Tyre noise

Yep! Top Gear's Richard Hammond drove a car with big rear tyres, and had a dreadful crash. ;-)

Which is still possible whilst having the same brand. Having less than

5mm of tread on a tyre might seem an unnecessary risk to some people.

It's not just the cheapest tyres either.

16 or 17 years ago a company I worked for switched from Pirelli to Dunlop replacement tyres on their company cars. Within a month, two people complained of losing grip at a particular roundabout near the offices at the first rain after having worn tyres replaced. The basic problem was an unusually slippery surface on that particular roundabout combined with seemingly significantly less wet-grip with the Dunlops.

And it's not beyond the bounds of probibility that at some point it can become impossible to source the two different sized front and rear tyres from any one manufacturer. Or even if you can, it could take a week or more to get them in - not much use when you're stuck half-way through a journey!

It has been stored in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight.

And had been distorted under load in all conditions.

cough...brexit

I have found that Firestone TZ300 stick to the road far far better than "ditch finder" P6000 and a set lasts twice as long (possibly because they aren't spinning).

Just 170 ponies though the back axle.

250 bhp might restore the fun. Should I get a stage 2 chip, T28 turbo, boost controller for 14-15psi, high flow fuel pump and Volvo/SAAB inter-cooler? Trouble is it then needs feeding 99 RON fuel.

But not being regularly flexed?

Yes, 'worn out' (which doesn't necessarily mean the tread is worn out) and why I replaced them immediately.

Without saying 'it's your call', you could be the one who has a blowout and kills any of us. ;-(

Not saying you will of course, or even what the odds are (just because you are running an 8 year old tyre that hasn't been used from new), just that it's getting pretty close to the 10 years 'maximum life' that some are calling for (used or otherwise) and 1 year over the '7 years' they often suggest as a maximum for caravans etc (again, used or not).

I'm guessing they wouldn't mark tyres with their manufactured date if it wasn't relevant?

Cheers, T i m

Needed for traceability in case of a manufacturing problem.

No idea why they put 'Treadwear 300, Traction A, Temperature A' on.

treadwear: big number harder longer lasting, little number more grip.

300 is good grip

It is a blessing that the tyre fitter can come to you. Very special equipment is required for fitting and balancing from a van, so it's not something any rogue fitter can get his hands on. Certificates are on a decent website, presumably it's a franchised part of a bigger outfit, so why should we think that the fitter is not qualified? Going to a tyre shop require advanced booking, and then you still have to wait when arriving there.

Replacing a tyre is a superior solution to repairing a tyre. I never drive my car to the limit anyway. Modern tyres are hugely over designed for normal practical use at legal speed limits; just look and the load and speed ratings for the bluresponse: 91 = 615Kg, 149mph

If it had been a proper, knowledgeable, trained fitter then it would not have been fitted to the front. Also particularly worrying is that it is a summer tyre.

How you normally drive has little to do with what happens in an emergency, that is when you discover the truth about a lot of things. Particularly as you sail on onwards, seeming to accellerate toward the object you hit, your foot firmly on the brake pedal, the abs clicking away, yet not stopping as you should be able to, and you realise that ultimately the tyres are the most important component involved in sticking to the road.

On 09/06/2016 09:45, MrCheerful wrote: [...]

If the front tyre then becomes the better tyre, then it follows by physics that brake length is reduced compared to fitting at the rear and swapping to the front.

A new tyre does not magically give the shortest stopping distance.

The use of the best/new tyres on the rear of cars is well established as the safest thing to do all round. A good fitter will actually refuse to fit a new tyre/s to the front only.

Summer tyres are much less grippy when the weather gets colder (the very time you might need the most grip)

MrCheerful wrote: [snip]

That seems counter-intuitive. Is there a credible explanation, please?

GIYF ;-)

amongst hundreds of others.

Chris

Yes it stops the rear end stepping out under hard braking or heavy maneuvering

We were talking about straight line braking distance and good condition rear tyres.

Anything can happen in an accident/near miss. It is not possible to predict whether stopping will work or not; just look at youtube. Accidents happen mostly due to:

1. Impatient drives
2. Bloodymindedness
3. Insistence of road space
4. Lack of anticipation of what other drivers might or might not do
5. Intolerance of drivers not sure of directions
6. Intolerance of drivers making minor mistakes
7. Cognitive overload (distractions)

[...]

By far the biggest cause of road accidents is lack of attention. That might be because the driver is distracted, or simply has a low level of understanding of the need for concentration.

Chris