Punctures?

Ah! so it's the messenger that counts not the message.

What’s the thinking behind that?

Ah, sorry, it was discussed later in the thread.

Whoever recommended putting the best tyres on the rear of a FWD car seems never to have driven one in ’challenging conditions’.

The thought is that numpties can't control a rear wheel skid but can control a car that loses the front.

Personally a bit of oversteer is a flick of the wrist to control, but nothing is more scary than feeling the front wheels start to float on a sheet of water.

Rules are made for the obedience of fools but the guidance of wise men.

From the Uniroyal web pages

"Do you fit the new tyres at the front or back? Regardless of the drive type, we recommend not fitting the better tyres at the front, but always fitting them at the back. The reason is simple: The rear axle ensures the tracking stability of a vehicle."

The above is the recommendation when only replacing two tyres. In the same page they also recommend rotating tyres (front to back and visa-versa) every six months to even out the wear.

From the Michelin web site

"When replacing just two tyres, Michelin recommends that the new or least worn tyres are fitted to the rear axle to improve vehicle control and safety. This advice applies to front and rear wheel drive vehicles fitted with the same tyre sizes front and rear."

Again, this is on a page that suggests tyre rotation every 8,000km

All this predicated on the basis that sliding head on into a truck on a wet motorway is preferable to spinning on a wet roundabout. If indeed that is possible with an FWD car - I've only ever done that once as a 1st year driver when I took my foot off the accelerator in a tightening corner.

In Minis it was nearly impossible to break the back out without using the handbrake,.

As I said, rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools

AFAIAC its utterly dependent what vehicle it is for me. Ive had oversteer and understeer moments in everything I have driven - once in the same car within a second of each other as first the front wheels, then the rear, hit a small patch of ice.

The *only thing you need tread for is for wet roads*. Race cars drive slicks. in the dry.

And the only time the tread really makes any difference is when the sipes get overloaded by water and start to aquaplane.

Personally I prefer to keep control of the front. I do not like having no steering. I can control a rear wheel slide with steering bit I cant control a car that has no steering.

Spot on.

I think the advice offered by the tyre companies (best tyres on the rear) is aimed at Mr and Mrs Average, who have never heard of, let alone practiced, counter-steering or steering on the throttle.

Personally, I prefer the best tyres to be on the wheels that do the steering and heavy braking, namely the front ones. If you lose steering, it matters little whether the rears track the fronts.

Costco will only fit a single pair of tyres to the rear, and move the rears to the front if it's the front ones you want replaced.

Well more fool you for shopping there then.

Something I wasn't able to explain was that one night, when pulling onto a roundabout, the car did not straighten afterwards, but continued to turn. I spun the wheel left, and after a few moments delay, the car spun to the left, ran up a kerb and stopped a yard short of a lamppost.

There was no problem arriving at the roundabout, but when the car went up the kerb, the offside rear tyre was flat. I know that because there was a great notch in the wheel. In those days, cars had spares and steel wheels, so I was soon able to continue, though with a wobble on braking.

OK, this was an extreme case, but it was the loss of one *rear* wheel's traction that left me with no steering. Rear wheel drive, of course, just about only Minis had front wheel drive then. I had to replace the bearing and half-shaft also.

I bought a new (breaker's yard) wheel, of course, and didn't dare re-use the tyre. But the valve was OK, and the most careful inspection of the inside of the tyre showed no sign of tear or puncture. The wheel looked OK, apart from the big dent. The tyre had gone flat in seconds, but I still have no idea why.

Loss of rear tyre pressure will cause the rear to break away. BTDTGTTS

If it was FWD you also need to use power on the front wheels to drag it in the desired direction. If a FWD starts to oversteer the very worst thing is to take your foot OFF the accelerator...

DAMHIKT

You should have been able to steer into that and get out of it or accelerate out of it.

You probably haven't done enough karting on wet outdoor tracks on slicks to get it to be instinctive :-)

(HIGHLY recommended to gain confidence in skid control and have HUGE amounts of fun..too)

The big dent is why probly