Changing tyres on an Impreza?

[white_goodman]

Just got back from holiday to find the front nearside tyre on my Impreza WRX flat. Pumped it back up with my electric pump and went down to Kwikfit which was the only local tyre place open on a Bank Holiday Monday around here. The guy that looked at it said that he couldn't find anything in the tyre but the tracking was way out and showed me that the inside of both front tyres was very badly worn. He explained that both front wheels were probably toeing out and scrubbing the insides. This in turn may have caused the tyre to deflate when I left it on the drive for 2 weeks. He also said that the rear tyres didn't have that long left but would probably last for a bit longer. Anyway, I decided to get the 2 front tyres changed and the tracking sorted. 2 Marangoni tyres (which I'm told are a good mid range tyre) and the tracking for £260. I didn't get the rear Prestivo tyres changed as I couldn't afford to replace them all in one hit.

I don't really have any issues with the advice given to me by Kwikfit and the roads are in an awful state around here, so I'm not surprised that the tracking was out but having not owned a 4WD car before was concerned that having new tyres on the front and part-worn tyres on the back may have a detrimental affect on handling and/or put extra wear on the diffs (or does this only affect side-to-side). I would probably replace the rear tyres within the next 6 months anyway. What is the best policy when replacing tyres on a high-performance 4WD car?

[mybrainhurts]

I'd get someone else to do a 4 wheel alignment, if I were you.

[McSam]

This just in: Kwik Fit in Sensible Explanation Shocker!

Nice. Sounds like you might have located a branch with its head screwed on, so I wouldn't worry about letting them do the alignment - especially if he lets you see what he's doing like most other places would.

Doubtless you'll be advised that you're always best to replace all four boots at once, but in the real financial world, obviously it's often an issue. I wouldn't be concerned about unevenly worn tyres from front to back causing you any problems with regard to differential wear, etc - as far as I know, this would be somewhere between negligible and nothing at all. Just watch the wet roundabouts

[Backtobasics]

check that the rolling radius is within 3mm (i think) as there can be problems with the diffs if the front and back tyres have a different rolling radius.

[dvance]

white_goodman said:

2 Marangoni tyres (which I'm told are a good mid range tyre) and the tracking for £260. I

Ouch! Expensive! I wouldn't pay more than 150.

[white_goodman]

I didn't think £260 was unreasonable, although obviously I didn't think that the first thing I would have to do after getting back from holiday was buy new tyres, so a cost that I could have done without! The other 2 tyre places in my town were closed so I was relieved that Kwikfit were open and had some tyres the right size in. I didn't have a lot of choice as I doubt they would get any deliveries of cheaper tyres in today and i have to make a 120 mile round trip to Cardiff tomorrow! The spare is only a spacesaver so that would take me a while at 50mph.

Good point about watching out on wet roundabouts as the back may be a bit looser now in comparison. I hadn't really thought about that. When I do change the rear tyres should I swap the rear wheels onto the front so that I have the fresher tyres on the front? Do I need to swap the tyres onto the back or can I just swap the front and back wheels?