Tyres non matching tread pattern

sevenhills

Tokk wrote: »

Only thing I'd disagree with here is you want your best/freshest rubber on the BACK, not the front... Common misconception, but worth informing yourself of.

I was reading last week, a tyre manufacturer recommends best tyres on the rear.

Ganga

I would have thought best tyres on the drive axle,so could be front or rear.

AdrianC

Ganga wrote: »

I would have thought best tyres on the drive axle,so could be front or rear.

The theory is that oversteer is far harder for relatively unskilled drivers to correct than understeer.

As sweeping generalisations go, it's not bad advice.

Bigmoney2

getmore4less wrote: »

What's on the back now?

had westlakes front and back but i couldn't find them anywhere.

AdrianC

Bigmoney2 wrote: »

had westlakes front and back but i couldn't find them anywhere.

Who? Never heard of 'em.


http://www.westlaketyre.com/eu/index.php/about
Oh, Chinese ditchfinders.

National seem to sell 'em.
https://www.national.co.uk/tyres/brand/westlake/

Tokk

AdrianC wrote: »

Who? Never heard of 'em.


http://www.westlaketyre.com/eu/index.php/about
Oh, Chinese ditchfinders.

National seem to sell 'em.
https://www.national.co.uk/tyres/brand/westlake/

Ooh no, no no no!

Ditchfinders maybe better than they used to be, but they're cheap for a reason (ie: no-one would buy them if they weren't)... In the dry they can be passable if driving sensibly, in the wet they can be outright scary regardless of what you do.

Most recent car buy came with three ditchfinders on (previous tyres got advisory on pre-handover MOT and seller replaced with cheapies - I'd rather they'd offered the money off instead to be quite honest)...
Gave them an honest go (albeit with caution!) but on wet motorways and a-roads they were frankly scary regardless of what I did, very poor feel, extremely poor braking and noticeably poor with standing water.
2,000 miles later they went in the bin and back to Michelin's (primacy 4) and the difference is night and day.

Any decent midrange tyre will be night and day to a ditchfinder - had Avon's in the past and they're good rubber and priced very competitively. Michelin's I find a tiny bit more refined and last noticeably longer (not enough to pay the additional price off I don't think, though).

Joe_Horner

Tokk wrote: »

Ooh no, no no no!

Ditchfinders maybe better than they used to be, but they're cheap for a reason (ie: no-one would buy them if they weren't)... In the dry they can be passable if driving sensibly, in the wet they can be outright scary regardless of what you do.

Really??

Got Landsail "ditchfinders" all round on mine and been driving happily at the national limit (ahem) for the past 4 years on them - in dry, rain, snow, and "only on Anglesey" downpours.

Not once have they been "scary", even in the deepest standing water our crumbling local roads can throw at them.

System

Bigmoney2 wrote: »

Thanks, I would be less concerned if they were on the back, but I changed both fronts so they would match.

You should be as concerned with back tyres as front because although they don't do much braking they do contribute towards stability when cornering so that you're not having the tail end slide out every time you go round a bend. In fact it could be argued you want the better tyres on the rear as they both suffer weight being transferred off them when braking and don't have the advantage of the weight of an engine to hold them on the road.

Gloomendoom

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Really??

Got Landsail "ditchfinders" all round on mine and been driving happily at the national limit (ahem) for the past 4 years on them - in dry, rain, snow, and "only on Anglesey" downpours.

Not once have they been "scary", even in the deepest standing water our crumbling local roads can throw at them.

My wife has Landsail ditchfinders on her car and they are fine... except in snow where they are absolutely useless. They have no grip in any direction at all. Both scary and dangerous.

I'm getting rid despite them having 4-5 mm of tread left on them.

sevenhills

Gloomendoom wrote: »

My wife has Landsail ditchfinders on her car and they are fine... except in snow where they are absolutely useless. They have no grip in any direction at all. Both scary and dangerous.

Has your wife got experience of driving in UK snow, is she expecting some more??