Tire questions

[farzien]

Hey guys,
I currently have 4 Michelin Piolt Exalto A/S's on my 02 Camry Se. Last week I took the car to Big O to have a rotation done, when he informed me that my two rear tires needed to be replaced. A couple days ago, my friend gave me a pair of Michelin Energy tires. Both Energy and Exalto tires read 215/60R16 95V; I just wanted to know If it was safe to use the Michelin Energy tires in the rear and the Michelin Piolt exalto on the front. Thanks for your help.

[workerant]

Good tires should be in front. And usually the newer tires are better so, front they go.

[TRD VVTi]

Yes, that will be safe.

Originally Posted by TTM77

Good tires should be in front. And usually the newer tires are better so, front they go.

Actually, you're supposed to put the better tires on the back. It's safer. That's a fact.

[Tobeit]

On a FWD car and most of the braking power and weight distributed to the front? I would not have guessed that, oh well.

[moky-tron]

Originally Posted by TRD VVTi

Yes, that will be safe.

Actually, you're supposed to put the better tires on the back. It's safer. That's a fact.

on a fwd?? wouldn't the better tires help give you more grip when turning and give better steering ability because of the added grip as opposed to having the bald tires in front??

[TRD VVTi]

Your theories make sense, but it's not true for most drivers.

The rear of the vehicle will have more of a tendency to lose control and/or hydroplane. You will be able to feel the difference much more in the front and adjust your driving to compensate. It's much easier for the rear to loose control when there is less grip, and MUCH harder to correct it.

The best tires on the rear for the Camry. I wouldn't lie to you guys.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/conten...00001/art00006

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=2&gl=us

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=5&gl=us

http://www.michelinman.com/tire-care/how-to-buy/

http://www.goodyeartires.com/faqs/Technical.html#6

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=52

http://www.popularmechanics.com/auto...o/4243992.html

Actually, I would lie to you guys. I'm not right now though.

[moky-tron]

soooo....because of the bald-er tires on the rear, during extreme weather conditions like rain and slipper roads, with the rear tires breaking loose, fwd has a tendency to...oversteer??


well lucky for me i change all four tires at the same time regardless if two are good and two are so-so

[Tobeit]

Not because of the tendency of oversteer but TRD's point is that you experience your bad tires in the front much quicker and naturally correct for it as quickly as you feel it...while you don't feel much of the rear and if it looses control their is not much you can do anymore with bald tires. Interesting, as I always thought as long as I keep my fronts on the road I have a much better chance to get out of dangerous situations and be able to catch my car when it looses the rear. The other way around, if I loose control of the rear with my better tires already in the rear, I have no grip in the front to correct for that and avoid even more problems. Any thoughts?

[moky-tron]

hmmmm id rather keep changing all four tires simultaneously as opposed to just two on either front or rear.
i acknowledge the data provided by trd and it does make sense, but personally i myself wouldn't risk having less grip/control in any side whether front or back.

true at that when your rear breaks lose and you hydroplane a bit, you would have no way of correcting it. but having the rear not break loose and at the same time your fronts are the one to break loose, yes you have the ability to correct it with your defensive driving and steering, that is, provided you have control over your front tires too. if in the event that you don't have control on your fronts, then you're fucked altogether regardless if your rear tires are good or bad

[moky-tron]

Originally Posted by Tobeit

Not because of the tendency of oversteer but TRD's point is that you experience your bad tires in the front much quicker and naturally correct for it as quickly as you feel it...while you don't feel much of the rear and if it looses control their is not much you can do anymore with bald tires. Interesting, as I always thought as long as I keep my fronts on the road I have a much better chance to get out of dangerous situations and be able to catch my car when it looses the rear. The other way around, if I lose control of the rear with my better tires already in the rear, I have no grip in the front to correct for that and avoid even more problems. Any thoughts?

this is my concern because a lot of drivers out there do have the better tires on the rear and crapass tires in the front. ive seen some accidents in the rain wherein the front has not much grip even if it looked like the driver had "control" over the situation but then again, his tires dont have "that" control on the wet road.

[TRD VVTi]

If tires are rotated properly, they'd all have the same thread depth.

Replacing all four tires is always the best thing to do.

[freeyellow2000]

Originally Posted by TRD VVTi

If tires are rotated properly, they'd all have the same thread depth.

Replacing all four tires is always the best thing to do.

not to mention, Costco, Sears ....... always have better deals when you are purchasing 4 tires


ie .... buy 3 tires get 1 free
$80 off 4 tires

[TRD VVTi]

Originally Posted by freeyellow2000

not to mention, Costco, Sears ....... always have better deals when you are purchasing 4 tires


ie .... buy 3 tires get 1 free
$80 off 4 tires

$80?

I don't run tires that are that cheap on my cars.

[moky-tron]

sigh i wish my tires were priced like that....

[Tobeit]

Wanli, Nexxen and a long list of others in 215/60/16 (like Falken SN 828 for $69/piece or Kuhmo KR21 for $79 /piece).