Where would you put your 2 best tyres?

[wynode]

If you had 2 tyres that grip significantly better than the other 2, where would you put them?

On the fron or on the back? (state why!)

[JDM.Power]

lets say if you had a civic and a 200sx for eg.
civic FWD...so il put them on the front for more grip..! and wont lose traction at the start when you try an launch at around 5-7rpm
and 200sx RWD put them at the back..for more grip an keeps the car on the road...beside doin fishy all the way up the road :)

[Kawasaki]

Front if driving a FF who cares if the back slides out you can always correct it with a bit of accel from the fronts + dorifto is fun (dont do it on the street :D)

[IRI]

Always put them on the wheels that steer the car.... the front....

[garett]

first i would say buy new tyres.........

but i would definately put them on the back, i dont like to drift a ff car so when cornering hard i want the back to stay on the road

[Chi]

I usually have my oldest tyres placed at the front when i get new tyres.

To get a full usage out of them.

So basically changing the rear tyres to the front when i purchase new tyres for the front.

[SHWCARCIVIC]

If a FWD car I would place the new tyres on the front for the obvious reasons breaking, accelaration and steering (more grip).

[type one]

hmm depends what type of driving you do.

If for the street, usual wet weather, normal braking conditions etc then on the front.

If for twisties (on a fwd car) then the back - give you the confidence of knowing the limit of your car without ever pushing the limit - good for twisty training purposes :)

[wynode]

Talking about a FWD car BTW

[wynode]

And its in regards to the track

[57UDD]

On my teg i always get the new ones on the front. Feels better than puttin in on the back. Thats my opinion though. If it starts to kick out then just correct it.

[type one]

on track (ceteris paribus) your lap times will come down with the good tyres at the back ( i am providing that we aren't assuming your front tyres are down to their tread wear indicators).

this is unless u a track whore who really has a good feel for their chassis and can get the slide working for them (and that's definitely NOT drift style either).

[fusion_VTi]

front wheels dude, better traction + handling ability

[wynode]

Well this is how I see it. For a FWD car you'd tend to put your best gripping tyres on the front as these are the wheels that put the power to the ground and also take the brunt of the breaking.

However my issue is that if you have tyres that don't grip too well on the rear, your mid corner speed will be somewhat lower due to the poor gripping wheels on the rear and the subsequent result of the rear sliding out. I know this for a fact as I have tried this on my car and noticed a big difference with the rear sliding out (with poor tyres on the rear). I was speaking to someone ( a pretty experianced driver who tracks their car) and was told to put the good tyres on the front when on the track in order to improve braking and accelerating out of corners. However given that my lil 1.6L non LSD-equipped car won't pull me too hard OUT of the corner I feel there might be more benefit by putting them on the rear. Hell there is only one way to find out.....and that is to do a few sessions with them on the front, and a few sessions with them on the back and see which gives the best time :)

Anyways.....on another note, for street usage there with inexperiance drivers I remember reading a long thread which said that its betttter to have the grippy tyres on the rear as novice drivers find it harder/more dangerous with a sliding rear end (especially in wet conditions / icy road surfaces).

So any other views? :)

[LAGOOT]

in regards to the track i say put the good tyres at the front.
more grip. FF = good tyres on the front

[wynode]

in regards to the track i say put the good tyres at the front.
more grip. FF = good tyres on the front
How's about an explanation as to why?

[sheepo]

silly question, why not slam the same type of tyres for both the front and back??? wouldn't that be ideal? :confused:

[Kawasaki]

Anyways.....on another note, for street usage there with inexperiance drivers I remember reading a long thread which said that its betttter to have the grippy tyres on the rear as novice drivers find it harder/more dangerous with a sliding rear end (especially in wet conditions / icy road surfaces).

So any other views? :)

I used to have some really crap tyres on my civic and in the wet when going around a roundabout i would sometimes start to slide. The front would normally start sliding, maybe the weight of the engine + driver, and I just took my foot off the accel and turned and tapped the accel. Both the rears and fronts where crap but the rear never seemed to slip out.



I would still say good tyres on the front for braking performance and handling as this would help the young unexperienced drivers and front tyres would have to do more work than the rears so to me it makes sense

EDIT:Your question Prob depends if the car is FF or FR so I would say the wheels that provide power should have the grip.

