Best tyres on front or back?

[Hydrovert]

Hi all!

Both rear tyres (efficientgrip or something) are getting quite baldy so I've ordered some Goodyear Eagle F1s for the front and I'll be moving the current front tyres (Pirelli P-Zeros) to the back. The question is am I doing the right thing? I always thought your best tyres should be on the front on a front-wheel drive car (I bought the F1s for grip) but after a bit looking around online, people are recommending your best tyres going on the rear? Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[mike0105]

Best tyres on rear is suggested to prevent snap oversteer. I reckon that you are more likely to loose grip and traction at the front, being FWD and with the weight over the front, so I go for best on front. Having said that, all 4 tyres should be in good nick with good grip, or they should be replaced.

 

[ZiggyEP3]

Normally they say to put the tires with the most tread on the back to prevent what mike said.

 

[toot]

I been told to think like it was an arrow, take the tailfin of and you loose control and stabilty.
So best ones rear for me.

 

[G4reth]

Definitely put them on the rears.

 

[Clazzer]

Another one for the rears, YOU have control of the fronts, but the back...Lady Luck, Sod's law, watch this! and **** happens all have a big hand in those. Not good to be overtaken by the rear of your own motor mid bend.

 

[lc_allan]

Always fitted new on the rear and moved old rears to the front. Rare I buy 4 at time unless I get new wheels

 

[G.P]

Best grip tyres to the rear, even if less tread as some new budgets loose traction when new compared to worn premiums.

For me as rear tyres tend to collect punchers more often than fronts and having scrapped many new tyres the new always now go to the front until all are of even tread..

 

[traumapat]

Rear for me too. Ideally you want the front to lose grip before the rears as its more controllable.

 

[AndyG_TSi]

After going to Costco for years for tyres, they always put the new on the rears and rotate the wheels.

This is only advisable, of course, if your car has 4 wheels/tyres the same size.

If your running stepped sizes.....wider at rear/narrower on the front, then you can't rotate, so the new tyres will have to go on whichever axle the tyres your replacing are on.

Horses for courses.

 

[lajohnz]

Oversteer is easily corrected or avoided in fwd by applying a little throttle.

you'd have to be doing some pretty epic driving to oversteer a fwd car on public roads,

It's gets pretty wet here in the UK,so,I'd argue id want them upfront, I'd rather have 7-8mm upfront and 3-4mm on the rear if it was pissing down, aqua planning is more common than snap oversteer


Snap oversteer, if it's gonna happen it's not your tyres at fault .........it's your driving

Snap oversteer seriously?


Tootles off to do some research........one has a habit of putting ones foot in ones mouth


Just to add my main concern would be mixing brands, pzeros and f1's drive carefully

 

[AndyG_TSi]

Oversteer is easily corrected or avoided in fwd by applying a little throttle.

you'd have to be doing some pretty epic driving to oversteer a fwd car on public roads,

It's gets pretty wet here in the UK,so,I'd argue id want them upfront, I'd rather have 7-8mm upfront and 3-4mm on the rear if it was pissing down, aqua planning is more common than snap oversteer


Snap oversteer, if it's gonna happen it's not your tyres at fault .........it's your driving

Snap oversteer seriously?


Tootles off to do some research........one has a habit of putting ones foot in ones mouth


Just to add my main concern would be mixing brands, pzeros and f1's drive carefully

Watch the video on the link, it's sort of sums the issue up. I don't want to start an argument or long debate, everyone will do what they feel is best.

This is merely to highlight where the guideline on new on the rear stems from

https://youtu.be/HdSf0KJie_E

To be fair, the result is pretty conclusive

 

[kazand]

Normally I'd do rears to fronts and new rubber on rear,however having just worn a pair of Bridgestones out in 10k on a Mk3 Cupra ( the rears still have plenty of tread and wanted to see if they would cure/cut down the wheel hop) I've put the new Goodyears on the front, not had any issues.

 

[Richoscos]

I did exactly that - put new Conti Sport Contact 5's on the front and left my nearly down to the wear mark Pirelli P Zero Rosso's on the back. I'm not a mad driver but there are times when I drive hard enough to evoke a tiny bit of oversteer with this set up. Be careful in the wet though if your rear tyres aren't great.

 

[mike0105]

If there is any doubt about the rears they should be replaced anyway, in which case it's a moot point

 

[kazand]

if there is any doubt about the rears they should be replaced anyway, in which case it's a moot point

+1.

 

[G.P]

If your running stepped sizes.....wider at rear/narrower on the front, then you can't rotate, so the new tyres will have to go on whichever axle the tyres your replacing are on.

Some manufactures now fit wider tyres to the front to try to eliminate understeer..

Watch the video on the link, it's sort of sums the issue up. I don't want to start an argument or long debate, everyone will do what they feel is best.

This is merely to highlight where the guideline on new on the rear stems from

https://youtu.be/HdSf0KJie_E

To be fair, the result is pretty conclusive

Well not quite clear cut, if the tyres were switched front to back, with the weight of the engine over the front it may prove to understeer before the rear lost traction, and different results may be found on various pavement type's, on the other hand, a FWD takes much longer to warm the rears and maintain heat in cooler conditions ie wet weather which also can have a major effect on grip which is normally when the rear breaks away. The above test does not indicate tyre or water temp. so no conclusion can really be made..

 

[Chris Bartram]

Oversteer is easily corrected or avoided in fwd by applying a little throttle.

you'd have to be doing some pretty epic driving to oversteer a fwd car on public roads,

It's gets pretty wet here in the UK,so,I'd argue id want them upfront, I'd rather have 7-8mm upfront and 3-4mm on the rear if it was pissing down, aqua planning is more common than snap oversteer

I agree, but it is surprisingly easy- more so in something older. I managed it in a (original) Mini, and a Mk1 Golf.

Snap oversteer, if it's gonna happen it's not your tyres at fault .........it's your driving

Snap oversteer seriously?

Yes. It's harder in a modern car, much of it is engineered out, but still possible. Having said that, I still personally put best tyres on the front, as I'd like the front to go where I point it, and they wear the fastest, but with two influencing factors:

1. I try to drive well within the car's limits anyway, and definitely not panic-brake or snap the throttle hard shut mid corner in a low gear (both of which can induce snap oversteer).

2. All my tyres are well above legal limits and good quality. As others have said, if a pair of tyres are at all in doubt, just replace them.