on a FWD car. should the better tires be put on front or on the rear. with concern to safety. im tired of debating with my buds about this and i want to know the concensus

 

Front. The majority of the braking is done in the front, the steering, and of course the grip is needed.

 

Absolutely. Whether it be a front or rear drive car.


Terry

 

Front

 

The consensus and Tire Rack differ on FWD cars.

Tire Rack recommends that the new tires go on the back because the back would be where traction would be lost first in an emergency. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=52&

For me, I would probably put the new tires on the front if the rear tires had at least half the tread wear left. I would get four new tires if the rears had a quarter or less tread wear left.

 

+1

If you have two that are in really good shape, put those on the front and the two new ones on the rear. If you have iffy tires all around, buy 4.

 

on a fwd car they go on the back. I'm not gonna type why using my phone...

 

Now I'M confused...............


Terry

 

I remember the tire shop recommended this for me as well, cause you didn't want it to be more likely for the rear end to lose traction first.

I forget how bad my other two tires were. I think they were kinda low, cause I bought another 2 tires within the next year or so.

I think the next time around I just put the new ones on the front. I bought less aggressive tires the second time around though, and the other ones weren't that old.

 

Trailing brake or trottle oversteer (TBO and TTO) happens when you unbalance the car and shift weight too quickly to the front. That is why you need the new tires in the rear for better grip when it is needed unexpectedly. Newtonian physics works well in this case, but can be a little counter intuitive. Oversteer is difficult to correct unless you anticipate it. TTO and TBO also can be your good friend if you can control it well.

http://www.michelinman.com/tire-care...artire-change/

 

I wonder, that given the amount of new cars produced with stability control, if the recommendation is still the same.


Terry

 

did you watch the video?

 

Nope. Dial up.


Terry

 

 

Yes, if you only are replacing a pair of new tires on a F/F car, the new ones go on the rear.

 

As with the others its recommended that the good ones go on the rear.

 

Barbaric, isn't it? I live in a rural area, and my wireless isn't the most reliable. When it goes away I have to rely on the 'ole dialup.

Terry

 

rear, its about obtaining more lateral traction. I was in the tire biz for a long time and people never got it, old habits die hard.

 

I wasn't to sure, but after seeing that video I'm sold.
New tires on the rear.

 

New tires in the rear.

Most drivers are not prepared for the consequences of oversteer (ie the back end giving way) ... however, most can deal with understeer (that's why most cars are engineered to bias understeer versus oversteer).

 

You learn something new everyday.

 

Every shop i've been too always has recommended putting new[er] tires on the front when it's a FWD car. on a FWD car, if you don't have any traction on the front two wheels it doesn't matter how good the rear tires are because all the power and steering is on the front so if you lose control of the car, your pretty much SOL if the front's don't have traction.

 

I just replaced the front tires on my GTI by my friends shop, I confirmed with him that the new tires should go in back, but his guys were too busy to do it, so they put the new tires on the front, and he told me to come back on a day he's not so busy to switch 'em the way they should be.

 

good. i had been saying put em on the rear! and my GF was about to go ape shit with that advice haha. glad she trusts me

 

there was a really good poster i saw at a tire shop awhile ago, it showed that if you drove over a puddle on a turn or ramp, the rear tire could lose grip and you'd lose control.

 

rear, cause the rear slides out first. the front wont slide too much unless your WOT or something.

 

Sorry but they/you couldn't be more wrong.

 

Man that Michelin vid looked fun when the E36 was sliding.... after seeing that I'd almost be inclined to put them on the front first.

But yeah the rear almost always loses grip first, but in certain cars if you lose grip in the front chances are you've lost grip in the rear too, which means you're screwed anyways especially in the rain. I know my car always loses grip in the rear first (no traction control FTW) and I make the most out of it

 

how much tread do you have left? just get new tires and be done with it.

 

and what's the average person gonna do when they lose control? jam on the brakes, which loads the front tires and you get your steering and braking back (for the most part).

Rear wins (unless the only thing you care about is even tire wear, so you put them on the fronts)

 

didn't read every post but saw the first few and thought i'd chime in,

its a VERY common misconception that good tires should be in the fornt.

I'm gonna concur good tires in the back, especially on a FWD.

 

I tested this once on some nice lake effect snow with one of my old beaters. Had 2 tires that were in pretty bad shape and two that still had pretty good tread.

With the "good" tires in back the car drove OK, had some trouble getting traction to start moving especially on any inclines.

When the good tires were moved to the front car drove amazing UNTIL the first corner. Lost the rear end on almost every corner no matter what speed. Keep your best tread in the rear - especially in the snow.......

 

That's a great example, as I used to tell people who argued the traction bit, I would always reply "not many winter time accidents happen because you couldn't make it down your driveway." That's the same reason you see so many SUV's in the ditch during snow storms, the 4WD will get you going with those all season tires, but lots of luck stopping or turning.

 

Firestone's new thing is to put all new tires on the rear.

 

From a performance perspective, put new tires in the front. On nose-heavy FWD cars like ours, we could use the slight oversteer, as long as you expect it and handle it under control. This shouldn't be done anywhere but on a race track. It's a concept similar to front-biased staggered setup, where the front has wider tires than the rear.

From any other perspectives, always in the rear.

Regardless of drivetrain layout and location of the engine, it's simple physics when it comes to vehicles - Front provides steering and rear provides stability.

 

Rear, but today's cars are different. Some have traction systems, & other systems that need to be taken into account.
Also car weights are different front to rear.
I don't think it's a simple front or rear question any longer.

I never replace 2 tires, I get sets of 4.

 

The stability system activates when it senses a loss of traction. Up to that point, it's all in the tires.

Even when the stability system kicks in, it's still all in the tires, because it can only work with the amount of traction present. It cannot create traction.

So if you want to aid the stability system in correcting your vehicle's travel path, then it is wise to put the new tires in the rear.

Front provides steering and rear provides stability. Stability systems are designed and implemented based on that simple principle. The more stability in the rear, the better.

And yes, 4 > 2. I'm the same way.

 

4 over 2 any day. Can't put a price on life.

 

I put my new tires on the rear so when I'm eluding the police I don't fishtale and spin off an embankment. I learned my less, that was me in the video above.

 

rear.