mixing tyres front and back ??? and whats recomended

[ewan221]

I know prob done to death but search not helping

I need new fronts and in past always been told that all 4 tyres must match or the car will explode in s ball of flames. Can't seem to find any advice on the Chim though.

Also what's good for standard wheels the tyre place suggested Goodyear NCT5 but the online reviews are poor?
Was thinking maybe Avon Zz3 or vredestein sportracks ??

Edited by ewan221 on Tuesday 19th June 19:42

[scotty_d]

I have the ZZ3 on the Mini and there not to bad. Not as good as GY eagles but seems good in both wet and dry.

[Quietlybonkers]

I have 17 inch wheels for track days, and have by chance bought Yokohama Parada Spec 2. Grip is phenomenal, at least in the dry, and you are right, it is better if all 4 match as you get even handling. The 205/40 17s can be remarkably inexpensive. I virtually cannot lock up the brakes now.

[Quietlybonkers]

PS ewan, you can see what they look like on my Sunday post, where you gave me the right answer

[ewan221]

cheer everyone :-) seem to have a pretty limited choice for the 15 inch front rims. Maybe Ill have a think about some aftermarket wheels :-)

[SpecB]

Toyo Proxes T1R seem to be the default for the standard wheels. You can only get V rated in 15s but that shouldn't be a problem as it still allows up to 149mph!

They seem to be pretty good on mine but I upped the pressure 2psi to compensate for the soft compound.

[over_the_hill]

I've got Goodyear Eagle on the back (GSD3 from memory) and Dunlop SP9000 on the front. I think the Dunlop are full Z-rated as well.

Edited by over_the_hill on Wednesday 20th June 11:02

[Mark.]

Toyo T1R on the rear and Dunlop SP9000 on the front. Not sure if it's because they are mixed but I do get some understeer at all PSI's, if I can avoid SP9000 next time I will but not sure of Toyo are available in 15's. Try as I might though I can't get the Dunlops to wear!

[V8 GRF]

I don't think mixing tyres back to front is that big an issue with new (or recent) tyres.

What happened in the past was people only changed one pair of tyres (front or rear) while retaining long out of dat,e rock hard Bridgestone SO2s that should have been changed 10 years ago, so you ended up with a grippy front or back end mixed with no grip whatsoever.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

ewan221 said:

in past always been told that all 4 tyres must match or the car will explode in s ball of flames.

Whoever told you that was talking absolute rubbish.

The only rule that must not be broken is that you should have the same type of tyre on each side of each axle. And by "type" I mean radial versus cross-ply - but since cross-ply is virtually unheard of now it really isn't an issue.

Having said that, it's always a good idea to have the exact same tyre on each side of an axle - although on my other car I have driven many thousands of miles with one Goodyear GSD3 and one Toyo T1R on the front, because the Goodyear has become unavailable. There was no adverse effect on handling, although those two tyres are very similar in characteristics. I wouldn't have done this unless I'd had prior experience of both tyres: I knew it wouldn't be a problem.

Having different tyres on the front and the back should not in itself be a problem, but I wouldn't want to mix two very different tyres.

For example...

Mark. said:

Toyo T1R on the rear and Dunlop SP9000 on the front. Not sure if it's because they are mixed but I do get some understeer at all PSI's, if I can avoid SP9000 next time I will but not sure of Toyo are available in 15's. Try as I might though I can't get the Dunlops to wear!

The fact that the Dunlops aren't wearing probably indicates that they're a harder compound than the relatively soft Toyos. A harder compound will always tend to be less grippy than soft, which explains why you've got an understeery setup.

ETA: Your setup should be perfectly safe though, and it's not a cause for concern. Also, yes you can get Toyos in 15", but not in a Z-rating. You'll have to settle for a V-rating, which will be fine. Some people say you should tell your insurer, but personally I doubt that the difference between V and Z would be a "material change" given that both ratings are far higher than you'll ever drive on the roads.

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Wednesday 20th June 15:02

[SpecB]

Just a thing to add, I was told that you shouldn't mix asymmetric tyres and directional (rotational) tyres on the same car as they have different characteristics.

