Mixing Of Tires Question

Hello,

Thanks for previous help and info. Great group.

Nothing is ever simple, I guess.

Have a 2009 Buick LaCrosse Live in Boston. Get our share of snow and ice, but nothing like northern Maine or Minn.

Presently, I have Michelin Primacy MXV4 (225/60R16 H) on the car. The rear tires are truly in excellent shape. No need to replace them.

The front tires need replacement as there is considerable thread wear.

But, according to Tire Rack: "Michelin Primacy MXV4 is discontinued. Its replaced by Michelin Premier AS, in stock"

So, I guess my question for you experts is: are the threads similar (enough) if I only replace the front tires with these new Premier AS ones ?

Or, is mixing tires a real no-no, even if "similar" ? Would sure like to keep the rear ones, due to cost.

Thanks, Bob

Since your car is front wheel drive, best tread depth to the rear. That is one issue solved.

The next issue won't be quite as easy. When mixing tyres of different types, the best gripping ones to the rear. The difficulty arises when trying to determine when two tyres of the same brand are actually the same in terms of *grip*. I suspect you would need to refer to Michelin for that information. I do suspect though that since Premier AS is the recommended replacement that their grip factors will be the same. By the way, I don't mean by *grip* that all I'm talking about is the friction characteristic of the tyre. I am also talking about the slip angles the tyre will run when cornering and if they will match the existing tyres. That aspect will depend as much on the underlying tyre carcase as it does on the tread overlay.

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The video will explain what I mean.

I had the issue many years ago. I put 2 new tyres on a car, Michelins in fact, that had different slip angles to the tyres already on the car. No matter where they were on the car, the difference in slip angles upset the natural handling balance of the car so I bit the bullet, went out and bought another two Michelins of the same type. That balanced the car and, more importantly, made it a much safer car for my wife to drive. The car, I might add, was front engine, rear wheel drive, not as tricky as a front wheel drive to balance out.

All I can say here is, get two new tyres, fit them to the rear, then try the car out. If it feels the same as before, you're probably going to be Ok. If not, you will need another two.

HTH