Are mixed width tyres (225 front/ 205 back) wise?

[sixman9]

Gentlemen,

Although I'm 'reasonably' well paid, I don't want to fork out on a full set of tyres at the moment. However, my rears are now balder than the proverbial eagle (?), so I must now purchase replacements. The present set are 'standard' Octavia vRS size (205/17"), but I'm considering moving to 225/17 because they offer more grip and are easier to come by, I'm lead to believe.

Would it be at all wise/OK to say swap my current fronts to the rear (205/17's) and put some new 225/17 at the front end, until money stretches far enough to complete the 225 set (or the current set ALL wear out)? I'm no expert but I'm wondering about the cars dynamics etc, or is this a total No-No?

Thanks

Big Rich.

P.S. No flames, pretty please

[Kentish]

Check the "for sale" room, Ecklad has some original fits going cheap, or he did have anyway.

[SkodiRS]

I was in the same situation as yourself....I swapped the standard rears to the front and put the 225/45/17 on the rear....no probs.

[kenny]

the wider tyres would have to go on the rear with the narrower tyres on the front

[RallyMarshal]

why kenny?

Is this due to the 'safety' issue of the backend letting go rather than the frontend?

Paul..

[kenny]

yea, in and emergency/hard braking in a corner can cause the rear to break away.

[blades]

I was told by a tyre fitting company years ago that it was illegal to have wider tyres on the front of a vehicle then the rear as I was in a similar situation with swapping tyres etc. I don't know whether this is true but it might be worth ringing your local independant tyre stockist and ask there opinion. I also may have a set of vrs alloys with original tyres for sale soon (see post on RS4 alloys)

[kenny]

its ok for the rear to be wider than the front tho

[Fatbloke]

Stick the new tyres on the rear anyway as the fronts will wear quicker. When you then come to replace the fronts, the new larger rears that are already on will be barely worn

[devonutopia]

yea, in and emergency/hard braking in a corner can cause the rear to break away.

sounds kind of familiar to me, not that I remember braking, but I could have.

[RallyMarshal]

Personally I prefer the oversteery effect to the understeery effect - but thats personal choice....

[kenny]

the tests were done to highlight the difference under braking in an emergency, so if the back end kicked out you couldnt correct it

[DaveH]

Quite sadly, I've made a spreadsheet to calculate at what point to swap the rear tyres to the front and vise versa such that all tyres need replacement at the same time. I did have a nasty experience with different tyres front and rear though.

[ecklad]

Still for sale!!!!

cheers

Dazz

[Quinten]

Oops. And there I was thinking I could get away with having 225s on the front and the 205s at the back... No way I'm forking out another

[sixman9]

Thanks for that gentlemen. So I'm taking it is IS OK to go with the new 225's at the rear. It's worrying that at least one of you had an issue with larger rears, but the wear and tear of the old 205's at the front makes a lot of sense

Now just to see if my neighbour can get me a nice discount at A-national T-yre S-hop

Thanks

Big Rich

P.S. Costco do Michellin [?] Pilot Sport [Contact, ?], 225/45/17's for

[SkodiRS]

P.S. Costco do Michellin [?] Pilot Sport [Contact' date= ?], 225/45/17's for

[mannyo]

You should ALWAYS fit new tyres to the rear, the old addage of new on front because of wear has been proven in many tests to be extremely dangerous because under extreme conditions, eg. hard braking in emergency or cornering quickly with the worn tyres on the back the rear end has a tendancy to overtake the front of the car.

My old BM had 245's on the rear and 225's on the front and seemed to stick to the road like glue. You cant fit them the other way round, not only is that dangerous but you will also fail the MOT when it is due.

[piv34uk]

new tyres should be placed to the rear of the car, you want the best tread at the rear as you have no control over the rear axle... the front tyres could be near on bold but you can still control them. 225 45 17 will be ok on the rear and i would let the 205`s scrub out on the front. i would only recommend swapping tyres front to back but keeping them on the same side...i.e nearside front to nearside rear do not be tempted to swap them side to side.....if you think about it a tyre that has done say 5k going in one direction is then turned the other way uneven tyre wear can result and also vibration problems can occur

personally try Goodyear F1`s they are quiet and oh so very sticky

need more info on tyres call me

Phil

[piv34uk]

You cant fit them the other way round, not only is that dangerous but you will also fail the MOT when it is due.

sorry but as long as the tyres are on the same axle it wouldn`t fail the MOT....

size and profile the same it would only warrant an advisory...

Phil

[Quinten]

Ok, ok, I get the drift

I shall ask my fitter to put the backs on the fronts and the new ones on the rear. Safety first !

[Nigel26]

according to a good friend of mine who happens to work for national tyres it is infact illegal or at least you could get a ticking off for having wider tyres on the front of your car than the back.

I'd put the new wider tyres on the back and the thinner ones on the front, you should have enough tread on the front to last 6-12 months then and when you swap them for the same size as the backs you can swap them around again.

apparently its also recommended you bed tyres in on the rear.

[piv34uk]

according to a good friend of mine who happens to work for national tyres it is infact illegal or at least you could get a ticking off for having wider tyres on the front of your car than the back.

apparently its also recommended you bed tyres in on the rear.

HI...all tyres front or rear should be bedded in we normally advise 30-50 miles although my F1`s took about 200 before they fealt good

wider tyres on the front only become illegal if they foul or protrude the body...i admit though you should never have wider tyres on the front than back.cos it looks stupid:rofl: dont forget it might pass an MOT but it may be a police legalisation....

Phil

[DaveH]

You should ALWAYS fit new tyres to the rear' date=' the old addage of new on front because of wear has been proven in many tests to be extremely dangerous because under extreme conditions, eg. hard braking in emergency or cornering quickly with the worn tyres on the back the rear end has a tendancy to overtake the front of the car.

My old BM had 245's on the rear and 225's on the front and seemed to stick to the road like glue. You cant fit them the other way round, not only is that dangerous but you will also fail the MOT when it is due.[/quote']

That explains my 'exit stage left' incident then when the rear most certainly overtook the front. Will bear that in mind from now on!