[Mark.]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

The fact that the Dunlops aren't wearing probably indicates that they're a harder compound than the relatively soft Toyos. A harder compound will always tend to be less grippy than soft, which explains why you've got an understeery setup.

ETA: Your setup should be perfectly safe though, and it's not a cause for concern. Also, yes you can get Toyos in 15", but not in a Z-rating. You'll have to settle for a V-rating, which will be fine. Some people say you should tell your insurer, but personally I doubt that the difference between V and Z would be a "material change" given that both ratings are far higher than you'll ever drive on the roads.

I'm not worried about the understeer, I actually like it - to a degree. I can always coax it in to oversteer should I need with judicious use of the right pedal. Anyway, moot point these days as I never really push the Chimaera anymore, just use it for pootling about.

I agree with the V/Z sentiment too - if the car ever got to that speed I think I'd have other things to worry about before the tyre rating

[blaze_away]

Correct me if I'm wrong, I always thought the Z vs V rating wasn't about 'speed' but about 'load bearing'.

The potential 'load' put on a tyre by a Chimaera requires it to have side walls that can cope with that load, and as Chim's have very high acceleration then the load created is high enough to warrant Z rated tyres.

If a V rated tyre let go on a bend under hard acceleration and 'you' were deemed to have caused the accident then your insurer might well claim the tyre was a material factor in the accident and may not cover you ?

Open to being shot down on this one if someone knows better.

[Mark.]

Makes sense. I remember a garage guy telling me that it is to do with load but related to speed apparently as you go faster you create downforce which increases load on the tyres.

Could all be bullst but I'm in a hurry to get home tonight so I might try.

[SpecB]

blaze_away said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, I always thought the Z vs V rating wasn't about 'speed' but about 'load bearing'.

The potential 'load' put on a tyre by a Chimaera requires it to have side walls that can cope with that load, and as Chim's have very high acceleration then the load created is high enough to warrant Z rated tyres.

If a V rated tyre let go on a bend under hard acceleration and 'you' were deemed to have caused the accident then your insurer might well claim the tyre was a material factor in the accident and may not cover you ?

Open to being shot down on this one if someone knows better.

The letter is the speed rating. The load is classified by the number just before it for example 215/45 R18 89W.

http://www.blackcircles.com/general/load-rating

HTH.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

I've heard the argument about acceleration load before, and there may well be some truth in it. Fortunately for us, the majority of the load is generated on the rear wheels, where we can fit Z-rated tyres. On such a light car, the cornering load on the front wheels is probably no higher (less, even?) than a typical hatchback.

[SILICONEKID340HP]

ewan221 said:

I know prob done to death but search not helping

I need new fronts and in past always been told that all 4 tyres must match or the car will explode in s ball of flames. Can't seem to find any advice on the Chim though.

Also what's good for standard wheels the tyre place suggested Goodyear NCT5 but the online reviews are poor?
Was thinking maybe Avon Zz3 or vredestein sportracks ??

Edited by ewan221 on Tuesday 19th June 19:42

Don`t think you can go far wrong with the Toyos T1R`s for road use..

A full sets going to cost you ..

Front £59.95 each inc vat http://www.camskill.co.uk/m53b0s289p1673/TOYO_TYRE...

Rear £82.75 each inc vat
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m53b0s295p1694/TOYO_TYRE...

[Malcster]

I went for these (front and rear):
http://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/brands/kumho/ku3...

Had them for a few months now, and have no problems with them at all, especially when you look at the price of them.

I actually prefer them to the T1-R's, and the Falken FK452's I had previuously.

I think on a heavier car the sidewalls maybe a little soft, but on something as light as a Chim, they are fine.

[ewan221]

Malcster said:

I went for these (front and rear):
http://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/brands/kumho/ku3...

what size sis u go for on front cant see 205/55/15 listed

[Malcster]

ewan221 said:

what size sis u go for on front cant see 205/55/15 listed

Hmm, must have ran out at black circles.
They definitely do them though: http://www.kumhotyre.co.uk/selector.php?tyre_id=26

Actually, here's some: http://www.ears.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id...