My 2005 Roadster that I obtained about three weeks ago has 10,000 miles on it. Front Potenzas have plenty of tread but their mates in the rear are very close to the wear bars. Tire guy says I can possibly stretch out 5k more on them but to be careful in the rain.

I'm assuming these rears are the originals, can't believe they look like this with only 10k. The car does'nt look like it's been used for applying layers of rubber to the pavement.

Should I replace the rears with the exact same tire or can I use another manufacture? I think that possibly mixing brands and thus tread type is a serious no no! Inquiring minds want to know!

I tried searching but........

 

You can change to a different brand for the rears...you don't want to mix brands on the rear.

 

Yes you can mix tires. A minor problem is that tires are tested in sets of 4, so the results are at best a guess. Driving on mixed tires is smarter than driving on bald tires.

 

Whoa.... I would def. not recommend it!!
You'll have tires with different characteristics leading to unpredictable results.

Buy the same ones & when they're worn, you'll need both front and rear.
Then change brands if desired.

 

It's a daily driver/ mostly on the street type car yes?

Different brand (from the front) rear tires shouldn't be a problem. I would only be concerned on a track, where you want them to have predictable grip and similar temp. properties.

Just don't cross swap the tires with different brands. (E.g. left wheel is different tire front right wheel.)

 

I run mixed tires. I run stickier tires on the front to help counter act understeer and I have had lots of luck with them autocrossing. It is sort of a trial by error process though.

 

Buy the rear tires you like and change the front to the same brand once they are down.

 

Thanks!

I do know enough not to run one brand left and a different one right. But it sounds as though the concensus is it's okay to put whatever on the rear. I'm not going to the track.....just daily driving.

 

Without a doubt partner. I run 245/40/18 yoko's on the front and 285/35/18 P-Rosso on the rears. The only reason i didn't go with Yoko's for the back were because Yokohoma doesn't make a 285/35 so i didn't have a choice if i wanted the same tread. If your worried about it just try to match up the tread patterns the best you can so it looks good. Personally tho, my P-Rosso remind of drag slicks and my Yokohomas have the agressive spiked tread pattern.

 

Jusy buy a set of 4...my front stock Potenzas had a plenty of tread left, but they are garbage. I threw them away.

Whatever you do, don't plague yourself with more stock rear tires. If that means mix&match, fine...but replace the fronts as soon as you can (you should just do it at the same time).

 

My first year at ZdayZ (2005) I made a few runs with another Z owner that had mixed tires on his Z. The rears were stock but the fronts were "all-season" tires that didn't stick as well as the rears. He had a lot of understeer. If you get rear tires with less traction than stock, the car could get on the loose side of neutral. I would try to get at least the same "type" of tires as the front. (Summer tires)

Make sure you test out the tires in a safe place so that you don't get surprised in an emergency. (I watched that other Z owner almost lost some paint on the side of the mountain when he turned the wheel and the car just kept going straight.)

Good luck.

 

Mixed tires = mixed treads/performance = safety issue = hell no.

 

Always an excellent idea. Find an empty parking lot in the rain, and run figure-eights. See what the tires do. That what there will be no surprises.

 

i would not recommend it... i had the exact same thing happen to me. the rear potenza's wore out at about 8k miles... i put new rear tires on and left the potena's on the front. it doesn't ride or handle anything near like it did so i'm just gonna go ahead and replace the front tires too.

 

im planning to run general exclaim uhps in the front and nitto 555s in the rears.
will this be ok guys? just want to make sure.

 

I wouldn't suggest mixing tires, especially summer and all-season. I have all-seasons in the rear, and oem in the front, and damn, it feels unsteady.

kbomb, since you're buying all 4 tires, why don't you just buy the same?

 

Uhh yeah, There is no reason to buy 4 brand new different tires.

 

I wouldn’t do that, I know is actually illegal to do that in Hong Kong, not sure in Japan. Think about it, you wouldn’t want tires with different traction, especially in rain.

 

I have a set of nitto 555 for the rears already. just looking to get front tires for now.

 

Different brands, but similar dry/wet performance is fine.

Summer in front, all-season in back. Don't know bout that.