Tyre? rumble saga

[erstens]

For your savety, you allways need the better tyres on the rear axle!!!!!!!! It is so.


So if the tyres are only 4mm Profile, the better one should be in th rear.
But: If you have 6mm and two others with 7 or 8mm profile, I would use the better ones in the front!
Because:
The 6mm in rear are good enough for savety! Point.

And the why, why they recommend and also I would use the 8mm in the front (or if you buy two new tyres) is, that the front axle is the powerded on and the one with the steering, so they will rubb of faster and in one or two years you have 4 tyres with the same profile (5 or 4mm then) and that is ok.

Also the problem ist not the difference between 5 or 6mm. But if it is less than 4mm, aquaplaning is the biggest risc esp. in curves.
That is why I say, 5mm in th rear is enough, use the new tyres in the front but if it is less than 5mm or so, for your savety it is more important to have the better tyres on the rear axle.

The main question with this is: Do you allways want to buy two tyres or a set of four? If four, then you need some of the time the newer tyres on the front because the front axle will outwear the tyres faster.

15 years ago, where the front wheel drive cars came up, everyone said, use the better tyres in the front. Noeone had winter tyres. So you need the profile to drive on snow. But this was really dangerous 10-15 years ago. Averyone werer verry slow on snow.
Tody with good snow tyres, everyone is much faster, so the stability in the back is more important for controlling the car. The accelleration may be not as good with the less-profile tyres tyres but it is saver. Also when breaking. A blocking rear is allways bad.

So you can descide. Buy 2 or 4 wheels at a time, and remember if they are older with less profile, use the better ones at rear axle. If more than 5 or 6mm profile: you are free to descide.

 

[A2Look]

I got Falken ZE512's on my A2 with no problems. I'm looking at changing to Kumho next perhaps?

 

[Skipton01]

I'll stick with Audis advice for the time being and keep the better tyres on the front.

A2look, try a set of Nexen N3000 - they're pretty good for £50 a corner.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Emm]

The H rating while perhaps not perfect is within tyre rating guide lines

Speed Symbol "H" For vehicles with a speed capability not exceeding 210 Km/h (130 Mph).


I run Toyo Proxes and will again this year when they wear out. they are the 17inch with a W rating which is completely over the top for a little 3 pot. The A2 tyres on the Sport are over specced, buts thats what they suggest and TBH you can't really get a lower spec with the side wall ratio

And just to add to the debate. I would fit the best tyres on the front, and not for handling, traction or braking but just to rotate and make the tyres last longer...

 

[digiblue]

Thanks Emm,

That's the same conclusion I came to, the Audi manual says to refer to the registration document for tyre ratings. My registration doc doesn't say anything about tyre ratings. The manual also says that if winter tyres are fitted that are specced under the max speed of the car a notice must be attached to the car saying this. In future I will go for a V rating though, and probably toyos.

 

[tdiman]

The link is an interesting read, but completely illogical.

It says that braking will be improved, but that is impossible - under braking (emergency braking in particular), the vast majority of the cars' weight is thrown forward onto the front wheels and they do 90% of the work in stopping the vehicle.

They talk of handling and traction, but on the A2 (as in all front wheel drive cars) the rear wheels just follow in the path of the fronts. Sure, if you are getting towards the legal limit, they'll tend to break away earlier, but if you replace your tyres at about 3mm, which is recommended by all parties, not just manufacturers, then there will be practically no difference.

There will always be a bed-in period for new tyres, when they will be very much less grippy than they should be, but after 50-100 miles, they'll be at their optimum. The only reason offered is to promote understeer in very wet situations, but as the rear wheels follow close behind the fronts, which have already cleared a path, then this is going to be an ultra-rare scenario. Sure, if you are going round a bend, the track of the rears is different to the fronts, but if you are going round a bend fast enough to aquaplane, you should be taking more care in the first place!

Unless there is a reasoned argument and an explanation as to why you should do different, I would always recommend putting newer tyres on the front, as per Audi advice. As far as I can tell, the ordinary benefits (better braking, better real-world driving performance and wet weather performance) outweigh the single drawback of a rear wheel skid or oversteer, if you push things too hard.

Cheers,

Mike

I suppose the answer here is do you prefer an accident in understeer (old tyres to the front) or oversteer (old tyres to the rear) personally I'd like to see what I'm going to hit so I can duck, no on second thoughts there is more metal behind me! truth is nobody really has the 'correct' answer as all car designs, weight distribution and suspension setups differ so much, best follow Audi's handbook advise and go off backwards!