Tire Placement Myths/Stupid People Q&A

[Poodles]

Driven a FWD car with balding tires on the front. Was on the highway when it was raining and I was cruising along and it started raining harder. Speedo started climbing and I wasn't going any faster :aigo:

If I had the bald ones on the back, I would have been fine....til I hit a corner. On a RWD car it would be much the same, but you'll feel the steering go light first.

IMHO I'd put them on the back as it's just like how brake bias is setup, you NEVER want loss of traction in the rear...

 

[Mk3runner]

lol, its better to have good tires all the way around.

 

[ma71supraturbo]

I hate the fact that I am forced into doing an unsafe practice.

Its not an unsafe practice. There is no reason to put the worn tires on the front of a FWD car.

Think about it: Not only is the power, steering, and braking all (or mostly) happening up front, but the front tires are also first to hit weathered roads. They'll move a significant amount of water/snow off the roadway before the rear tires get to them (straight line). In a turn, not only do 99.99% of cars understeer like a bitch, but the rear tires also tend to follow the front's channel (or just inside the front). If they happen to start loosing grip, they will cross fully through the drier portion of the roadway.

I can guarantee that despite dramatic videos showing the danger of oversteering -- the speed at which those scary displays were reached were higher than if the front's had the bad tires.

And as scary as oversteer is, 99.9% of people react just as badly to understeer...

Come on, it's a business, the only thing they think about is making money. You have to think like them. Putting the worn tires on the drive axle, in most cases the front, they will wear faster and the sooner the customer will return for two more. Try that one on them!

^ word. Michelin just wants to sell more tires. They show scary videos so you either:

a) put the worn tires where they wear out fastest
b) entice you to buy a full set of new tires


Think about it -- if what they said was correct, you'd never rotate the tires on a FWD car...

 

[Poodles]

lol, its better to have good tires all the way around.

That's obvious of course...

Its not an unsafe practice. There is no reason to put the worn tires on the front of a FWD car.

Think about it: Not only is the power, steering, and braking all (or mostly) happening up front, but the front tires are also first to hit weathered roads. They'll move a significant amount of water/snow off the roadway before the rear tires get to them (straight line). In a turn, not only do 99.99% of cars understeer like a bitch, but the rear tires also tend to follow the front's channel (or just inside the front). If they happen to start loosing grip, they will cross fully through the drier portion of the roadway.

I can guarantee that despite dramatic videos showing the danger of oversteering -- the speed at which those scary displays were reached were higher than if the front's had the bad tires.

And as scary as oversteer is, 99.9% of people react just as badly to understeer...



^ word. Michelin just wants to sell more tires. They show scary videos so you either:

a) put the worn tires where they wear out fastest
b) entice you to buy a full set of new tires


Think about it -- if what they said was correct, you'd never rotate the tires on a FWD car...

You didn't read my post obviously. Every single car that comes off the assembly line is designed to UNDERSTEER as it's far safer than oversteer (you didn't think the staggered wheel setup on the MKIV was for straight line, did you?)

 

[ma71supraturbo]

You didn't read my post obviously. Every single car that comes off the assembly line is designed to UNDERSTEER as it's far safer than oversteer (you didn't think the staggered wheel setup on the MKIV was for straight line, did you?)

I read your post, but wasn't replying to it. But while the vast majority of cars are designed to understeer, there are exceptions (mostly high performance sports cars/exotics -- the 80's 911 sticks out in my mind).

either way, the fact remains that you would be loosing control at a lower speed with bald tires in the front. Loosing control is bad, whether understeer or oversteer.

 

[Poodles]

All 911's are like that, it's physics LOL

Losing control at a lower speed is far safer than losing control at high speed.

 

[MA70witBoost]

several people here have said it already. The common driver (wich sadly has really no idea on how to properly "drive" a car) is able to control understeer more readily seeing as its a more predictable situation to control. Just dont go fast. If you ask me, Its all a matter of the drivers driving style and what they are used to. Had read somewhere else as far as drivetrains that front wheel drive while promoting understeer is more for the normal drive while a rear wheel drive vehicle (wich is more prone to oversteering since the back tires are the drive wheels) benefits a skilled driver but can get hairy for a noob. All four tires should be over 3/32nds as previously posted by Jeff and even that is a bit low. You should be smooth across the tire w/ the wear bars at that point. Again i repeat. IMO, its really a situation that is dependant on the driver and their driving style.

