Why Your Best tyres Should Always Go on the Rear of Your Car

Many drivers commonly ask, 'When replacing only two tyres, do you put the good tyres on the front or back of the car?' One might think that the answer depends on the front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, or all-wheel drive setup of the vehicle. However, surprisingly, Cheap Tyres Sunderland experts and safety tests seem to confirm this regardless of car type-your good tyres always go to the rear axle.

The Common Misconception

Most drivers think that the high-tread tyre wants to go where the car is driven. It seems reasonable enough:

  • "It is the front wheels that carry out all the steering, most of the braking duties and all of the drivelines. They ought to have all the necessary turf under their treads."
  • "Because they are pushed by the rear wheels, they require good tyres." Quite often such logic though sounds ideal, yet it can be quite hazardous. Let's see if there is any reason for it.

What Reveals Real-World Testing?

With different drivers a major tyre manufacturer has tested it over various years, and now it is put to rest once and for all. The three cars used were:

  • A Toyota Camry (front-wheel drive)
  • A Ford Mustang (rear-wheel drive)
  • A Mercedes C-Class (all-wheel drive)

Each car had combinations of tyres tested on the track, which was done similar to that of a common highway off-ramp - a curved road where several accidents exist. The dry and wet (rainy) conditions are tested.

Outcomes of Tests

  • All tyres good around - 8/32" tread depth for front and rear:
  • All cars could perform well under all conditions
  • All drivers could manage to negotiate the curve

Condition- Front tyres worn down, good tyres on the rear (2/32" front, 8/32" rear):

  • Tended to understeer in the rain
  • A tendency of front wheels to go straight rather than turning
  • This is pretty scary when it's rear-wheel drive
  • Not as much in a front-wheel drive
  • All-wheel drive handled it better with traction control helping
  • Most importantly, no cars spun out of control.

Ideal tyres in front with used ones at the rear - 8 out of 32 front and 2 out of 32 rear: 

  • No one could control the front-wheel drive car across the road, the rain pouring it down; 
  • Half were spinning the rear wheel car at their ends; 
  • The all-wheel drive just started spinning even though it controlled it very well from a spin.

Why Rear tyres Matter So Much

These results may seem counter-intuitive, but they embody an important safety principle whereby a rear tyre that loses grip constitutes a lot more dangerous situation compared to that of a front tyre that loses grip.

Understeering vs. oversteering

Understeering occurs when the front tyre begins to lose grip, and the car continues to go straight instead of turning. Even if this is bad, it can act as follows:

  • You will feel it happening in the steering wheel
  • Typically, you can correct it by lifting
  • The car remains somewhat stable and predictable

With oversteering, the rear tyres lose grip and wail like a pendulum from one side to the other. This is worse when:

  • It lacks any form of warning
  • The car can swing completely sideways
  • No matter the skill level, it's incredibly hard to recover from a rear skid
  • It can develop into the spin in millisecond
  • This happens about the other car almost completely going out upon the road.

What This Means for Different Drive Types

Front-Wheel Drive Car

The majority of front-wheel-drive automobile owners think, "I have to keep good tyres in front because that's where the power goes." But testing shows that this is not true and deadly. 

In fact, during rains or when snowing, worn-out rear tyres in front-wheel drive cars are the most dangerous combination. Yes, in snow, with worn-out front tyres you may have great difficulty to proceed, but it is a mere suffering compared to getting made to spin out of control at highway speeds with worn rear tyres. 

Rear-Wheel Drive Cars

The rear-wheel ones, losing the driving power through worn-out rear tyres, go through the same perilous oversteer condition. Half of the contestants-even well in control- failed to hold onto the rear-units in wrecked tyres during the actual tests.

All-Wheel Drive Cars

The all-wheel drive vehicles performed best in our tests, but even these cars would start losing grip with worn-out rear tyres. Thanks to modern traction control systems, which do extend some assistance, but when tyres lose grip, there is no substitute for basic physics. 

Bottom Line

The bottom line is that you should always put your best tyres on the rear of the car, regardless of which wheels are doing the driving. It sounds illogical, but in the real world, testing has proven it to be the safest approach

Bear in mind that when you have lost grip on the front tyres, the car tends to go straight rather than turning. When the rear tyres lose grip, you have a possibility of spinning outright. Out of the two situations, the first one is far easier to deal with during an emergency.

That means your very survival depends upon making the right choice in that situation. So when in doubt, put that best Hankook Tyres Sunderland on the back.

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