Need two new tyres, should I swap back with front?

[pcmaczone]

Unfortunately I seem to have picked up two slow punctures recently. Front near side and rear off side so I will need two new tyres. Thing is I am not sure if I should have the two new one's put on the front or the rear. I'm guessing the front since it's front wheel drive so all the energy goes through those tyres and also it's the heavier part of the car?

It's a shame I'm having to do this as I have only just done 9000 miles so the tyres still have plenty of tread. We live out in the sticks though and there are a lot of badly maintained lanes out here and a lot of loose flint chippings on the roads. Also bad timing as we are off to France next week. Typical! Still, better sorted now here in the UK than on the other side of the channel.

[ZACK]

2 new on the front definitely

[lfcrule1972]

The only issue I'd have is that on my DS3 the fronts are more worn than the rears (it's 10m old now). Given that, if I swapped the older two tyres without punctures they would be slightly different sizes due to the wear they have received on the car differing between front and back.

Not sure if this would make a difference to how the car drives though....

[Bigfeet]

What are the depths for the tyres that are okay?

Bear in mind that your front wheels do more than just move the car, they provide the steering so it is in your best interests to have the best grip possible at the front.

[cyclone]

Depends, common sense would put the better tread on the drive wheels but from an auto safety standpoint the worse tread should go on the front to maintain the (safer) understeer characteristics of the car.

[pcmaczone]

Well my preference would have been to have all of the tyres replaced but it's really bad timing with the France trip and the budget just won't stretch to it. Really didn't need this right now but nothing I can do. Getting really fed up replacing tyres because of the crap state of our roads

[Bigfeet]

Depends, common sense would put the better tread on the drive wheels but from an auto safety standpoint the worse tread should go on the front to maintain the (safer) understeer characteristics of the car.

You make an interesting point there mate.

[x6411]

I've just had my 2 rear tyres replaced, and I asked the guy if he would swap the 2 (more worn) front tyres with the 2 new rear ones, so I could have more grip at the front.. He said he could do it, but he strongly advised against it & advised having the most grip at the back..

I'm actually pleased I listened to him now because you can tell the difference when going round corners and on roundabouts, the car definitely feels a lot more stable and more stuck to the road

It makes sense really, if you give the driving wheels the most grip and the rear wheels less grip, the back end is more likely to just do what it wants!

[gmt234]

I recently had a tyre repaired, was a nearly new tyre, had a screw in it going down slowly, supposed to be good as new, cost a tenner. from national tyres, i think they all do it though, ats etc.

[pcmaczone]

Got Etyres coming out this morning. They will either repair or replace. Not even sure the front has a puncture now I think about it. It's never flat just loses some air but we have a lot of pot holes around here so possible hitting them is knocking the air out? The rear is definitely a puncture as that loses air over night. Doesn't go flat but definitely a leak there somewhere.

[DickiJ]

The best tyres should always be put on the back! Like it has been mentioned above it's always better to experience unexpected understeer than oversteer! But again if the rears have plenty of tread on them I would just stick them on the front as they'll soon wear past the rears in no time.

[Parafilm]

Oversteer FTW, I don't run tyres on the back of my DS3, just plastic trays.

[pcmaczone]

Well the rear had a nail and a screw in it and the front although not punctured was quite worn on the inside tread. Tracking is probably out by the looks of it but not surprising given the amount of pot holes around here. Anyway, had both tyres replaced. New one's are on the front. Rear's have plenty of tread. By the way these are KENDA - KR20 205/45/17 so real budget jobs but so far they have improved the handling no end. Will see how they go over the 1500 miles to the South Of France and back next week Can't get the tracking done before we go so will just have to put up with it. Can't be that bad anyway. Steering is spot on as far as I can tell.