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Different Tires on Front than on Rear

Old Dec 8, 2008 | 09:39 AM
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Default Different Tires on Front than on Rear

I have BFG T/A KDWs on the rear right now and need to replace the fronts. Do you guys think it would looks stupid if I got a different brand tires for the fronts?...the KDWs are just too expensive.
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 09:46 AM
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looks......thats up to u......

as far as okay.....yup, rock and roll with it.......i am for sticky tires up front, and whatever i can burn off in the rear...
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 09:50 AM
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I guess the question is...do you really think you could tell a difference unless you went up and looked closely.
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 09:56 AM
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I wouldn't give Rat's A$$ what other people think !


In fact I bet there are a whole bunch of peeps on here that have different front tires than rears.


Do what you need to. Stop worrying about what they will think.
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 10:02 AM
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I'm just asking if you think you could tell there are different tires just by looking at it or if you would have to get up close....but thanks for the helpful post bud.....very constructive.
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 10:08 AM
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Personally, I think you'd be able to tell only if your standing a few feet away from the car. Otherwise at first glance, I doubt you'd notice unless you would point it out.


But if your driving...Hmmm, no way.
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 11:22 AM
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I wouldn't do it personally. Grip differences, sidewall stiffness differences, wet grip differences... can all screw up the handling really bad if you mismatch them badly enough. I'd hate to wreck my car and admit I wrecked because I'm cheap.

I doubt most people would notice that the tires are different unless they inspected closely.
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 12:26 PM
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Go for it, but personally i would would the sticky tires in the front. I've run a few different combo's now and equaly front and rear is best , sticky front with decent rear is second and i wouldn;t run sticky rear with crappy front again.
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 12:43 PM
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I'm running the same tires in the rear, and I just installed some brand new Nitto Invo's up front. I think it's an awesome combo. Looks nice too!
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 12:57 PM
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i have khomo front and toyo rear
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 01:10 PM
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If you have to do it, do it.


I'm running BFG KDW2s up front and thanks to a blow out earlier this month, I have a used set of Michelin Pilot Sports on the rear.

No one will notice except for the uber-picky guys at your car meets.
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 01:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Rekinyze
I have BFG T/A KDWs on the rear right now and need to replace the fronts. Do you guys think it would looks stupid if I got a different brand tires for the fronts?...the KDWs are just too expensive.

would you wear a different shoe on one foot vs the other?

if you must, go for it. It's one of those things that would bug me on my own car
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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 05:04 PM
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If you stay with the same class of tire (e.g., summer/performance, all season, etc.), similar sidewall flex, and tread design/characteristics (i.e., wet grip vs.dry grip) you should be fine. But with this said… mixing different tires front to rear may not provide the best handling.

For example I mixed Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 on the rear with the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE040 on the front, and I would rate this setup as poor. The problem was the difference between the sidewall flex in the Goodyear’s (flexible) vs. the Bridgestone’s (moderately stiff). The rear felt “wiggly.”

The correction was placing 245/40-18” Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 tires on the front. The car handled much better with this setup.

--Spike
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Old Dec 13, 2008 | 05:24 PM
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i am in a similar yet different situation. my rears are about worn out and my fronts still have some life in them, oem tires so do i buy the rears i want(prob t1r), or buy all 4 and replace the fronts early to have the same all around. i realize you should match for handling and traction, and i will when the fronts wear out. i just can't see replacing them early and spending the extra money for "no reason". doesn't everyone run into this problem with rwd cars?
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Old Dec 13, 2008 | 08:27 PM
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mixing front and rear sets of tires is fine as long you're aware there'll be different responses.

well, cars with non rotatable wheel and tires will experience different wear rates.
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