on a MC, is it better to have the best tires on the front or on the rear? I had thought that on a car like the MINI, the best tires should be on the rear in order to avoid oversteer, but the advisor at my dealer says that since the driving wheels are the fronts, then the fronts should have the best tires......what is the general concensus? I do not rotate....I let the fronts wear down, then buy new ones and put the new ones on the rear and move the current rears to the front....comments?

 

Front

 

I think he's backwards. I'm doing the same thing drive down the front then buy two new ones. The rub is put the new ones on the rear. The last thing you want is for the rear to start breaking loose. The front will be fine but you want the rear of the car to follow along instead of the other way around.

 

i would try it on the front and if your feel that the car's tail happy,
i would swap them with the rear and see.

trial and error.

 

Why would you not rotate your tires? You want the tires to wear evenly all around for the best and most consistent handling...

 

IOmini: that is what I do...new ones go on the rear and move the ones that were on the rear to the front......Red Skunk: the thinking of not rotating is that the rears always will have good tread on them, rather than having all 4 tires wear down almost to the tread bars...and then you only have to hit your wallet for 2 tire replacements at a time rather than 4....this of course only works if you are happy with the tire models and do not plan on trying out different tire types....more comments please

 

some people (like me in the past... now a days i hate road noise) like
to have max contact when they take out our hobby cars each time.

your 'consistent handling' is handling that is not to the max each time.
that, it will be consistent on. hehe

 

i don't rotate my tires b/c i have a larger lip in the back than the front. 1.5" vs 1"

 

The best tires should be on the front. The front is where you steer the car from. The front is where the power from the engine is applied. The majority of the braking power is from the front as well. As long as you have control from up front, it doesn't really matter how much control the rear has (to a point of course.)

Annoyingly, tire places will only put new tires on the rear. I tried to fight it the last time I replaced tires (95 Chevy Lumina), but the place was adamant that the rear is correct. They want to make sure the rear end of the car doesn't break loose and spin you out. I was worried that if the tires are going to break loose either way, I'd rather be able to steer, apply more power and brake better. I rotated the tires as soon as I could.

 

If you choose not to rotate, yes, better ones in back for the oversteer prevention.
I'm a rotate and buy 'em all at once kind of guy. Especially on a FWD - oversteer? WHAT oversteer? YMMV.

 

throttle up in mid-turn. my car will try to oversteer until DSC corrects it.

 

My first set of runflats was just worn down on the fronts, then all 4 were replaced with non runflats. I went through two sets of rotated tires. My next two sets were replaced two at a time without rotation.

What's the biggest difference?

Well it might cost a bit more to replace two at a time because you don't get the discounts that getting 4 tires at a time might get you.

So last time Edgeracing had a sale, I had 4 tires shipped to me, and just replaced 2 at a time. I think this is ideal if you like your tires and have a place to store them. Then you always have 2 spares if needed and still get the good pricing.

 

With FWD? Throttling up sends weight to the back, and if you hit the throttle hard, you can spin the fronts (certainly not the rears!) I've only experienced lift throttle oversteer (oops!) in the MINI. YMMV

I can definitely do that with the Miata, though. Throttle steering good.

 

i meant to take your leaded foot off the gas (up) in mid-turn. lift throttle.

 

Michelin says rear - click for video

 

my head is not working right...should not have skipped lunch..



lol

 

My rears look fine, but the fronts are utterly toasted - still legal, but it is getting to the point of no return.

I will simply buy a pair of fronts in a few weeks, I have found over the course of 50K miles that the fronts wear three times as fast as the rears.....

The last time I changed my tires I swapped all four, this time it will just be the fronts, same type and size and I will be all set....

 

so far, amongst us experts here on this part of the forum, 2 posts commit to best tires on the front, 3 post commit to best tires on the rear....Octane Guy seems to have a preference but i am not sure which way he thinks is the best for the new tires.........when I let the fronts go down, i don't let them get too low....I do the head on the penny rule so at least the fronts don't get bald

 

PGT....nice video...that is what I thought...but perhaps is it different on a hatchback car like the MINI with no trunk? ( I know, it has a boot....but you know what I mean)

 

Safest to put the best tires on the rear, especially if the worst ones are
really worn and the roads are wet.

If you're willing to be extra careful in the rain, however, it's a lot more
fun to have the best tires on the front.

In dry weather, you're actually better off with the best tires on the front,
unless the back tires no longer have legal tread depth, or are way over
6 year old, or are grossly mismatched to the other pair in terms of quality,
in which case they shouldn't be on the front nor the rear.

 

The rear according to Tire Rack ...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=52

 

how does the shape of the car affect tire traction in the rain? The MINI is closer to 50/50 than the Pontiac, but even an AWD car won't save you in the rain when you've exceeded the drag coefficient of worn tires

 

I was thinking that a full size car, like a Taurus, since it has a bigger trunk overhanging extending out beyond the rear wheels would be moe apt to have the rear end swing out around a curve, thus more apt to oversteer, compared to car with no trunk overhanging the rear wheels like a MINI....but the MINI can still oversteer if the situation is right

 

Wow, I wouldn't have ever guessed to put the best on the rear of a FWD car. I'm glad I read the thread - even if opinions differ! I'm just now trying to decide whether or not to rotate my run-flats after about 5,000 miles. I plan to replace all for with non-runflats when the time comes. I guess I should rotate???

 

I think it depends on your goals. For safest in bad weather, new tires on the rear. This means your front tires will hydroplane, you'll notice it (flashing orange light) and slow down. If you want to be able to drive faster, best tires on the front. If you aren't paying attention the rear end will pass you (or flashing orange light for a different reason).

I rotate my tires and keep them all substantially the same. I want to be able to go in and out of the wet and dry (in the Southwest that seems a normal day on a road trip) with the minimum of disruption. Tires equal at all the corners will change the handling the least going from wet to dry. As a consequence I'll replace all four tires before the penny thing since with less than about 4/32 tread depth the wet handling seems to start going. Sure, they'll be safe if I go very slowly when the road is wet . . . but why?

Oh, I'm under the steadfast delusion that rotating the tires evens out the wear. I can drop a tire with 4/32 left with about the same mileage that someone who doesn't rotate their tires will have to drop them because of cupping or one side or the other of the tire going bald or noisiness . . . and I'd like to keep this belief. I like messing with the car.