Best tyres on the rear. When I got my daily driver, it had horribly worn tyres on the rear, and I could only get two. The new ones went on the rear, and it was a massive improvement in ride, handling and stability. Consider - if you lose traction, you have to attempt to regain control. It’s FAR easier to do that if the front end’s broken loose than if it’s the rear that’s gone.
However, as many have said, it’s ALWAYS best to replace all four tyres at once, and replace them with tyres appropriate to the conditions (which, in MA this time of year, means proper winter rubber!)
Ideally you’d have decent tires on all four wheels, but if this isn’t possible,I’d put the better tires on the back. While getting going and braking is important, I think the real concern is for the car to be always predictable. You don’t want the rear end suddenly sliding out and spinning you on corners or icy roads. That’s a little more disturbing when it happens in my opinion.
While I tend to generally agree with the new tires on the rear, I’ve done exactly the opposite with my load compensated FWD vehicles. Many have load compensating proportioning valves for the rear brakes. The rear brakes aren’t even used 90% of the time in many FWD cars (non-ABS). My front tires and brakes would need service about every 30k …while the rear brakes were over 100k and the rear tires were around 60k-80k. i just left them be on the rear.
The “rear coming around to the front” thing assumes a few things that may not be applicable. It can happen due to low traction with an FWD vehicle with just the front having traction due to mass over the wheels and using engine braking …while the rear just keep rolling forward.
The bottom line for me is that you need to know yourself and your ability as a driver to handle abnormal conditions and situations regardless of the scenario. Keep in mind that you can also install a Titanium shield on the roof of your car “just in case” you encounter a meteor shower. That is, there will be an abundance of “you’ll shoot your eye out, kid” type advice even if you’re asking about crossing the street. It’s the effects of aging. Some can call it wisdom, but it often manifests itself in the form of some type of fear factor.
Years ago I actually tested this theory by leaving the lesser worn pair tires on the rear and replacing the front tires with ones that were better suited for spirited driving. It was only a couple days later when entering an on-ramp in dry weather that the rear of my car tried to catch up with front (i.e. classic over-steer). The two lessons were 1) if you must have a mismatched pair, put the better tires (not neccessarily the newest!) on the rear, and 2) avoid having two or more significantly different types tires on your car. Needless to say, I considered the experiment finished and was online to tirerack.com that afternoon for the other two tires.
best advice here is to go shopping for some very good used tires. You can put four good tires on for the price of two new, and often you can get practially new tires that match from a car that got rear ended or otherwise totaled, or that blew an engine etc. A reputable tire dealer that deals in used tires will often give a warranty, and will sell only used tires that are in good to excellent condition. While the discussion of tire wear and road conditions here is wonderful, your problem is one of cash flow, not of traction.
I actually experienced something like this the other day. I was making a turn on a wet road and felt the front tires slipping. All I had to do was let off the gas and I was fine.
You should also consider that when you turn, your front tires and rear tires don’t follow the same path, so your theory of the front tires clearing a path for the rear tires goes right out the window unless you always drive in a straight path.
Yes we have - large flakes (no comments please) were spotted on Friday by the 6th floor residents at the retirement community where I’m currently visiting in Pensacola.
Thanks to all of those who answered the inquiry! I got two new tires mounted on the rear wheels of my car last week. Through a stroke of luck, I came up with enough cash for two more tires and will have them on this week. So, it looks like I went with the two best on the back (the overwhelming choice of the thread) for three days before going with four new tires all the way around.
That does appear to be the right thing to do. (though all who know me know that is not what I do, and was surprised to add another facet, ~ hydroplaning Thanks Ok). At 40 k front tires worn and replaced, 60k rear worn, new on front, front moved to rear. Sure it is not a 4wd vehicle so I do not need to worry about rotation, alignment done for new front tires, but rotation decreases tire mileage, and my tires are replaced when needed and loved previous responder who talked about front vs rear blowouts. I concur a front blowout is more dangerous than a rear. In net performance I think that boils down to 50% of the time the best tires are on front. I do not drive like am at Indy 500, had rear wheel drive cars and have not experienced the gloom and doom predictions. An extra 10k per tire?