Why New Tires NEVER Go On The Front

Summary

Charles from HumbleMechanic explores the age-old debate of where to place new tires on a car if you can only replace two. While testing winter tires in Finland, he discusses with Matty from Nokian Tyres the importance of placing new tires on the rear axle for safety reasons—regardless of whether the vehicle is front-wheel, rear-wheel, or all-wheel drive. The conversation also touches on tire rotation practices based on tread depth differences, the age limits for tires, and the necessity of using the right tire type for specific weather conditions. In essence, safety takes precedence and having the best tires on the rear ensures better control during critical situations.

Highlights

• Charles tests winter tires in the snowy landscapes of Finland. ❄️
• Discussion with Matty from Nokian emphasizes putting new tires on the rear. 🚗
• Safety first: Having better tires on rear prevents dangerous oversteer. ⚠️
• Rotating tires regularly extends their lifespan and maintains vehicle safety. 🔄
• Always use the right tires for the right conditions; no mixing! 🌦

Key Takeaways

• Always place new tires on the rear axle for safety in all types of drive vehicles. 🛞
• Tire rotation should occur when tread depth difference is more than 2mm. 🔄
• In critical oversteer situations, having better tires on the rear prevents loss of control. 🚗
• Tires have an age limit; replace them after ten years even with good tread. ⏳
• Using the right tires for weather conditions ensures safety; don't mix tire types. ❄️

Overview

In the icy terrains of Northern Finland, Charles from HumbleMechanic embarks on a mission to solve a pressing tire-related dilemma—where should new tires be placed if you can only replace two? Teaming up with Matty from Nokian Tyres, they delve into the logistics of tire placement during a winter tire testing session.

It turns out, for optimal safety in vehicles ranging from front-wheel to rear-wheel drives, the new tires should always go on the rear axle. This helps prevent the dreaded oversteer in emergency maneuvers. Matty and Charles also share insights on the importance of regular tire rotation and respecting tire age limitations as preventative maintenance measures.

As Charles effortlessly navigates snowy roads at breakneck speed, he underscores the significance of using the right type of tires—winter tires in winter conditions and standard tires in normal conditions—to ensure maximum safety and performance. The message is clear: tire care doesn't just protect the vehicle, it protects the driver, too.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Setting The chapter titled 'Introduction and Setting' begins with Charles, the narrator, describing the extremely cold climate of Northern Finland, where the temperature has dropped to negative 24 degrees Celsius. He is driving an Audi A3 1.5 liter hatchback at 80 km/h on a snow-covered road, being cautious of the presence of reindeer in the area. Charles explains that he is in this remote location for winter tire testing in collaboration with Nokia.
• 00:30 - 02:30: Tire Placement Discussion The chapter opens with a discussion sparked by a question seen on a Facebook group about tire placement: where should new tires be placed on a car when only two are being replaced? The options considered include placing them on the front, the back, or possibly just on one side (left or right). This question aimed to address safety and efficacy concerns regarding tire placement. The context involves a dialogue with Matty from Nokia tires, riding in an Audi SQ5.
• 02:30 - 04:30: Safety Reasons for Rear Tire Placement The chapter discusses the ideal placement of new tires when only two can be purchased at a time. It was recorded at the White Hell test facility, noted for testing winter tires. The overarching advice, regardless of whether a car is front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, or all-wheel drive, is to always prioritize placing the new tires at the rear for safety reasons.
• 04:30 - 07:30: Tire Rotation and Maintenance The chapter discusses the importance of tire placement for vehicle safety. It addresses common arguments for placing new tires on the front, acknowledging their role in steering, braking, and acceleration particularly in front-wheel-drive vehicles. However, it ultimately emphasizes that for safety reasons, new or better tires should be placed on the rear wheels.
• 07:30 - 09:30: Tire Aging and Replacement This chapter discusses the importance of placing the best tires on the rear axle of a vehicle. It emphasizes the potential dangers of having worn-out tires on the rear, particularly in real traffic situations like highway lane changes. The key risk highlighted is the possibility of oversteering, which occurs when the rear end of the car loses grip and control, leading to a dangerous situation. The chapter argues that it's safer for a vehicle to understeer slightly rather than oversteer.
• 09:30 - 11:00: Winter Tire Laws and Recommendations The chapter titled 'Winter Tire Laws and Recommendations' discusses the importance of having good quality tires for better reaction and control in adverse driving conditions. It highlights the differences in vehicle control between oversteer and understeer situations. In an oversteer scenario, minimal steering input results in significant turning of the vehicle, whereas, in an understeer situation, more steering is necessary to direct the car as intended. This difference is also observed between front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive cars, emphasizing the need for appropriate tire selection based on the vehicle's drive type.
• 11:00 - 13:30: Conclusion and Recap The Conclusion and Recap chapter discusses vehicle handling dynamics, emphasizing the differences between front-wheel and rear-wheel drive cars, particularly in relation to natural understeer. It recommends installing new or better quality tires on the rear to ensure proper tracking and vehicle alignment, akin to the alignment process where everything is oriented from the back. The rationale is that control is more difficult to maintain with rear-end issues compared to front-end issues, such as a blowout, where steering maintains some control.