[wynode]

silly question, why not slam the same type of tyres for both the front and back??? wouldn't that be ideal? :confused:
Yes but that's not what we are talking about

[egSi]

If you had 2 tyres that grip significantly better than the other 2, where would you put them?

On the fron or on the back? (state why!)

what sorta drivin win? like normal day to day driving or track stuff?

[type one]

i am an economist so here is my assumption:

a.) no one here is a professional race car driver.

everyone keeps saying that it is better to have grippy front tyres for novice drivers? the bulk of the reasoning is for better grip and braking (from what i have been able to pick out)

but what does a novice do when they get into trouble, usually when turning into a corner too quickly?? i think the answer is HIT THE BRAKES - you're not going to learn anything by running grippier tyres at the front with respect to how your car handles and the limits of this car if u run grippier tyres at the front - cos u will either stop before the pole/kerb/wall or hit it... (due to possible overconfidence in tyres? when it really should be about confidence in driving ability and understanding your car)

however, when you feel the car moving, sliding under normal braking conditions with the grippy tyres at the rear you might be able to get more of a feel for how the car responds in turning situations BEFORE you get into trouble...

anyway that's my 2 cents, feel free to disagree... i also come from driving a two door HB Vti civic and if i were to choose (cos i am no pro) i would go rears - and i definitely think this would improve my lap times, cos i would be learning more about driving than saving the car from my turn in mistakes.

[Dominik]

Speak to any tyre shop - they will always tell you to put the best tyres on the front; regardless of whether it is FWD or RWD. The fact of the matter is that you need braking capabilities.

Having said that, i've been in a 120km/hr spin on a motorway due to bald rear tyres (Honda Civic HB).

What about both good tyres on the driver's side? Motorbikes have no trouble with grip on 2 wheels :p

[Vivski]

If the track is anti-clockwise (like Phillip Island) then put the good tyres on the right side and the worn ones on the left. It will give you higher cornering speed on the left handers. And vica versa for a clockwise track. :D

Joking aside, I'd put them on the front. A Civic understeers when pushed. To have good tyres on the read and worn on the front, you increase the tendency to understeer. So I'd assume the mid-corner speed would be down. You're a tallented driver, so you should be able to combat the mild oversteer encouraged by having worn rears. You will also make time under brakes, acceleration, your start and the car will also turn in better.

This is my assumption from my driving knowledge so far. I haven't driven with worn tyres on a track, only on the road. I feel much more comfortable when my car is FWD is mildly oversteering rather than badly understeering, because it's so easy to catch the oversteer in a Civic.

So from that, I'll be surprised if you clock better laptimes with worn fronts. But I'll be interested to read your results.

And as far as road use goes. I'd say it's almost certainly better to have worn rears, not worn fronts. ESPECIALLY in the wet. The benefit being better braking in all conditions and far more grip when taking off from the lights. The novice driver wont be pushing their car and the experienced driver will know how to control mild oversteer.

-Viv-

[slidetaker]

........ your mid corner speed will be somewhat lower due to the poor gripping wheels on the rear and the subsequent result of the rear sliding out. I know this for a fact as I have tried this on my car and noticed a big difference with the rear sliding out (with poor tyres on the rear). I was speaking to someone ( a pretty experianced driver who tracks their car) ............:)

It must be some really bad tyres because FWD always understeer first. In the case of those really bad tyres, there is no point putting them anywhere in the car. :!:

[wynode]

It must be some really bad tyres because FWD always understeer first. In the case of those really bad tyres, there is no point putting them anywhere in the car. :!:

My understeer is not as bad as most FWD cars (sussy mods). I was just wondering what the opinons were on having two different tyres (one set that grips and one that doesn't so well).

For example, semis and street tyres.

[ekslut]

I think you should always run the same tyres, or at least the same quality tyres all round. Coz with the lesser quality tyres at the front, you will be getting heaps of understeer. And if they are at the back, you will get heaps of oversteer. I had a friend try this with both type azenis. And after 2 weeks he bought another 2 of the higher quality azenis to match the ones on the front. Way too much oversteer.

As in regards to where should you put the lesser worn tyres. Usually the front. But then again it depends on how you car is setup. If it tends to be oversteering a bit, then your probably best off putting them on the back. And vice-versa.

