New tyres - Which axle?

[Jimbo10]

Fronts are getting changed this week (23k off the factory fitted Conti's). However the rears still has 4.5mm, so still a few thousand in them.

Did a bit of reading last night about it and there seems to be a huge debate on whether you should move the old rears to the front and put the new/best tyres on the back axle.

I'm aware of the arguments for and against this method but interested what people on here do when replacing the front tyres?

 

[Lehn]

I would always have the best tyres on the front. Most of the weight is moved forward during braking and if you need to make an emergency manoeuvre it's pretty crucial to have the best possible grip on the wheels used for steering. And since your car is front wheel drive it also helps you to get going. That's just my two cents.

 

[Matt Titanium]

I've always put new on the front but some peoples reasoning may depend on their driving style and age of the tyres.
High mileage, enthusiastic driving, new on the front for the best grip, cornering and braking.
Low mileage, gentle driving, new tyres on the rear, older tyres to the front to wear them before they get too old, cracked and perished.
Or the other option is swapping tyres around to replace all four at once, possibly getting a better deal on four or delaying changing two fronts, then changing the car before it needs them replacing.

 

[Gazwould]

There is no debate , fwd , 4wd or rwd , best tyres go on the BACK to avoid wet cornering rear end pendulum effect .

 

[Audi Bairn]

I've always put new on the front but some peoples reasoning may depend on their driving style and age of the tyres.
High mileage, enthusiastic driving, new on the front for the best grip, cornering and braking.
Low mileage, gentle driving, new tyres on the rear, older tyres to the front to wear them before they get too old, cracked and perished.
Or the other option is swapping tyres around to replace all four at once, possibly getting a better deal on four or delaying changing two fronts, then changing the car before it needs them replacing.

Agreed. I do the latter, meaning I change all four corners at the same time but that's just my preference.

 

[Rayner_1704]

There is no debate , fwd , 4wd or rwd , best tyres go on the BACK to avoid wet cornering rear end pendulum effect .

But understating into a lamppost is cool... replace front if not all 4. The acarage driver isn’t driving hard enough for the rear end to kick out

 

[Jimbbobw1977]

There is no debate , fwd , 4wd or rwd , best tyres go on the BACK to avoid wet cornering rear end pendulum effect .

That’s what I’ve always known as well.

 

[Rayner_1704]

That’s what I’ve always known as well.

Horses for courses I’d say. Different answer from everyone everyone has a preference I guess

 

[Gazwould]

Obviously a quattro has to keep very similar tyre tread depths so not so applicable .

The wet corner oversteer can happen at remarkably low speeds .

There's no preference , it's a wrong or a right answer as it's pure physics .

 

[richinsoton]

I'd move the old rears to the front.

A) The average driver can cope with understeer easier than oversteer so move them to the front, so the best tyres are on the rear.

B) The rear tyres on a FWD car being lightly loaded tend to go out of shape / aged etc prior to actually being worn out treadwise & that's what happened to mine on my A3 (approx 33k miles usage / 4.0mm of tread remaining), so at least if you've moved them to the front & worn them out you've had you monies worth out of them.