Why New Tires NEVER Go On The Front Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 negative 24 degrees Celsius this is probably the coldest that I have ever been what's going on everybody its Charles I am currently behind the wheel of an Audi a3 1.5 litre hatchback in the middle of nowhere in northern Finland actually going about 80 km/h on a completely snow-covered Road being very cautious and aware that there's reindeer everywhere I am up here doing some winter tire testing with Nokia not long
• 00:30 - 01:00 ago I saw this question pop up on a Facebook group and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to hopefully put this topic to bed once and for all the question is when you're getting two tires only where do the new tires or where does the best tires go on your car should you put them on the front should you put them on the back left side only on the right side where is the best and the safest place to put new tires on your car all right so I am riding shotgun in an Audi sq5 this is Matty from Nokia and tire we are right near
• 01:00 - 01:30 the white hell test facility where you guys test all your winter tires very beautiful place and I have a question when you get new tires if you can only afford two or it only makes sense to do two where should those new tires go if you have a situation that you have only two new tires and you have to put it on your car that kind of situation I always recommend no depending is it on front wheel driven or rear wheel driven or four bit driven car always put the
• 01:30 - 02:00 better tires to react so for safety reasons so no matter what kind of Drive vehicle you have new tires go in the rear now I've heard people make a really good case for putting the best tires of the new tires on the front our front wheels steer our front wheels do the primary amount of braking front-wheel drive cars that's responsible for accelerating the vehicle why would we go with then with all those really true very true things what's the reasoning
• 02:00 - 02:30 behind putting the best tires on the rear the problem is on the real traffic situation when you are driving on for example on the highway and you have to make a lane change and if you have a bad grip under your car and you the worst tires on your react so it might happen so that in the lane change your car start to oversteer and that means that you lose control on the react so and it's it's a very dangerous situation it's much better if you a little bit understeer but over steering
• 02:30 - 03:00 on the real traffic situation that's the worst possible situation and that's why we always recommend to put better tires to reaction so in an oversteer situation a little bit of steering input is causing the vehicle to turn quite a bit more in an understeer situation it takes more steering input to get the car to behave in what you're trying to make it do we see this in the difference between a front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive all the time a front-wheel drive car has
• 03:00 - 03:30 more natural understeer than a rear-wheel drive car has so even though a great case can be made for front tires getting the best the best tire should be installed or the new tires should be installed in the rear it's sort of like a vehicle alignment everything tracks off the back so if the backs not right the Front's not gonna be right it also kind of makes sense there too because let's say we have a blowout in the front we can control that we have some impact we can have very easily steer off get
• 03:30 - 04:00 off the road if that happens in the rear I think your odds of something catastrophic happening are much much higher and you know a lot of us were car enthusiasts we loved performance driving I think it's pretty safe to say that the average driver isn't that driver you all right that's that's the reason why I ve recommend that way what about where difference or tread depth difference between the front and the rear on the vehicle I always recommend when the tread depth difference between front and
• 04:00 - 04:30 the reaction is more than two mils it's good idea to rotate the tires from front to rear and if you do it that way you never get up that kind of situation that you have to a worn out tire and to help on tire so that's why recommended rotation about seven to eight thousand kilometers about depending what kind of tires you have that kind of wrote you have and so on you definitely want to make sure you're consulting your vehicle owners manual or
