It’s getting about that time where the snow tires ready to go on and I am pretty sure I need to replace 2 of the snow tires for my wife’s car. I have had a set of studded snow tires that she has used for the past 3 winters and 2 of the tires are looking pretty shot. I am wondering if there would be any issue with just replacing them with non studded tires and putting them on the back, with the other two studded tires on the front? Studded tires are kind of overkill but I got a great deal on them 3 years ago but I don’t feel like paying the extra $ to stud two new tires if I don’t have to.
I wouldn’t suggest using only 2 studded tires because of the reaction when you use your brakes. It wouldn’t happen all the time but when it is extremely slippery and the studs catch but the other set doesn’t, your going to have the rear end kick out in one direction or the other.
I’m a fan of the rear of the car having equal traction as the front, if not more.
Do you want her to have false confidence under acceleration?
Mid corner do you want the front tires to grip more than the rear?
Under heavy braking do you want the rear tires to have less traction than the front?
Understeer is safe, cars are designed for head on collisions more so than side.
it’s not that simple… you have to think of the weight distribution of the car and not only when sitting still but under a variety of directional loads… the front does most of the braking and turning on a street car and these are most important in the snow…
studs are usually only ~$15 per tire extra, I hate doing it, but I’ve got a stud gun.
sounds weird but better tires always go on the back.
think of it this way. for the average driver it’s easier to correct an under steer (by slowing down) than an over steer.
1000% right, but people can’t seem to grip that concept, they just want to GO in the snow, and since it’s FWD they think they only need big diggers on the front and bald tires are fine in the back.
only if you want to try and drift a FWD car when its raining lol
It’s because rear tires control the dynamic response of the vehicle. FWD, RWD, AWD, front, mid, rear engine, if the rear tires can’t produce lateral grip and your fronts can it’s going to spin, and yes it is that simple.
But back to the original question, your wife will probably be fine 95% of the time, 99% of the time if she adjusts her speed for the road conditions. Just take her to a parking lot and let her determine what she prefers the stud in the front or in the back.
I remember when I had my first winter car that I bought snow tires for, Hakka 1’s when they were new technology. I went with 2 on the front and left the rear tires which were in good shape, but not as good as the snows on the front obviously. Going W on Southwestern Blvd there is that sweeping right hander by the now Jeep dealer almost across from the Nissan dealer. I felt the back end come around and before I knew it I was going the wrong direction. No way to correct a fwd car once you get past the point of no return.
/thread.
It’s that simple.
I don’t think you can correct anything once you are past “the point of no return.” haha
I put just 2 snow tires on my roommates taurus and that car is totally fine. She is from Louisianna and I don’t like letting her drive me places normally. She should have 4 snows but she is moving back next summer and she is always broke so 2 is better than the 0 snows she had the first winter. Low traction in the back will cause it to spin no matter what is on the front, so if you really can’t swing 4 snows, at least having better traction for the tires that steer is important.
I totally get the rears needing traction, not arguing. I put 2 snows on the front of my girlfriends first sunfire and it was aweful, you could do donuts in it. Same size, but I think they may have been that much taller that the car was thrown right off which happens with FWD. Each car is different too.
As far as not studding the back, I highly doubt if she adjusted to the conditions it would cause a problem, but if you can swing it why not stud them.
In a situation where the front tires are stopping the car because they have studs, but the back isn’t gripping, the car would be in a 4 wheel slide if the fronts didn’t have studs. So it is better, but not best. A lack of studs in the rear shouldn’t cause the rear to come out when she is driving through solid amounts of snow at a continuous speed, that is all the tire itself.
i wouldnt worry about it, the only time studs really do anything is on ice, and if you lose control on ice with 4 snow tires, studs or not you’re either going too fast or you hit an unusually bad patch of road
Bump for a new question. We decided to just spend the 30 bucks to get the new tires studded, now my question is should I put them on the back since they have more tread than the two older snows? They are a different brand, but are the same size just with more tread and a different style stud.
theres your answer.
Forget the road vehicle dynamics nerds. For your wife I’d put them on the front. Most average non-enthusiast drivers fuck up stopping distance, not cornering.
I also put some weight in the truck to help keep the back end planted.