Tyre question...

[MCG]

I bought two new front tyres from Costco, they said what they do is put them on the back wheels and then put the existing back tyres on the front wheels. They said this is to increase stability, but it sounds to me that they do it so my existing tyres wear down quicker so I go back and buy 2 more. I always thought on a front wheel drive car, the front tyres should have more grip if anything. Does anyone know?

 

[Englebert]

I'd always put the best tyres on the front given the choice.

 

[Jonaldinho]

The experts on here state that the best tyres should be on the rear. The reason being if your going to lose it in a clio then its generally the tail that steps out first.

 

[cli0 172]

Think it's more to scrub the tyres in ,putting a new set on the front can raise some fun moments if pushing on in the first 500 miles of their life .

 

[GordonD]

Fresh (ie, not long out of the factory) tyres grip better than old tyres. When your car loses grip its safer if it does it at the front than at the rear. Understeer is safer than oversteer. So the experts say that when you put new tyres on you put them on the rear. But what that strategy is based on is the assumption that when you buy tyres you go buy two more of exactly the same as you've got.

What most enthusiasts would be more likely to do is to rotate their tyres regularly enough that they all wear out at about the same time, and when they need more they get a new set of four (or five) at the same time, not necessarily the same brand or size as previously. That way they don't end up with either understeer (from having old tyres on the front and new on the rear) or oversteer (from having new tyres on the front and old ones on the rear).

But the consensus is that rotating tyres actually wears them out faster. Tyres wear into a profile that suits how that wheel location sits in the road. And if you keep moving them around they have to keep going through that wearing-in process.