Is it ok to mix tire brands IE one brand on front one brand on rears?
 

If the speed rating is the same Z on both fronts and rears then is it ok to have a different branded pair on the front then the rears?

I have Michelin Pilot Sports on all 4 right now but the rears need to be replaced but the fronts are still nice. I don't really need to spend 600 plus right now for a set of rears so I am considering buying a different brand of rears.

Mike

BE VERY, VERY, VERY careful if you do this.
There is no real reason it can't work and about two thousand reasons why it probably won't.
Be very careful and very slow in coming up to speed with the car if you do this. There WILL BE A DIFFERENCE IN HANDLING BALANCE.

It depends on what your doing with the car. For just driving around you'll be fine with a different set of tires, as long as their both in the same category (i.e. - high performance tires w/ high performance tires, or all-seasons w/ all-seasons). If your a very spirited driver, or plan on autocrossing I wouldn't mix brands.
There will be a difference but it won't be noticeable unless your doing something that requires the full capability of the tires.

....or that stupid clown in the minivan cuts you off and you find that difference the hard and fast way......

Never recommended to mix tires on Porsches.

How many miles did you get on the rears? I almost got 20,000 miles on my Pilot Sports. My ride is still great, tires are not noisy. Lost grip, but I can easily predict how the car will slide and understeer. If I got caught in the rain, I'd be screwed!

I am going in Friday to get all new shoes. PS2's this time, since the Pilot Sports are no longer being made by Michelin in 19"s.

When I first bought my 2004 Boxster it had Michelin PS on the front and Toyo's on the rear. Any ruts in the highway caused it to veer from side to side, and my thought was that the wide tires were causing it, and if that were not a problem my ride was nearly perfect. I bought 4 new Bridgestones and viola! no problem. Now, it could have been the tire wear or type, or something else, but I'm not going to mix brands again.

By mixing tires and brands, you can also set-up what is know as a "Harmonic Imbalance". Everything vibrates at a certain frequency. Start mixing stuff, and all kinds of strange stuff can happen. Rattles and virations, just to name a few.

I stand corrected. These guys know a lot more about this than me.
Thanks for the good info! :cheers:

Alright, y'all have talked me out of mixing the brands, I've been searching around and I'm going to try the Nexen N3000's all the way around. Will cost me $415.00 delivered for 2 265/35/18 and 2 225/40/18. Will probably be a serious downgrade from the Michelin's I'm used to, but much nicer on the pocketbook at this time. My car is eating me up with $$$ this year (the engine replacement hurt), but hopefully I'll be getting most of that back in due time from arbitration.

Mike

Mike, I think NickCat runs these tires. He is very happy. Good driver on the Tail too.

interestingly, even the same manufacturer but different model can be bad to match as they also can have different sidewall ratings. I was getting about 10k miles out of my Pzero sticky tires and though I'd get a few more miles out of the Pzero Rosso series. Well here I am at 31K miles (total on the car, 10K on this set of rubber) and need some new rubber in the rear. Now I have to buy the Rosso series for the rear as there is still some good tread left in the front. I think I'll go back to the stickies next time when I buy all around. Also different tires track road surface differently and create different road noise with a different tread, I think the noise alone would annoy me.
Ken

I just came off a set of N3000's. For 99% of street use, you can't beat them at the price. Decent wet and dry traction, quiet, and they hold a balance. I got about 8K out of my rears (same size as you). I switched to Goodyear F1 D3's, much more expensive, but better dry traction and they've worn like iron on my M3.

One other thought - if you get roughly twice as many miles out of the fronts than the rears (and this is my fervent hope, being in pretty much the same spot as you thenavarro), then you could buy another pair of the PSs for just the rear and replace all four with whatever you wanted when they wear out.

Of course, if you only get 50% more miles on the fronts, then you end up going through 2 front pairs and 3 rears to get to that point... And if it's 20% more... :dance:

I have two sets of wheels for my car. I am on the third set of rear PS2's with the same set of front tires, fronts still look great. I only get a little over 5K out of a set of rear PS2's, so in order to keep from breaking the bank, I got a set of the Nexen 3000 for my second set of wheels.

As you would expect, there is a lot of difference in the two tires. The Nexens are nice and quiet and have done suprising well in heavy rain on the interstate. But they do feel heavy, not very responsive and not very sticky compared to the high-priced PS2. To get some sidewall stiffness it seems to help for me to keep 36/42 lbs fronts and rears with the Nexens.

When I first put the Nexens on, I thought I would have a hard time living with them, just comming from a set of PS2's. But after a couple of thousand miles, they dont seem too bad, especially for the money. I think paid under 500.00 for all four tires delivered, mounted, and road-force balanced. You can tell they have a harder rubber compound as the Nexens will squeel somewhat on hard cornering where the PS2's just stick (as they leave an expensive track of their sticky rubber compound on the road).


Ed

:D

Mike,

For the last 2 years, I have run Fulda Carat Extremo 225/40ZR18 in front and Nexen N3000 265/335RR18 in the rear.

( came like this when I bought it, all four tires brand new )

I had no problems with this mixed set as a daily driver, autocrosser, or at the Tail of the Dragon.

I got 20k miles out of the rear tires and just replaced them last month ( went with the Nexens all around ) :

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16418

$386 for a complete set ( $456 delivered )

Nick