2 pairs of tyres - which on front, which on back?

Stringy

Stringy

Stringy

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I recently bought a 2009 Golf GT 1.4 TSI 160 with the 18 inch Vancouver alloy wheels, tyre size 225/40/R18 (pictures to follow in "show us your motors" following a single alloy being refurbed)

On the front is a nearly new matching pair of Avon ZZ3s, while not setting the world on fire with their greatness they're not ditchfinders.

On the back was a mismatched pair - an old Hankook V12 Evo with a couple of mm until the wear indicators, and a Nexen N6000 which the dealer had put on to pass an MOT (the salesman was dead proud of himself "we even put on a new tyre" :rolleyes: )
Needless to say I am replacing the mismatched pair, I have a pair of CSC5s being delivered on Wednesday.

The question is - minds of OcUK Motors - which should I put on the front/back, between the Avons and the CSC5s? I've read a thread on PH where opinion was nearly split 50/50 between where to put better tyres. Most of my driving is at a constant speed commuting on dual carriageway , however I do from time to time give it the beans in a minor fashion on twistys.
Advise me please!

Also welcoming opinions on the ZZ3s, although opinion I've read across the internet seems to think they're 'ok' (some people say they're fine, as always some people with 'horror' stories) - it's leading me to think if they're significantly weaker I should put them on the front...

awaiting the VBH video driving round in circles with worn tyres front/back...
 
ZZ3 are a bit rubbish in the wet, ok in the dry, kind of vague feel. I'd put the Contis on the front, doing almost all the work in a FWD. It's a new car so will have a strict electronic nanny to reign it in if it gets loose anyway.
 
In reality its unlikely to make too much of a difference to anything so id stick the new ones on the front until they're about evenly worn with the avons then rotate.

Zz3's are average at best though, i'd be tempted to change them relatively quickly
 
I always put the oldest tyres on the front to get rid of them first. As you have already found people seem pretty split on whether they should be on the front or back in regards to safety so i'm guessing it doesnt really make a difference else surely the spilt of opinion wouldnt be so even.
 
I can deal with oversteer but hate understeer so I'd stick the decent tyres on the front until I could afford 2 new tyres then I'd swap them to the back & stick the new pair on the front.
 
I can afford all 4 now but it seems like a bit of a waste given they're nigh on new! They can't be that bad can they? I'm not exactly doing track days or atttacking roads like I'm a rally driver?
 
I'd put the new ones on the front considering they're the driving and majoritively braking wheels.
 
New ones on the back.

When I bought my Focus it had a pair of Kumho something or others on the front and a chinese brand called AutoGrip on the back. Within a month of ownership I went round a corner that I usually took at 50 in my old MR2, at 40 in the wet and the back let go. I ended up doing a 180, crossing the opposite lane and landing on a grass banking. No damage to the car or me luckily.

Apart from the lesson of "always fit good tyres" (I can now safely go round that corner at 50 in the wet) I don't think I would have done a 180 if the Kumhos had been on the back and the rubbish tyres on the front. I would have probably just had understeer, which is a lot easier to control.

(I know Kumhos aren't great but Autogrip are leathal:p)
 
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While the front wheels do braking and steering, the tyres at the back stop you from swapping ends at the nearest possible chance. I'd sooner have a bit of under-steer than suffering from lift off oversteer in the wet.
 
Tesla said:
How do you control understeer if you're not mid-braking?
Click to expand...

Huh?

Understeer is pretty easy to deal with hence why it is 'safe'. Simply stop doing whatever you did to make it start understeering and you will be reet.
Speeding into the corner too fast? Don't speed so much into the corner.
Washing out under braking? Don't brake so much, you know you shouldn't be braking so deep into the corner anyway, see above re: speeding into the corner.
Washing out under acceleration? Don't accelerate so much.

Understeer 101 complete.

Oversteer is a bit different and can quickly turn into total loss of control were you not to know what you were doing. Thankfully almost all cars have TC and ESP now so even the most ham fisted driver needn't worry about anything.
 
That's a 101 on prevention...

EDIT - I'm not trolling, I've always thought oversteer can be corrected and understeer not? Prepared to be corrected though.
 
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In that case I don't really understand the question, what do you mean by 'not mid-braking'? If it's not happening under braking then it is happening in steady state, or under accel.
If you're simply going too fast then there's not a lot you can do, best you can hope for is to straighten the wheel as much as you can and get in the brakes.
 
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Malc said:
New ones on the back.

When I bought my Focus it had a pair of Kumho something or others on the front and a chinese brand called AutoGrip on the back. Within a month of ownership I went round a corner that I usually took at 50 in my old MR2, at 40 in the wet and the back let go. I ended up doing a 180, crossing the opposite lane and landing on a grass banking. No damage to the car or me luckily.

Apart from the lesson of "always fit good tyres" (I can now safely go round that corner at 50 in the wet) I don't think I would have done a 180 if the Kumhos had been on the back and the rubbish tyres on the front. I would have probably just had understeer, which is a lot easier to control.

(I know Kumhos aren't great but Autogrip are leathal:p)
Click to expand...

Lol an mr2 will corner a lot better than a focus, so it wasn't the tyres, you took the corner too fast!
 
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