Need help -- get Nitto Invo tire, or Michelin PS2 at twice the cost?

[Wret]

Originally Posted by ekam

Never mismatch front & rear tires.

Can you explain why this is important? Logically, side to side tire differences could cause handling issues, but front and back? If the rears are worn, they're already different than the fronts. What harm is it to put new ones on the back and wait to get full usage from the front before replacing them.

[ekam]

Originally Posted by Wret

Can you explain why this is important? Logically, side to side tire differences could cause handling issues, but front and back? If the rears are worn, they're already different than the fronts. What harm is it to put new ones on the back and wait to get full usage from the front before replacing them.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=31

"How many tires do I need?

Since tires affect the personality and performance of your vehicle, all four tires should be as identical as possible or handling problems may arise. If your tires don't match, it is possible that one end of your vehicle won't respond as quickly or completely as the other, making it more difficult to control.

A PAIR OF TIRES?

If two of your tires have a lot of remaining tread depth, but you need to replace the other two because they were damaged or have worn out, you should replace them with a pair of tires that come as close as possible to matching your existing tires. While identical new tires are desirable, others of the same size and type can also provide good results. Only consider selecting new tires that are from the same tire category as your existing tires. New tires should be installed on the rear axle."

[Wret]

Ok, what I get from that is: tires on one end should match general category as the other end, but that's a long way from "Never mismatch front & rear tires."

[ekam]

Originally Posted by Wret

Ok, what I get from that is: tires on one end should match general category as the other end, but that's a long way from "Never mismatch front & rear tires."

It's the unpredictability and the mismatch handling characteristics of the front & the back tires that's the issue. Why are you not matching them, unless the tires are discontinued. For many people, it's money, but I never could figure out why people want to save money on a safety item.

Imagine driving in wet or icy conditon and unexpectedly losing and regaining either front or rear grip. Are you ready to handle your car in that condition in a narrow road or on the busy interstate? Not saying that's going to happen tomorrow when you take your car out but that's why they call it accidents.

[Wret]

I don't think it's an economic issue necessarily. Tire selection in general is always a compromise taking into account all of the conditions that will be experienced. The best dry tires are not the best in rain and vice versa. Four identical summer tires are not going to help you on that icy patch.

As an experienced auto-crosser I've slid from one end on one turn and the other end on the next with four identical tires. Unfortunately there is no tire combination that can compensate for driver error.

There is no excuse for driving on inferior or damaged equipment at any time but its been my experience that two brands of matching tires of similar specification on opposite ends do not adversely effect handling.

[ekam]

Originally Posted by Wret

I don't think it's an economic issue necessarily. Tire selection in general is always a compromise taking into account all of the conditions that will be experienced. The best dry tires are not the best in rain and vice versa. Four identical summer tires are not going to help you on that icy patch.

As an experienced auto-crosser I've slid from one end on one turn and the other end on the next with four identical tires. Unfortunately there is no tire combination that can compensate for driver error.

There is no excuse for driving on inferior or damaged equipment at any time but its been my experience that two brands of matching tires of similar specification on opposite ends do not adversely effect handling.

Each tires have its own limit on wet/dry/cold/warm/icy/snowy conditions, not to mention different wear levels and there's already so many variables out there, using mismatch tires just throws another unknown variable out there that will effect handling that can be minimized. It's fine if you want to play with different tires at auto-x or at the track, but on the street there's very little room for error when you have other cars around you. That's my 2 cents.