But if your going to track, why not just try both? Run it in one session with the good ones at the front, then next session run them at the back. Then you can compare the difference and choose which one works better for you. You might like how the back end can swing around a bit easier on the tight corners with the worn ones at the back, or if you have the worn ones up front you might like the fact that though longer faster corners you can push a bit harder with the easier to manage understeer.

But whatever you do I really do not reccomend you run semi's and steet tyres. The difference between the two types of tyres is too huge. Its either going to understeer heaps, or oversteer heaps.

[sesshoumaru]

When my front tires had worn out, my rears were still perfect. So I had a good quality set of falkens on the rear, and a budget set of falkens on the front.

It's personal preference really... i'd jsut prefered to have the added rear stability. Ideally though, even tires all round.:thumbsup:

[joyride]

Always put them on the wheels that steer the car.... the front....same.

edited - reason why: to hold onto the road when cornering and also for braking.

[garett]

so in conclusion it is better trackwise to have better tires on the rear for mid to high speed cornering for the weight is shifted to the rear outside promoting oversteer
where grippyer tires on the front allows nimbility and better braking
so its much of a muchness, i think you would be damned either way so the VERY best option would be to have grippy tires all round

[FR33K]

my front tyres are new and my rear are old..
in the rain my car swings out like a rear wheel drive when i turn corners
its fun
but not safe
lol

[Phantasm]

The obvious choice would be the better tyres on the front of the car, however a track car is best set up with mild understeer weather it be ff or fr. I doubt however youd push the limits of a ff on the track enuff in the dry to have to have it swing widely or snap over on high speed corners unless the surface was wet or bumpy, even then it should be progressive enuff to counter. From my experience of countless gor runs, you want your best on the front for street as you never know whats going to happen ie. someone could pull out suddenly, or theres debris on the road... and this is where u need your fronts braking and steering, not plowing straight ahead with your super grippy rears doing nada. Also high corner speeds arent the most crucial element on the track, its better to have a slow in fast out system going. Grippier fronts would be most advantagous for this.
My 2cents worth...

[Vivski]

When I bought my new car a month ago it had worn tyres on the front and ~50% tread on the rear. It was unbearable. Would lock the wheels under heavy braking and understeer everywhere. Had to left foot brake around round-abouts.

I'm far more comfortable now that I have new tyres on the front and my 50% Michis on the rear. Turns in better, stops on a dime, actually grips when getting away at the lights.

[type one]

left foot brake around roundabouts?? yikes! that's another extreme.

in any case: READ MY SIGNATURE AND GET OUR TYRES CHECKED OUT - DON'T SCREW AROUND WITH THE ONE THING THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE. DON'T BE A MAVERICK AND THINK THAT YOU ARE A BETTER DRIVER THAN YOUR TYRES.

sorry to hijack, but i feel quite strongly about tyres hehehe.

[sesshoumaru]

When I bought my new car a month ago it had worn tyres on the front and ~50% tread on the rear. It was unbearable. Would lock the wheels under heavy braking and understeer everywhere. Had to left foot brake around round-abouts.

I'm far more comfortable now that I have new tyres on the front and my 50% Michis on the rear. Turns in better, stops on a dime, actually grips when getting away at the lights.

sounds like you bought an unroadworthy car :P:D

[incoming]

when i used to have my b16a civic.. i had 14in rims on the front and 17's on the back... (getting new front tyres)
anyways.. whenever i braked abit hard the fronts would lock up and skid!!... fricken dangerous...
not sure if it was from smaller diameter rims or what but since then i'd only put good tyres on the front!

[garett]

sure does

[cusco echo]

i agree with type one here
nowadays drivers rely on their gripy tyres too much, i know better tyres can do faster lap times on the track, but its often the car will stay on the road no matter how hard u drive it, in that case u wont know the limits of the car, but i the driver able to push the car to its limit with the better tyres, then they get the most fun of the car
on the other hand, tyres are the only thing thats touching the road, so if anything goes wrong its the tyre that saves you (skills helps too)

for me, i would put them on the rear as its hard to me to control a short wheelbase FF car, when i had my s14 (FR) i always put the good tyres on the front and go drifting....