buying tyres

[Standard Dave]

I've discovered I need to buy new front tyres.

I've been and got replacement tyres before but not really thought about it before or been bothered about which brand I buy.

Anyone had a horror story or a particulaly good experience with any of the high street tyre fitting places ?

[Gareth]

Are front tyres different to rear tyres?

[MrToad]

Make sure the new ones go on the back though...

[Standard Dave]

Are front tyres different to rear tyres?

Yep at the minute they are, it's a front wheel drive so goes through fronts faster done 40,000 and due set number 3 on the front think it's still on the original rears.

[Angus]

National give IAM discount

They also price match, and the local branch give me their £5 per tyre "insurance" which gives free puncture repair or if the tyre is unrepairable, a proportional refund against the replacement.

I don't have a good word to say about ATS

[kfae8959]

This internet thing seems good to me: I've been very pleased with blackcircles.com. I'm not sure what part of the East Midlands you're in, but Tyres Northampton is much favoured by Evo magazine, and there may be others on here who've got first-hand experience of their performance without commercial incentive.

Like others, I'm interested that you've put new tyres on the front axle rather than the rear on more than one occasion in the past and seem to be planning to do so again. Has that been on the advice of a tyre fitter?

David

[GJD]

This internet thing seems good to me: I've been very pleased with blackcircles.com.

Internet works for me too: I've used event-tyres.co.uk on a number of occasions and they've been competitive, friendly and professional. By coincidence, they're probably about to get an order from me tomorrow.

[ScoobyChris]

Another thumbs up from Event-tyres who replaced my fronts a couple of weeks back. I normally use Protyre, but Event matched the price and came to me fit them so it was a no-brainer really. Excellent job and all done in 20 minutes.

As for tyre make, there are hundreds to choose from and good and bad reviews on all of them so it'll always be a gamble. Imho, the big brands command a higher price without necessarily delivering a better product and there are some good performance tyres from Falken and Kumho that won't break the bank. No matter how little I've paid for a tyre (even remoulds! ), I've never had one fail so I'm not sure how concerned I'd be about that when making a decision...

Chris

[TripleS]

Are front tyres different to rear tyres?

Well Dave's front tyres could be similar to, or different from, his rear tyres. I thought I'd just get that in before Mr Kay arrives.

As a matter of fact we had an MR2 in the family until recently, and on that car the rear tyres were wider than the front ones.

Best wishes all,
David.

[TripleS]

Make sure the new ones go on the back though...

Yes, if you are happy to accept the popular wisdom. Some people still prefer to have the best tyres on the front wheels, as I do. I think there should be respect for personal preferences on this.

Best wishes all,
David.

[GJD]

As a matter of fact we had an MR2 in the family until recently, and on that car the rear tyres were wider than the front ones.

Same for my Supra - so the tyres I order today will definitely go on the front wheels. But where that quirk doesn't apply, my impression is that the advice to put the new ones on the rear wheels is very common across the tyre industry.

[GJD]

I think there should be respect for personal preferences on this.

Of course. Have you ever encountered a tyre fitter who refused to accept your preference Dave? I've always gone with the popular wisdom so I've no idea if they get upset if you decline their advice.

[ScoobyChris]

I've never received advice on where to put new tyres by any tyre fitter I've used. They ask me which tyres I want replacing and they're the ones which they do.

Maybe it is my punishment for haggling them down on price

Chris

[jont]

Many years ago, I had a FWD vauxhall cavalier. It needed a pair of new tyres, and I was insistent they went on the front (with the old pair of rock hard ditch finders left on the back). The tyre fitter was quite insistent the new tyres ought to go on the back as having them fitted on the front could cause "interesting" handling quirks. A couple of weeks later I found out what he meant when I lifted off on a rather wet bend and found the car very quickly swapped ends. No harm done other than bruised ego, but I did then spend some time playing on an airfield learning just how tail happy the car was. What I probably should have done was swap the tyres back round

The last couple of cars I've had have had different size F/R (diameter as well as width on the current car), but being RWD the rears usually wear out rather quicker than the fronts.

[TripleS]

As a matter of fact we had an MR2 in the family until recently, and on that car the rear tyres were wider than the front ones.

Same for my Supra - so the tyres I order today will definitely go on the front wheels. But where that quirk doesn't apply, my impression is that the advice to put the new ones on the rear wheels is very common across the tyre industry.

Yes, so I understand; and their reasoning may be generally sound. Even so, it will not suit everybody, so I prefer to leave room for personal preferences.

Best wishes all,
Dave.