New tyres, front or rear?

[chiefsilverback]

My fronts are going to have to be replaced in the next few hundred miles but I'm wondering whether people prefer putting new tyres on the back or front?

One line of argument suggest they should go on the front as those tyres deal with power, steering and braking whilst others think new tyres should always go on the back?

In order to 'prolong' the life of the tyres on my first LCR I did a straight swap front to rear, and totalled my car a couple of days later when I lost the backend on a wet (icy?) road!?!?

What do people on here do?

Also I'm getting on for 12,000 miles so can anyone recommend a good service place in Kent?

 

[oliie]

Always the rear. There is some good info on this on the Michelin site.

O.

 

[oliie]

Also have a look at this existing thread: http://cliotrophy.co.uk/forum/viewtopic ... helin+rear

 

[fazedesign]

I've just had new ones on the front with no problem.

Putting new tyres on the rear is suggested as it will result in the car having a tendancy to understeer rather than oversteer which is obviously better for the average driver who would instinctively back off if the car started sliding.

I stuck mine on the front as they do the vast majority of the acceleration/cornering and braking on a fwd car like the clio so I'd prefer to have the most grip available there. I'll probably swap the tyres over mid-way through the life of the fronts as tyres get harder with age so the originals would probably last forever if I left them on the back!

 

[chiefsilverback]

Always the rear. There is some good info on this on the Michelin site.

O.

That was my thinking. My only problem now is getting them done! This weekend I'm off to Donington, next weekend the Peak District and by that point they'll be border line legal. It's compounded by the fact there's nowhere decent near me for doing tyres?

I could swap the fronts and rears temporarily, but that wouldn't be ideal!

What are the mobile tyre services like? Are they set up for doing alloys properly? The last tyres I got done were at a Pirell Performance Centre and eveything was plastic coated to prevent damage to rims, torque wrenches were used rather than air guns etc....