeill]

5 hours ago, Baxlin said:

From Eden Tyres website

Er, that does assume that the road is sufficiently wet for the ability of the more worn tyres on the vehicle to be compromised, without actually being so wet that the ability of the less worn ones is also compromised.

And in this case assume makes an ass of EdenTyres and you.

Edited 3 May, 2021 by KenONeill

[Baxlin]

2 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Er, that does assume that the road is sufficiently wet for the ability of the more worn tyres on the vehicle to be compromised, without actually being so wet that the ability of the less worn ones is also compromised.

And in this case assume makes an ass of EdenTyres and you.

Assume = ass of u and me - so where does that put you as well? 🤫

 

 

[SurreyJohn]

I would rotate them, and moving front to back does even out wear.

 

The better tyres on back is a theory that helps to prevent tail slides.   But it more daft to wear the fronts to say 2mm whilst having loads of tread at back, as you will struggle to brake in very heavy rain when road is awash.

 

The only buy 2 tyres at a time is only advantageous if you intend to dispose of car before next 2 are required, otherwise you still buy 4 over same period (cash flow might improve, but will lose discounts for buying 4).  Lots more advantages of buying 4 together (can change brand, or to all season, or buy something newly launched etc, and won’t find the type on other wheels now discontinued.

 

I know someone that bought set of winter wheels and tyres, much safer, but because they check depths when swapping expect the 8 tyres they now have to last many years, and would have had to buy at least 4 new tyres over same period anyway, so no more expensive.  I have also done this for one car (got them from Germany before stupid Brexit, where wheels and tyres were less than cost of the summer tyres in UK).  
 

Seems better to buy them in first year when not paying for servicing etc than buy the tyres when have other car repair and servicing costs in later years.

 

 

 

Edited 3 May, 2021 by SurreyJohn

[kenfowler3966]

Yes I bought a set of winter tyres for my Yeti. Did two winters with them on that and they turned out to I be a little narrower than they should have been so correct size for Karoq? Now done another winter on Karoq. The two winters on Yeti made its original tyres last 38k until trade in with wheel rotation as well.

[KenONeill]

2 hours ago, Baxlin said:

Assume = ass of u and me - so where does that put you as well? 🤫

 

 

Not in the assumption I neither made not quoted.

[Baxlin]

OK Ken, let’s agree to differ, and leave it there.

 

Malcolm 🤝

[FlyingGecko]

On 02/05/2021 at 15:34, kenfowler3966 said:

You must do only this if the tyres can only rotate in one direction as is the case with many now.

 

That rules out reversing then.

 

But seriously, rather than "direction" markings or arrows it's more usual to see tyres, (often with an asymmetric tread pattern) marked "outside".  So it's perfectly possible to switch them from one side to another, whereas if marked with direction of rotation they'd have to be swapped round on the wheel.  The point being the outside tread is designed to take stresses when cornering in either direction.

 

Further, I've only ever seen direction arrows on bicycle tyres.

[kenfowler3966]

I've not come across tyres with outside on them yet My winter wheels though have rotation arrows.

[FlyingGecko]

 

 

On the left, Bridgestone Turanza P001, 215/50 R18 on my Karoq, and on the right, Michelin Energy Saver, 185/55 R15 on our VW Up. 

The Turanzas are very common on Karoqs.  If I recall correctly the Michelin Primacys that I had on my Octavia vRS were similarly marked.

 

 

[KenONeill]

@FlyingGecko @kenfowler3966 You are both lacking in experience here. I've seen bidirectional tyres with no orientation marking on them,  asymmetrics with one side marked "outside", and directionals (EG Toyo Proxes T1-R) with arrows on the sidewall showing the direction of rotation.

[FlyingGecko]

 

31 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

@FlyingGecko @kenfowler3966 You are both lacking in experience here. I've seen bidirectional tyres with no orientation marking on them,  asymmetrics with one side marked "outside", and directionals (EG Toyo Proxes T1-R) with arrows on the sidewall showing the direction of rotation.

 

Good for you, KenONeill.  I didn't say directional tyres don't exist. I'm sure they do.  Just that I've never seen them in over fifty years driving some three-quarters of a million miles in around 150 different vehicles.  So yes, maybe I am lacking in experience.

[SurreyJohn]

15 hours ago, FlyingGecko said:

 

 

Good for you, KenONeill.  I didn't say directional tyres don't exist. I'm sure they do.  Just that I've never seen them in over fifty years driving some three-quarters of a million miles in around 150 different vehicles.  So yes, maybe I am lacking in experience.

Actually some extreme vehicles (think Ferrari and Hypercars etc) have both directional and asymmetric tyres.  So a set of 4 has 4 different tyres that are each designed for one specific wheel.   But admittedly this is bit irrelevant to Skoda.

 

 

 

[Gabi4]

I note the mounting side of each tyre and at each tyre season change I interchange the front with the rear. In this way, I think they will be worn evenly. And when they are done, I replace them all.