People keep asking me if it's ok to fit just two winter tyres. The theory is sound, if you have a FWD vehicle then you can fit just two winter or all season tyres on the front axle and that will get you moving when you're stuck.
What people often forget is that once you're moving and turning, the car relies on all 4 tyres more evenly, which can cause extremely dangerous driving situations. This video should highlight why it's never a good idea to fit just two winter or all season tyres.
In this video the FWD BMW X1 has the excellent Goodyear Ultragrip Performance Gen-1 winter tyre fitted to the front axle, and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 summer tyre fitted to the rear axle. Both tyres are in the same size and load rating (225/50 R17) and have the same tyre pressures.
Any questions or comments, feel free to message below or over on the YouTube page!
I’d love to have some all season tyres but I can only afford 2 at the moment, I have a pair of budget summers on the front due to be replaced imminently as down to 2mm, and a pair of Goodyear efficient grips on the rear which are in very good shape.
Obviously it’s a no no to mix the the 2 types of seasonal tyres, but what about moving the Goodyear summers to the front and the 2 new all seasons to the rear to keep the rear in check, and then change the 2 summers on the front when worn to all seasons, to complete the set? Not an ideal situation I know, but otherwise I’ll just have to buy another 2 summer tyres and skid round again this winter?
While the all season tires on the rear will be safer in the snow, they'll almost certainly be worse in the dry so you're risking oversteer during high speed maneuvers.
Obviously people do this way of switching over all the time, but it's not something I'd be recommend in writing.
That makes perfect sense now thank you! In that case I’ll just put up with getting another pair of the Goodyear summers to keep them all the same and take it steady as usual, then rotate them until all worn and change the whole set to all seasons in the future
Or a set of steel wheels next winter and put winter tyres on them and swap over etc
You're missing the point. If you hadn't put the winter tires on the front, you shouldn't have been driving that speed to begin with, so don't make the false assumption you should drive at a reckless speed for the conditions just because you put winter tires on the front. Further if you live in a snowy region, it would be silly to have summer tires at all, clearly all season are the right choice unless again, you are reckless and trying to drive at dangerous speeds in summer and pretending your tires make that acceptable.
Remember your safe driving speed is not just limited by tires. It is also limited by everyone else on the road. You may be driving perfectly stable but you still want to be going slower so you have more reaction time and a slow impact speed when that OTHER driver loses control.
Always drive based on the lowest (slowest) common denominator. This is where people get in trouble, they think "I'm driving fine at this (x) speed but then they hit a black ice bridge, or a curve banked backwards, or a pedestrian steps out into the road, etc.
Forget about tires except never summer tires in a region that has cold winters. Instead, SLOW DOWN !!!!!!!!
Surely even braking can result in breakaway as well - especially downhill - with just a small steering input or camber on the road?
You are correct!
If by even braking you mean you were driving too fast for the conditions then braking too fast for the conditions, of course.
This is driver error, not tire error. At the same time it is true that it makes no sense to use tires with unequal traction, but it is true that it is not a problem if your driving limit is based on the traction of the lesser tires. The same is true for wet roads, limited visibility because there's sun in your eyes, distracting children in the back seat, whatever. The goal is never to drive as fast as you can then blame something other than driver error. You will get into accidents if you take that drive fast philosophy even if you have the best tires possible on all 4 corners, whether it's your fault or someone else's. Slow down!
Michelin PS4 on my mini
But fronts need replacing
Are the cross climates still to far away in performance terms to even consider a mix
I do live on a hill ;0)
I can't recommend mixing all season and summer either!
What about two winter on front and two all seasons on rear in winter time ?
If you want to spin out in snow sure :)