Hello All,

Simple tire question here. I own a 96 960 Wagon with rear wheel drive, and came accross some tires. So, for normal driving, should the better tires go on the rear or front ? I have two new snows for the rear for winter driving. Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks, MBFish

 

When I used to work for a living....I had pretty extensive sales/service training through Michilen. Back then it was always better on front, as in better steering, turning, stopping. That thinking has seem to do a 180, for better on rear, to keep the rear behind you. IMHO it is still better with the better tires on front, for the stated reasons. If your a half decent driver the rear swinging out is minimized and if it does, easily corrected.

 

+1 I have also noticed that logic in tire stores, like Wal-Mart. Most accidents I see or hear of, it's not because the back of the car slid somewhere, it's usually because someone did NOT stop in time and rear ended someone.

Also, 960's are very easy to control.

 

The best go on the front, and it is for safety reasons although not the ones you first think of first.

In the case of a blow out (which are admittedly rare) the car is much easier to control if the front goes. If the back blows the car wants to go all over the place, 180s are a diffinate possibility on slick roads. This even applies to motorcycles!

This is why the turn around in the industry.

Not sure I'd drive around on snow tires this time of year however.

 

Thanks all for the great and quick advice. Front it is. They go on this weekend and snow tires come off. thanks, MBFish

 

I think donf meant to say that the best tires should be on the REAR, for the reasons that he mentioned. Probably a typo or a brain fart. Other than that, I agree; it's a lot easier to just hold the steering wheel straight when a front tire blows. Also, it seems like rear wheel blowouts are more likely to damage to your fenders, wheel wells, etc. This has certainly been the case in my experience..