BX Club Forum

Erm, i'd put the new tyres on the rear, unless you like oversteer??

MULLEY wrote:Erm, i'd put the new tyres on the rear, unless you like oversteer??

I should have had oversteer already considering how low the rears are already, but have been fine so far If only buying two I've always put them on the driven wheels with cars, but general opinion does seem to be divided on this doesn't it.

How about putting one new one on the front, and one on the rear? Then everyone should be happy!

Anyway, oversteer is more fun, at least in a R(ight)WD car..

Mind you, this is assuming the tyre fitters will be able to remove the fronts as they have been massively over torqued by someone in the past. Even with a breaker bar I coulnd't get the buggers undone.

I've always put new tyres on the front too. When I got The Green Tiger, it had Michelin energies all-round, which offered about as much grip as a greased pig. I put Hankooks on the front and never had any tail-out moments (though I do drive in a way that shouldn't provoke this anyway, ie no lifting mid-bend).

Aside from the OMG DRIFT YO, the only reason I can think of to fit new tyres to the rear is to avoid the rears falling apart through age. FWD cars take ages to wear out rear tyres, so in that case it does make sense to fit new to the back and move the rear tyres to the front for a bit of use.

From the Mitchelin link;

6. Rear Tyres
FOR COMPLETE CONTROL, FIT YOUR NEW TYRES TO THE REAR AXLE

Rear wheels are not connected to your steering wheel, which makes it extremely difficult to judge their grip while driving. We recommend that new tyres or the least worn tyres are fitted to the rear wheels to ensure:

Better control in emergency braking or tight corners when the roads are slippery.
Less risk of losing control of your vehicle, especially on wet surfaces
Better road holding, particularly in difficult situations, whether your car is front or rear wheel drive

http://www.michelin.co.uk/tyres/learn-s ... -care-tips

I neglected to mention that I choose to ignore such information (also stated in the handbook for an Audi 100 I had a while back). To be honest, I reckon it's just an arse-covering exercise, like having to replace all of your airbags after ten years. Doesn't mean they won't continue to work properly after ten years, just means you can't sue the manufacturer if they don't...

That Michelin recommendation seems to have good reasoning.

but then some handbooks recommend "circulating" the wheels (or crossing over in other handbooks) every n thousand miles, to keep wear even on all wheels

and what about a car that has a lot of understeer, you don't want less grip going too fast into a wet corner on a car with understeer, it's too late for the car to start the turn once you're in the hedge

Hell,

when the tyres wear out just replace 'em.

Its all ive ever done and i suspect thats all most people do.

Andy

Understeer is far easier to correct, you just gently lift off the throttle & the front wheels come back into line.

Oversteer is far nastier to deal with, front is gripping great & then the rear tyres let go, oh sxxt as the back end steps out Lifting off wont help as that'll make it worse (most people will panic & do the lifting off bit) & then you'll get very nasty lift off oversteer. You have to steer into the slide which does feel very alien.

I much prefer understeer, much safer to sort out & more predictable when on the limit, which of course i don't do these day's

Rotating the tyres is fine, i always do this to try & ensure uniform wear, so then if the tyres have similar tread depth, its irrelevant as to whether they are on the front or rear.

Site below has some info about this stuff with pretty pictures:

Understeer

http://www.drivingfast.net/car-control/ ... z1hCsXSBPH

Oversteer

http://www.drivingfast.net/car-control/ ... z1hCsXSBPH

in the past, when I used to drive Amis and Dyanes which have massive understeer you could go into a corner and do the lift off procedure ....but it had little effect, Amis and Dyanes just have too much understeer. Slightly worn tyres on the back of them are better than on the front, never ever had oversteer on an Ami or Dyane.

DS 23 EFI .... god when that went in the wet (happened to me twice) it was sudden and frightening, and a lot of movement of the steering wheel back and forth to save the car. Never had that on an Ami or Dyane (turn the steering wheel and wait a week for the car to make its mind up)

It's MoT day tomorrow for the old RD

I finally got round to replacing the cracked front reg plate yesterday so that's one less fail point. The front brake pads need renewing (which I've got) but I'm hoping it'll get through the test so I can do them at my leisure. It had no advisories last year but that doesn't stop me being anxious!

Assuming it passes OK I'll be offering to my Dad as a second car as I no longer need it myself. It's been a while since I've cluttered up his driveway with old tat

It passed What a relief. Got an advisory though on slightly corroded front brake pipes which is a bit annoying as I was hoping for a No in that box!

robt wrote:It passed What a relief. Got an advisory though on slightly corroded front brake pipes which is a bit annoying as I was hoping for a No in that box!

For a 20+ year old car that still a great result!

Too right Tim, I've been really impressed with how capable this car has been over the last 6 months so it deserved a pass

Edit: it's still on the wrong trims though despite trying to source the correct ones!