Mixing tyres
 

What do people think about mixing tyres? In other words, not having the same make and model of tyre at the front and rear? Or from side to side?

In principle, I like to have four matched tyres - or at least the front two matched and the rear two matched. But it doesn't always work out like that, especially if you buy a car secondhand. My V40 currently has matched Contis on the front, matched Michelins on the back. (By the way, it had Pirelli P6000s on before - and now they've been replaced, the sound like wheel-bearings howling has completely vanished. :))

My 740: well... It did have matched Pirelli P6s on the front, just replaced with matched Debicas. On the back, it did have mismatched tyres. One of them blew out, so the spare (also mismatched) went on in its place. I went to the nearest ATS, and they put a Riken Maystorm 2 in place of the blown tyre, and that's been sat in the boot ever since. Problem is, it's a directional tyre, so not ideal as a spare, since you can only fit it on one side. So I asked my local ATS to match the Riken, and put both new tyres on the back. Annoyingly, however, what they've fitted is a Maystorm 2b - which turns out to be a totally different tyre, and non-directional. So I have two brand-new Rikens on the back, but not a matched pair.

As far as I'm concerned, it's legal (mismatched tyres has never even got me an advisory at the MoT) and safe - but not quite how I'd like it.

Your always better having matched tyres as the the handling and chacterisgics will be the same, however as hou say theres nothing to stop you have a different brand on every wheel.

For me, when buying a second hand car, having matched tyres means the owner looks after the car that little bit more.

Well, I like to have tyres which are the same per axle. So front two and rear two. Brand differences between front and rear don't bother me. I also like to have 4x the same size, so I can rotate.

Though per axle is permitted, here at least, as long as they aren't say LH winter, RH summer.

Legally of course there is nothing wrong with mixing tyres of the same type radial with radial etc. and of the correct speed and load ratings for the vehicle in question.

On my point of view I would not mix directional with other tread designs and vice versa. Nor would I want different tyres on the same axle as it can make driven wheels or steering input wheels more unpredictable.

So overall for me bare minimum is the same tyre on a particular axle in question.

However, I put a but here some cars for instance in my case the MX-5 (and this going by experience of other owners) hate having even two different tyres on different axles (front and rear) preferring for predictability to have all four the same. This even goes so far to upset the LSD and traction control on the cars making them unpredictable. So most owners get advice of ensuring that all tyres are the same all around and getting a full geo done on the car before judging handling improvements as most can be night and day.

This is no hardship either as both rears if worn properly last well over 30,000 miles. So with the MX-5 I keep all tyres the same.

Of course like Daim has said above as well I would never mix winter, all season or summer tyres.

And another point we could argue all night on is of course where one should keep the most tread and fit new tyres for me FWD/RWD this means the rear.

Both front tires must match, and both rear tires must match.

If, for example, the left front tire is different than the right front tire, the car will have an uneven trajectory in emergency braking, it's very dangerous. And that's even worst in rainy or winter conditions.

Remember that If the rear tires have less adherence than the front ones, this is the best recipe to lose control in slippery conditions, especially in a road bend.

Last winter I was driving in horrible icey, snowy conditions, on the rear I had two pirelli tyres, front I had Barum Bravuris tyres.

My "friend" from work had the same tyres all round, winter tyres and crashed his car twice, while I drove without any problems whatsoever.

Basically what I'm saying is if you're a good driver and your tyres are in good condition, then regardless of them being mixed I don't see a problem, as you're probably splitting hairs trying to discuss any potential negatives.

However this year I treated my car to four new tyres all round and in all honesty I haven't noticed any improvement, but I'm sure on paper Im now driving a safer car.

There's no legal requirement in the UK or EU for matching across the car - as long as you don't mix radial and cross-ply (not that that's likely in this day and age!) or winter and summer.

Yes, in principle, having mismatched tyres will create an imbalance of grip - although so would having identical tyres but with different amounts of wear. But in practice, it doesn't seem to make an enormous amount of difference. I suspect that brake imbalance (e.g. sticky sliders on one caliper) may have more of an effect...

Right now i have BridgeStone winters on front of car and Goodyear Excellence on rear ,would that be a issue?

None of my cars have ever failed an MOT for having mismatched tire... Most of them have had them though.

I do ensure I have matched tires on at least the front axle though.

As for the legalities, you just need 4 tyres of a suitable rating for the car with 1.6mm of tread or more.

As for personal preference, I prefer all tyres to match and be as equal as possible tread depth wise, and plenty of it! I reckon that is the best and safest combination.

There is nothing wrong with having different tyre patterns or different makes on each wheel, so long as they are the correct size and type and suitably rated.

Also I think it depends on the car you drive. If it is an older car used mainly for tootling about town, then so long as all tyres are legal, it probably will not make much difference. However if you were running a 500bhp beast near the limit, I reckon all tyres all the same!!

I posted the below elsewhere in the forum, that I read on a website, and had to grin!!! Talk about exaggerating!!!

Does damaging one tyre mean I have to replace two?
Yes.The tyres on the same axle have to be the same – with the same tread and groove depth.Any differences, especially in tread pattern, may be fatal.

Regards