winter tire question

[02Protege'5]

im going to put winter tires on my car in the 15" variety. Right now im running the stock 16" rims with 205-55-r16 kumho ast. A 15" 195-60 tire's height is only .05" different than the current 16" setup i have. will it be alright to put two 15" tires on the front of the car? the all seasons are damn near brand new FYI

thanks

-Tony

 

[geomatics_tech]

Always put your better winter tires on the back, it will provide more stability while driving. BUT, it is not recommended to only run 2 winter tires.

 

[02Protege'5]

why in the hell would i put by best tires on the back of a FWD car?

 

[KZL_99ES]

i was going to ask the same question... i think he means that you wouldn't sway all over in the back, but if you have traction in the front, why would you loose control in the rear???

...anyways, i'm getting some winter/snow tires only for the front, it's cheaper and that's all i need.
for your height issue, i doubt that it would matter for such a small difference, two sets of rims would look funny tho, lol!

 

[02Protege'5]

im definitely not going for looks thats for sure

 

[KZL_99ES]

didn't thinks so, my stockers are pretty bad, plus there'll be snow all over them anyways!

what snow tires you getting?

 

[geomatics_tech]

why in the hell would i put by best tires on the back of a FWD car?

You may be able to accelerate faster with the winter tires on the front, but while driving the car will have much more stability in the turns which is more important. This was determined in testing by Michelin.

 

[02Protege'5]

You may be able to accelerate faster with the winter tires on the front, but while driving the car will have much more stability in the turns which is more important. This was determined in testing by Michelin.

as im not buying micheline tires, i think ill go with what makes more sense to me personally.....

as for the tires im getting general altimax arctic studdable, without studs. Winters in NE-PA are terrible, jsut got 6" today.....

 

[CTt3P5]

You should run winter tires in sets of four only.

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=120#y4

 

[KZL_99ES]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...&partnum=955QR5AMAXA&fromCompare1=yes&place=5

no way!!!

that's what i'm getting!

 

[aMaff]

You may be able to accelerate faster with the winter tires on the front, but while driving the car will have much more stability in the turns which is more important. This was determined in testing by Michelin.

I'd like to see the testing on that, b/c that makes no sense. in a FWD car, your front wheels are in charge of turning, accelerating AND braking the car. The rear wheels are along for the ride. How placing winter tires on the rear of an FWD car makes any sense is beyond me.



And yes, just buy a set of 4, you'll be better off in the long run.

 

[02Protege'5]

spare me the info from the salesman please.
I ran all seasons all around my car for two winters in a row, now ill have good snow tires on the front and good all seasons on the back, with ~6/10 smaller overall diameter tires on the front. ill make a new thread in the spring when i take the winter tires off, or when i smash the hell out of it in the snow this winter, whichever happens first of course.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...&partnum=955QR5AMAXA&fromCompare1=yes&place=5

no way!!!

that's what i'm getting!

great (read as cheap) minds think alike i guess!

i too would like to see the data from the micheline test

 

[KZL_99ES]

of course they're going say that, so you buy more...

but yes 4 will be more safe and you will prob be better off! not going to deny that...

 

[02Protege'5]

i agree with your last post, bettor off, definitely. absolutely necessary, probably not.

 

[geomatics_tech]

I'd like to see the testing on that, b/c that makes no sense. in a FWD car, your front wheels are in charge of turning, accelerating AND braking the car. The rear wheels are along for the ride. How placing winter tires on the rear of an FWD car makes any sense is beyond me.



And yes, just buy a set of 4, you'll be better off in the long run.

Its the same reason why car manufacturers build cars with under steer and not over steer, its safer. I cant find the results right now, but Im not making this up.

 

[aMaff]

Its the same reason why car manufacturers build cars with under steer and not over steer, its safer. I cant find the results right now, but Im not making this up.

So... it's safer to have the tires that have no grip doing the steering and braking? That doesn't make sense dude..... You may not be making it up that you read it somewhere, but the place you read it from is full of crap as far as I'm concerned lol

 

[Tom03es]

I've also heard the reasoning that if you only have 2 winter tires to put them in the rear. I think the reasoning is that if you have the tires with better traction in the rear, the rear will stay behind the car better (understeer). Cars are safer when going head on into a crash than sideways or at some other angle. And most drivers know what understeer feels like since most cars are set up to understeer.

 

[macklime]

as im not buying micheline tires, i think ill go with what makes more sense to me personally.....

as for the tires im getting general altimax arctic studdable, without studs. Winters in NE-PA are terrible, jsut got 6" today.....

winter tires should ALWAYS be in sets of 4. If you are putting only 2, the back is the place for them. You will have very poor stability and will more likely end up in an accident from having more grip in the front and much less grip in the back, causing the back to fishtail.