• 04:30 - 05:00 the the book for the tires that you buy to see when the recommended service interval is so doing those things like rotate and balance can help extend the life of your tire and it's not just the actual depth of tread its how is the whole tire wearing overall on that note do you ever find that tires can actually age out where they get so old that they may have plenty of tread left but you should replace them anyway due to age actually here in Europe we have a we have a rule it's not a law but this rule
• 05:00 - 05:30 that maximum life on service is six years total time for a tire under a car is ten years and after that tire is so hard on when we talk about thread compounding it hardened every year and that way over ten years the tire is so hard that there is no creep anymore as it was in a new tire and that's why we recommended changing I read a rumor about snow tires and we're in the perfect perfect environment to talk
• 05:30 - 06:00 about snow tires that you can actually just put two snow tires on either the front or rear we just we discussed that the best tires go in the rear and that's gonna be okay what he thought something no no we never recommend to put that that they actually there's a law for example in Scandinavia that under one court they have to be same kind of tires on the rear and the front axle so in according to law it's not possible in in Europe or in Scandinavia and we don't recommend in
• 06:00 - 06:30 the u.s. from Canada either of course that way there is a totally different kind of behavior if you have for example all seasons on the front and real winter tires on the rear so that way we recommend always same kind of tires on the front and rear I've seen that personally on a GTI that had like performance tires on one axle it was standard just regular all seasons and in hard turns it would make the ABS go all kinds of crazy and cost the car to do really weird stuff so you can't do two
• 06:30 - 07:00 snow tires or two performance tires you got to have the same tires all the way around your car I also read that if you have four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive like my Golf R my r32 you don't need winter tires that just plain ol All Seasons will do just fine in in inclement weather bad weather like this actually it doesn't matter if you have two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive on real winter conditions you need real winter tires that's for sure so it
• 07:00 - 07:30 doesn't matter you got to have the right tires for the right application that you have high-performance snow ice studded unstudied whatever you got to have the right stuff correct so super awesome chat with matty from Nokian very cool dude and he was really rough in the head sq5 through that I don't even think it's a road I think it was just a snowy snowy path it doesn't matter front-wheel drive like I'm driving now it's true all-wheel drive like a Torsen
• 07:30 - 08:00 or the faux all-wheel drive like the Haldex system the Ghaffar in the r32 have or rear-wheel drive we always want to make sure we're putting the best or the new tires in the back of the vehicle in addition to that it's so important to make sure that we're using the right tires for the right application we saw how big of a change that the r32 made when I went from the pretty good tires I had on it to the ultra high performance tires that I did for the last few runs motocross right now I am driving on what
• 08:00 - 08:30 I think is a road I see no pavement I see no asphalt going up a snowy hill and it's just like driving normally I'm going 70 kilometres an hour and I'm confident with not one hand on the steering wheel confident and I'm confident and comfortable in the car it's doing exactly what I expect right now I'm actually riding around on ha completa 8 with the stud so like it's just normal daily driving very very cool stuff make sure new tires go in the rear make sure you've got the right tires for the proper application and I think it's
• 08:30 - 09:00 worth adding in an ideal situation having four good tires is really really the best approach that doesn't always work it doesn't always make sense but in a perfect world of course that's what we would want to do alright guys so I'm gonna wrap it up thank you for watching Big Ups to Nokian for bringing me up here showing me around giving the full tyre tour letting me romp around rs4 and rs5 a q5 and this a 3 hatchback guys have an awesome day and I'll talk to him next time
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