Keep an eye on your tires' tread depth

**k00k** · October 17th, 2007 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by Firefighter

Insist Your New Tires Are Mounted On The Rear.

does it matter kung FWD or RWD yung sasakyan? A quick Googling revealed a bit of debate on this, since some people argue that the new set of tires would affect how the car would under/over steer.

http://action.publicbroadcasting.net...st/462614.page
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/9217

**niky** · October 17th, 2007 11:50 AM

Those people are idiots who think they know more about driving than they do. I'm very surprised the top answer at answerbag is what it is.

The video shows the truth and the whole truth: It should be watched by anyone who's making this decision.

Originally Posted by Firefighter

Insist Your New Tires Are Mounted On The Rear.

YouTube - place your new tires at the back

If you're a good driver, you can countersteer out of a slide. If you're an expert... if the angle is small, you don't hit the brakes. You let off the gas (in a RWD) and countersteer or you pump the gas (in a FWD or AWD) and countersteer. Once you're past the slip angle your vehicle can recover from, you hit the brakes and put the engine into neutral, and get ready for the crash.

But that's only if you're a good driver, if you're prepared and paying attention, and if your rear tires have enough tread or grip left for you to regain grip with them. If you've got worn tires in slippery conditions... no such luck! Most people will just go straight to the hit the brakes and get ready for the crash part.

Whereas worn front tires will push, will understeer, will feel heavy and unsure. They give you no false confidence in the handling of the vehicle, and tell you very early on that they have no grip left. When you overcook it with worn front tires, you will slide to the outside of the turn.

What do you do? If you're an expert, you get off the gas or tap the brake... you shift the weight of the car forward to regain front grip and to unload the rear tires. As you unload the rear tires, they lose grip, and the car settles into a neutral four wheel drift. If you're driving a rear-wheel drive car, you can add a little flourish at the end by booting the gas for a long, glorious powerslide.

If you're feeling fancy in a FWD or AWD car, you flick to the outside of the turn, brake hard and abruptly, flick back and you've got the car drifting out of the turn, modulated with the gas pedal.

If you're a novice, or panicking... you hit the brakes. You put pressure on the front tires, regain some of that grip, and unload the rear tires, which gives the car a more neutral slide, which you can then recover from by slowing down and steering out of it.

Worn front tires are easier to cope with, give you more options to recover from loss-of-grip from, and are just plain safer than worn rear tires. People who think worn rear tires are better have obviously never been in a high speed loss-of-control situation (been there, done that) or have never been on a racetrack (same same).