Riftzone

my99 uk, pirelli p7000's on the front, bridgstones on the back (the ones that came with the car, ferget the model).

stepped out whilst doin 5mph round a roundabout in 1st gear. fortunately, managed to keep the rear end at 45 degress in front of a bus full of people at the junction...

chiark

They'll all do that with crap tyres on the back... Or even with different tyres on different axles.

It could be that you hit a patch of diesel on the back axle which caused the problem and no amount of tyres will sort this out, but I'd really not want different tyres on my car at all. I changed 4 to avoid this sort of problem.

Hope this helps somewhat,
Nick.

DaveR

yup, mine stepped out on an icy roundabout in 1st gear at about 5pmh this morning too. I have lovely newish F1 GSD03s on the front, but the shiite standard issue Bridgestone Potenzas (slightly worn) on the back. I went a full 90 degrees, lucky no one else was about .....

SiCotty

Guys you might want to consider rotating tyres from the front to the back. They will then all need replacing at the same time. This is unless you have a very heavy right foot. I've done this (the dealer has actually) for the last 75k miles and have been through the crap that is fitted as standard SO2 and GSD2 tyres sets. Just about to swap for GSD3 all round.

Si

chiark

Good point Si. My dealer did the same for me without asking at the last service...

Wuss

It's been said a million times before, but...

At 15,000 miles my fronts were illegal but there was still some life left in the rears. After a lot of deliberation, and some good advice from the guys on this board, I got four new Goodyear Eagle F1's to replace the Bridgestones. It cost me £380 all in, but when you consider that cost in comparison to smashing your car up, it's well worth it. On the way to work today, it was like a bloody ice-rink with a lot of people spinning and crashing into pavements, etc. My car didn't even seem to notice the ice/snow. I'm sure many people will say you can replace two or even one at a time, etc. but £95 a corner over two years (15,000 miles) is a small price to pay to give you a better chance of avoiding an accident!

Right, here comes the abuse!

W.

Riftzone

one dealer has told me that if there is a 3mm difference between the tread on the front and back ie if front tyres have 5mm tread and new rear tyres will have 8mm tread, then this will damage the diffs ?!?!

reckon he's talkin sh!te and tryin to flog me 4 tyres. anyone had this ? is it true ?

Re-Bitten Hero

Not heard of this being a problem on the Scoob. However it was a big problem on Volvos - the centre diff would give up the ghost relatively quickly, due to the different rolling speeds of the wheels...

Best just to rotate regularly, and get rid of the original Bridgestone RE-010s as fast as possible .

Richard

eclipse

Lost the backend of mine on tuesday night in the wet did a 360 spin into a roundabout barrier bollox!!! I think I will change the rear tyres so they are the same as the front. But I do find that the backend is a bit light footed.

SCOOBY TOWERS

iTrader: (7)

Its a bit of a myth that you should put your best treaded tyres on the front, this only helps the front grip, hence the back steps out.
Put your best tyres on the rear and you create a car which understeer's, which is much safer.
4 Wheel drive cars need the tyres rotating ever month(depending on miles) to keep the tread even.
If your starting with different treads on different axles try to rotate them until all 4 nead replacing, but take it easy until then.

Gussie Cup

Its very difficult to keep the handling neutral unless you bite the bullet and get 4 new good ones all at once. (I prefer Toyo Proxes )

Also the type R (DaveR) will always be more tail happy due to the rear bias - different torque split to the 4 doors

Ben

LG John

Pah 5mph! Mines stepped out with crap tyres on the back at 90mph! Now that is scary Can't stress enough how important it is to have good tyres all round so that you get consistent and predictable handling. I'd always recommend bumpsteer and geometry although this does make the car more tail happy In a good way

HELLOM8

Wet round abouts are usally covered in Diesel, not a good mix.

LG John

Everone says this Why, how? Surely a truck wouldn't pass an MOT if it was leaking?

Chrisgr31

I assume the diesel comes out the overflow of the tank as the trucks swing round the roundabout. The fuel swishes around and comes out the top.

As regards the diff, the Subaru manual apparently used to say you should cange all 4 at once, and ensure even wear due to the diff, now it is less clear!

Chris

ChrisB

Isn't overspill from the diesel tank the usual culprit? It's not leaking when parked up but start sloshing it around and you have one very slippy roundabout.

Couldn't agree more with the idea of changing all four tyres at once and running the same tyre all round. You've got a £7000+ high performance car and the rubber is damn important!

Edcase

Saxoboy, read my post in 'discussions about springs' in Suspension. Had the rear left OE tyre's sidewall fold / tread shuffle at about 115 - 120 in a tight right-hander on Snakes Pass :O

Needed a pretty quick flick of the wrist to save my ar$e!

Anyone know if Proxes are any better under high cornering duress as well as good overall grip?

LG John

Sounds like a scary one I've got 16" Proxies and I'm very happy with them

Edcase

Yeah I thought for a horrid second I'd had a blowout, but felt ok on the straight....took it easy for a few corners and felt fine. Got to Sheffield, checked my tyre pressures and they were fine too!

Leslie

I agree 100% with Wuss, and the FI's are outstanding in wet or dry conditions.

Les

Spoon

If it stepped out at 5mph then i'd think no tyre would prevent it.

Diesel or ice will win against any car.