 

[NoKittenMKIII]

Alternatively, you could try harder to convince your customers that it's worth the money to get a full matched set. There's no substitute.

Best Idea, always.

 

[x10secondzx2]

Put a set of slicks and skinny's on it and call it a day.

But seriously I would rather have the bald tires at the back. I have never ever had the back of my Accord swing out on me and my tires are pretty damn bald. But I have had the car push through a corner and if I had the bald one's up front it probably could of been real bad.
In a RWD car does it really matter in the rain? The rear of my Camaro gets loose every corner when its wet, doesn't matter if I have brand new tires or old ones with the threads showing.

 

[Setheroo]

WTF! :biglaugh:

Yeah, I got "railed" - as in - got YELLED at... not got penetrated...

Its not an unsafe practice. There is no reason to put the worn tires on the front of a FWD car.

Think about it: Not only is the power, steering, and braking all (or mostly) happening up front, but the front tires are also first to hit weathered roads. They'll move a significant amount of water/snow off the roadway before the rear tires get to them (straight line). In a turn, not only do 99.99% of cars understeer like a bitch, but the rear tires also tend to follow the front's channel (or just inside the front). If they happen to start loosing grip, they will cross fully through the drier portion of the roadway.

I can guarantee that despite dramatic videos showing the danger of oversteering -- the speed at which those scary displays were reached were higher than if the front's had the bad tires.

And as scary as oversteer is, 99.9% of people react just as badly to understeer...



^ word. Michelin just wants to sell more tires. They show scary videos so you either:

a) put the worn tires where they wear out fastest
b) entice you to buy a full set of new tires


Think about it -- if what they said was correct, you'd never rotate the tires on a FWD car...

Thing of it is... I promote tire rotation to better the life of the tire, but there is definitely a point where I stop rotating them - due to the tread depth getting way too low, where I ultimately need to replace all 4.

I drive a FWD as my daily, and it's an Acura RSX-S... ALL of the weight is in front, and even with my balder tires in the front, it is still prone to oversteer.

It is so incredibly easy to get the back of my car to flip out on me while its raining, but having the better treaded tire in the back, does in fact help.

Put a set of slicks and skinny's on it and call it a day.

But seriously I would rather have the bald tires at the back. I have never ever had the back of my Accord swing out on me and my tires are pretty damn bald. But I have had the car push through a corner and if I had the bald one's up front it probably could of been real bad.
In a RWD car does it really matter in the rain? The rear of my Camaro gets loose every corner when its wet, doesn't matter if I have brand new tires or old ones with the threads showing.

I think all of our opinions here have a little bit of bias to them, considering how we kind of have this mentality that if you aren't out of control, then you really aren't in control... type of thing.

Put yourself in normal person mode, where a car is just transportation from point A to B, and the blinker fluid needs changed every 3000 just like the oil does.

 

[MA70witBoost]

posting this for debate... this is what my dealership is using as a guideline on the best tire thing...

http://www.michelinman.com/tire-care/tire-basics/reartire-change/

please post your thoughts.

 

[Setheroo]

^ Waaaahooooo - 2nd person that has failed to read the thread in depth enough to see that the Michelin tires video has been POSTED once already!

(Just gotta give you shit for it, you know how it is).

 

[MA70witBoost]

^ Waaaahooooo - 2nd person that has failed to read the thread in depth enough to see that the Michelin tires video has been POSTED once already!

(Just gotta give you shit for it, you know how it is).

ehhh, read it in depth, just not recently enough to have remembered that it was posted. Rememberd the link and posted w/o thinkin. :ban:

 

[WhtMa71]

I had bald tires on my FWD for a few months before I could afford new ones. (Bald because of bad alignment.) I left the balds in the front because of 1st hand experience.

I made damn sure to drive extra slow and careful when it rained and avoided the interstate at all costs. I had the bald tires in the back at one time and the ass end got VERY squirrely even driving in a straight line in the wet.

Also I got to see one of my good buds car after he totaled shit out of it because of bald tires in the back, in the rain.....on a Honda CRX. He was driving down the interstate in the rain going about 55 and the car completely swapped ends unexpectedly, landing the back of his car under a guard rail after it bounced off the opposite side rail..

Either way it's dangerous..Just get good tires all around.