New front tyres - swap or not?

AdrianC

rdr wrote: »

* Cash flow, the front tyres will wear out predictably and you will only ever need to change two at a time.

This one sounds plausible, but doesn't actually work out as making sense if you do the maths.

k6chris

AdrianC wrote: »

All decent brand? That's going to make more of a difference than "new" vs "loads of tread left".

What is a decent brand (vs an expensive one where you are paying for the name, not the rubber)??

DoaM

AdrianC wrote: »

This one sounds plausible, but doesn't actually work out as making sense if you do the maths.

It does make sense if you think in the terms stated ... cash flow (not total cash outlay). You generally only have 2 tyres to buy at a time, and rarely would have to buy all 4 at the same time.

AdrianC

k6chris wrote: »

What is a decent brand (vs an expensive one where you are paying for the name, not the rubber)??

It doesn't come from a container bought on AliBaba with whatever brand you want to make up put onto the sidewall.

Tyres are one area there aren't really any "pay for the name not the rubber" brands - even Mich and Conti offer definite improvements over mid-range decent brands, but the real gulf is between mid-range and budget ditchfinders, especially considering how small the price difference can be.

k6chris

AdrianC wrote: »

It doesn't come from a container bought on AliBaba with whatever brand you want to make up put onto the sidewall.

Tyres are one area there aren't really any "pay for the name not the rubber" brands - even Mich and Conti offer definite improvements over mid-range decent brands, but the real gulf is between mid-range and budget ditchfinders, especially considering how small the price difference can be.

Avon?? Seems a reasonable balance???

AdrianC

Avon are one of my mid-range defaults, yep. Or Uniroyal, Vredestein are usually around the same price.

worried_jim

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

I always put new tyres on the back (as per Adrian C) and also if you have a front wheel drive car the rear tyres take years to wear and if you're not careful will perish and the sidewalls crack before they actually wear out. (I get mine done at Costco and they insist on putting new on the back if only replacing 2)

Just had my fronts changed (rear wheel drive car) and the sides had started to perish but they needed changing anyway, I'm guessing they had been on for years. Went for Continentals.

DUTR

andygb wrote: »

Having new boots fitted to the front tomorrow and I am wondering whether or not to have them swapped to the rear. The rears have loads of tread left, but I am not sure whether the best tyres should be on the front or rear.
The car is FWD, puts out around 200BHP and has good handling.

No don't swap them for the rears unless you have been doing that from day one.
They say better tread on the rear for FWD vehicles, TBH your fronts will soon wear down.
As for the rear tyres, mine too still had loads of tread however there was a hum like wheel bearing noise and it transpired the tyres had lost shape, new tyres and right as rain .

andygb

rdr wrote: »

• Safety, loosing grip at the back is more dangerous than loosing it at the front.

I would have to disagree with that point. If you lose grip at the front, you will go straight on, you will lose steering completely.
I have driven RWD cars and you can recover a loose rear end.

facade

andygb wrote: »

I would have to disagree with that point. If you lose grip at the front, you will go straight on, you will lose steering completely.
I have driven RWD cars and you can recover a loose rear end.

It is "safer" to run into something head on, there are crumple zones, airbags, seatbelts etc. to protect you.



Go sideways into a tree and it is a different story.


It is like "turning into a skid", you will likely still crash, but it will be head on, not sideways.


Obviously Real Driving Gods can rescue the car from any situation, but you have to wonder how a Real Driving God managed to get in that situation in the first place.