Hi,

I had a puncture yesterday. I noticed that I had on rear axle 2 different makes - left was Dunlop SP Sport 2000E and on the right Michelin Radial XSE. I am not able to get hold of neither them here in Czech where I am at the moment. The tyre is damaged (Michelin) and cannot be repaired. Now I know I could just buy 2 new rear tyres. But was it ok in first place that there were 2 different makes? Both have the same rating 83W. Could not find this in search.

Cheers

No it is not OK. You should not have different tyres on the same axle.

As above not recommended - i think it confirms this in the hand book.

Although my skoda dealer obviously thought it was ok - they swapped a single rear tyre prior to the car being supplied to me leaving the car with 3 contis and 1 michelin - thanks.....

what difference is it going to make?

i've never worried about it and never had a problem

Makes naf all difference on the rear of a fwd car, I really wouldn't worry about it. I would try to stick to a similar tyre i.e. try not to have a premium sports tyre on one side and a budget remould on the other. Also try to keep the tread dpths balanced across axles. It sometimes helps to rotate the remaining good tyre with the spare in this type of situation so you have 2 new tyres instead of a used and a new.

EDIT: We have a Toyo T1-R and Goodyear F1 on the rear of the Ibiza, hasn't noticably affected handling and they are wearing at pretty much the same rate.

Shouldn't mix different TYPES of tyre on the same axle i.e. radial and cross. Most all tyres are now radial anyway.

Not sure that I would want too much difference on the front - back not so critical as above...

I thought it did not matter as to make just radial and cross could not mix

I would not recommend it, as differing makes and differing tread patterns have different grip characteristics.

I have experienced this on a Fiat Punto in the past. Shocks and springs had been replaced all round and geometry check performed. Leaving a roudabout, the back end stepped out when turning left into the required exit, going round it, no problem. Was put down to the rear tyres, decent branded tyre on rear passenger, and no name budget on drivers side rear. That was in the dry and not even pushing it. It was much more apparent in the wet when cornering. No name budget had much less grip laterally and even less grip in the wet. Had same no name ones on front, so decided that as the four bits of rubber are the only contact with the road to replace them all with a decent tyre. Most tyre places I have been to recommend replacing in axle pairs due to the difference in grip characteristics.

One of the bod's I had dealings with on Scoobynet, had different brands front to rear on his Impreza, and in the wet when pulling away the back end tried to overtake the front in the wet, again purely down to the differing grip levels due to the different brands of tyres. This was cured when he put Bridgestone PP S02's on all round. (Which we both did at same time to get better discount from tyre bay!)

Mark

Ahoj Petr,

Hope you are having a good trip.

In general it doesnt matter too much if the brand of the tyres arn't the same as long as they are good quiality and manufactured the same way. Never mix ply and radial tyres but these days you dont have to worry about that too much as its not really an issue like it used to be.

Never mix a good quality tyre with a low budget tyre and always avoid remoulds (unless you have a death wish). This becomes even more important in the wet.

If you can't get a tyre for an exact match and dont want to buy 2 new tyres just get a quality tyre with the closest tread match.

I forgot where you are based (I think Ostrava?) but my friends in Czech and Slovakia usually have to special order tyres from Germany. They are cheaper but obviously you have to wait for them.

Have some Knedliky for me.