Different tires for front and back?
 

I hope that this isn't a terribly stupid question, but someone told me that it was a terrible idea to have different tire brands/tread styles on the car. Is that accurate? I was checking online for tires at tirerack, saw the Conti's rear for $200 each which is reasonable, with $135 for fronts, but there is a brand called Kumho for the fronts at $85 each, and gets great reviews, better than the Conti's. Apparently, the Kumho's, however, do not make the rear 19 inch version which is much rarer to be produced. I was thinking why not put them together, but the tirerack.com guru strongly recommended against it. I'm not remotely cheap on things, but I only need the tires for 14K miles left on lease, so I don't mind enquiring. Since the front axle tires are 18 inches and rear 19 inches, they don't match to begin with, so am I wrong in that having different tires if they are properly installed is not a big deal? I've been told both ways.

Thanks,

Mike

Re: Different tires for front and back?
 

i'm not a fan of this at all... not only does a mixed set look horrible & cheap...

but all tires are designed/constructed differently (performance level, speed rating, tread design, etc)... a match set is the recommendation not only from me but tire professionals would state the same.

info links: http://www.coopertires.com/html/tire...tiremixing.asp

http://www.tirerack.com/tires-techpage-1/136.shtml

i would just put 4 conti sport contact all season tires on your crossfire... they are cheap enough & work well.

Re: Different tires for front and back?
 

Well rear tires wear out before the front ones. Michelin Pilots cost twice as much as others - so I have Dunlop Sports on the back and Pilots on the front. I have excellent results from the Dunlop's and will replace the fronts with them in due course.

Re: Different tires for front and back?
 

You need to keep the same speed ratings on them but as long as the fronts are the same and the rears are the same, it shouldn't matter much.

Racecars typically use 2 different sets of tires either the front/rears are 2 different sets or left/right are 2 different sets. It depends on the race. As long as the same type of tire are in the front or rear (basically to have the same traction and tread pattern) then it shouldn't be a problem. I had Potenzas on my fronts and Michelins on my rears on my Honda when I had to replace 2 of the tires. No need to replace all 4 when I still had 2 good tires.

I wouldn't advise having 2 different tires for the front driver/passenger or rear driver/passenger.

Re: Different tires for front and back?
 

I have Michelin PS2 at the front and some Dunlop SP at the rear, I found it easier to spin the wheels with the Dunlop's, but I haven't really driven on the Michelin for a long time.

I'm going to change the front tires and I don't think I'll put back on some Michelin, they are too expensive !