Front to back - recommended?

[TallFella]

Got the original Michelins on the back - done 25k on them now. Put a new set of F1 Eagles on the front 5-6k miles ago now.
I'm thinking of putting the now slightly worn in Eagles on the back and putting a new set on the front. Are there any problems with doing this (swapping the wheels over I mean)? Obviously they'll need rebalancing won't they?

 

[TheOtherSimon]

All the tyre manufacturers recommend that you put the better tyres on the back.

On the Leon this is even more important, since it is very nose heavy and designed to understeer.

I'm very surprised you haven't spun it, with F1s on the front and old Michelins on the back. You must put them the other way round.

The is no problem with swapping front to back - the tyres should already be balanced.

Simon.

 

[m0rk]

then surely the car will understeer with the worn out tyres, more weight etc

I do the opposite. everytime. in fact, now I run wider tyres up front.

 

[TallFella]

All the tyre manufacturers recommend that you put the better tyres on the back.

On the Leon this is even more important, since it is very nose heavy and designed to understeer.

I'm very surprised you haven't spun it, with F1s on the front and old Michelins on the back. You must put them the other way round.

The is no problem with swapping front to back - the tyres should already be balanced.

Simon.

Surely, the opposite. With more weight up front, there is more stress and load on the tyres, and given it's front driven - the grip needs to be where the power is? Likely to lose the back end if you lift off, but you get that anyway don't you?

 

[matt_s]

It depends on what you can cope with. With fairly evenly worn tyres front and back my Leon will understeer if you go into a corner too fast, but go in slow and build the power too early and the back can step out. I'd rather have a bit of understeer that I can lift off to get the front to tuck back in. Plus any lump in the road in a corner or if you need to brake in a corner will cause the back to go very light. Scared myself a few times on familiar roads when I first changed from a mkII golf to the Leon When the Golf would do 80 the Leon start to go at the back a barely more than 60.

Did anyone see fifthgear a few years back when Tiff did this on a track. With worn tyres on the front of a clio it just went straight on. Other way round and he spun off the track.

 

[Pabs]

I always have more grip at front - when fronts get low I swap with the rears.

I didnt think they'd need rebalancing though? Unless you knock off any weights in the changeover process..... When a wheel runs true it runs true, whether its on the front or back of the car.....?
Thats assuming of course, the wheels are all balanced correctly at the moment?

 

[TallFella]

The front tyres wear out quicker than the rears - which would suggest to me that there is more asked of the fronts generally no? Kinda makes sense on a front driver doesn't it? Or am I just making things simple

 

[TheOtherSimon]

Sort of, but it's the wrong argument.

On modern cars most of the weight is on the front, which means there is more load on the front tyres, which keeps them well stuck to the road. The rears on the other hand have very little load, so will start to slide with very little provocation.

For the majority of drivers a gentle understeer is much easier to control (take foot off gas, and turn a bit harder), than a snap oversteer (apply gas and steer the wrong way). Some of the people here like oversteer, and are experienced enough to control it, but the majority of us aren't.

Other reasons the tyre manufacturers give for putting the best tyres on the rear:

Wear - because the rears wear slowly, you end up with very old and crap rubber on the back, leading to reduced grip and greater chance of blowout.

Blowout - if you didn't see the Tiff Nedell demonstration on Fifth Gear, go and find it. He showed that he could control a front blowout, but span the car every time he had a rear blowout. It's the rear tyres that are keeping you in a stable line through the caroner, and are far more important than you think.

Aquaplaning - with less weight on the rear tyres you need more tread to stop them aquaplaning. During cornering all four tyres take a different line, so that all four need to sweep the same amount of water.


Don't take my word for it. Use Google. Go and find the advice from the tyre manufacturers. They know far more about tyres than any of us here.

Simon.

 

[matt_s]

On my old car I always put new rubber on the back to keep all the tyres as new as possible. I was getting through fronts in 10-12k miles and in that time the backs had only just scrubbed off the outside layer of rubber. That was yoko A539s. Not known for being long lasting but great for £40 fitted per tyre and let go in a nice controlled manner.