No-one really seems to care about matching tyres here?

taximike

taximike

taximike

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25 Dec 2009
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Just a casual observation that I had never really noticed before living in the US/Canada but over there it's very much the done thing to rotate your wheels so you replace all 4 tyres at once and always have the same rubber on all 4 wheels i.e. same brand/model. Is this just another North American obsession that's a bit pointless? Does it make the handling less predictable if you have different rubber front/rear?
 
It's because most people in the UK are dim and or cheapskates. It is indeed best practice to have 4 matching tyres but over here if you can save 12p on boring black circular things it'll be fine. We are very much a 'bodge it' society unfortunately. Why do a proper job when it'll 'do' to not bother?

Americans take stuff like that a lot more seriously.
 
In fairness the crap tyres (budget brand) tend to be on crap cars (x reg Fiesta's and Focci). Off course it doesn't mean crap cars are allowed to have crap tyres (which all 4 don't match and perform bad).

I've come across the newer plated Merc or BMW with crap tyres, but then that's a rare occasion.
 
you shouldn't need to swap all 4 round, just front to rear (if ever).

I dont see how wearing your tyres down till they all need replacing is any better than just replacing the two on an axle when they need it
 
Because on a FWD car the back tyres could be on for 50k or more, thats 5 years, if they tyres have already been sat around for 1 / 2 years before fitting its not exactly fresh rubber anymore.
 
They would only rotate them or have the same brand if it were law. Most people can't be bothered and to the every day driver they would never notice the difference.
 
Somebody in my office failed the MOT today on front discs and pads rear discs and pads and TWO tyres...

People in the UK - bare minimum will suffice and in some cases even thats too much.
 
some of the cars you see in the states are a complete joke, last time i was in NC some rednecks were driving a pickup with no doors, bonnet or windscreen. See loads of complete rust heaps too. The rule seems to be if it can be drivenm it will be driven. I would say the average condition of cars is better in the UK than the US.
 
[TW]Fox;15818345 said:
It's because most people in the UK are dim
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This.

My car, mums car, the family car, even dads race car all have four matching premium tyres. Why? Because we like to do a proper job.
Heck, I'm a 19yo male (the worst possible to insure IIRC), but wouldn't dream of replacing just one tyre on my car!
 
[TW]Fox;15818345 said:
We are very much a 'bodge it' society unfortunately. Why do a proper job when it'll 'do' to not bother?
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This is one of the things I hate the most about modern Britain, drives me nuts.
 
Call it a generalisation but I bet we all know at least one person who cheaps out on their cars but uses them daily. I can't do it, I drive my cars hard so it needs to be in good shape.
 
[TW]Fox;15818345 said:
It's because most people in the UK are dim and or cheapskates. It is indeed best practice to have 4 matching tyres but over here if you can save 12p on boring black circular things it'll be fine. We are very much a 'bodge it' society unfortunately. Why do a proper job when it'll 'do' to not bother?

Americans take stuff like that a lot more seriously.
Click to expand...

Our roads are a classic example of this.
 
Same seems true in France - my gf's family doesn't really care much about cars (she drives a 1991 Citroen ZX 1.9d), but all of their cars have a set of premium brand summer and winter tyres.
 
I've Nexen tyres all round on the Evo. Even at it's worst, it will grip better than 90% of cars on the road ;)
 
To be honest, on a small bottom of range bland hatchback, mismatched tyres make very little difference unless you're trying to drive it on the edge all the time.
 
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