Hi all

Off to Spa in 2 days looking forward to seeing some of you there.

I brought a pair Yokohama ADVAN Neova ado8's to replace my tired looking Federal 595RsR's.

I couldn't get hold of any more feds so had to settle for the yoko's.

The question is, would you put the new tyres on the front or the rear?
Now I've been told that you should put new tyres on the rear because that is where you want the grip and thats what I would of done had the tyres been all the same.

I'm not sure weather the dry grip levels on the yoko's will be the same as the feds.

Any advice?

Cheers Mart

The general consensus is as you've been advised, new tyres on the rear.

This discussion will run forever....

The only time that new tyres offer more grip than old ones is in the wet, where the greater tread depth will resist aquaplaning better, and (IMHO) when this is the case, you need the tyre with the greatest tread depth on the front. The rear tyres won't have to clear anywhere neas as much water, as they run in the tracks of the fronts.

In the dry, a worn tyre gives just as much grip as a new one, if not more (as the tread blocks don't move around as much)

Personally, when I replace tyres, I simply put them one the same axle that they were removed from - I don't bother swapping front to rear.

In any event, putting part-worn tyres onto the rear when they've been on the front isn't a good idea, as front tyres wear very differently from rears.

On a front wheel drive car in the UK??

It's a no brainer, the new ones on the front.

I know this has been discussed at length about rear tyres to fit new ones too etc etc, but my local tyre place said in normal driving conditions it makes no difference.

Ross

Personally I would put new tyres on the rear, epescially when most of the time in Britain its wet.

http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyre-new-on-rear.html

So would you put your rear tyres on the front?

Ross

Why? Surely the front tyres are the ones that do that vast majority of the water-dispersal - the rears just follow the fronts.

TBH, if the reason is that understeer is easier to handle than oversteer, the driver shouldn't be going fast enough to invoke either if they can't recover it when one or other end lets go.

Besides, what about wet braking? Surely the best tyres need to be on the axle doing the majority of the braking.

Not when you're driving Nigel

Suppose it depends what club your in.....

my take on this is that i want the grip at the front to avoid wheel spin in the wet as i have found with the coops power an a heavy right foot this is more dangerous than the rear letting go at speed, as in the wet only a fool drives at high speeds

Another trail to this...

I give in, but I put my new ones on the rear

I'd rather have some oversteer than terminal understeer!

I see what your saying Nigel, but I suppose its all about the grip in the corners when the rear wheels don't follow the same line as the fronts!

I've put the new one's on the front for the time being, just need a dry road to test them out, they will probably end up on the rear come spa!

They do once you're above about 30mph - it's only in fairly tight corners that the rear wheels follow a completely different track to the fronts - at speed (which is when you want the grip), there is very little steering input

Excerpt from AA tyre advice....

"New tyres to the front or rear?
Check the handbook first as some give vehicle specific advice.

Generally it's good practice to fit the best/newest tyres on the rear – in wet conditions, this favours understeer rather than oversteer.

So if you have the front tyres renewed it's best to have the rear ones moved to the front and the new tyres fitted to the rear.

Tyres with deep tread are less likely to puncture and it's more difficult to control a car with a damaged rear tyre."

I don't think a new tyre is any less likely to puncture. Most of mine have picked up between the tread.

I agree with Nigel on this, but I will add that if you genuinely believe that your tyres are too worn so won't grip as well as new. Why wouldn't you put 4 new on?