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Tire Question - Mismatching F/R

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At 11k miles my rear OE Pirrellis are toast and need replacing. Tirerack (and anywhere else I've looked) wants an arm and a leg for the Pirellis so I'm planning to commit the mortal sin of mismatching the front/rears. In the interest of mitigating issues associated with grip differences I'm looking for a tire with similar grip to the Pirellis. Bridgestone Potenza S04s and BFG Sport Comp 2s seem like obvious choices and the price is right, but there are other options from Goodyear, Continental, etc. Any recommendations from anyone else who has gone down this patch? Thanks.
 
Place a WTB ad in the classified section and see if someone has a set for sale. I've seen a few including a set I sold.
 
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Yeah, I would not run mismatched in a track situation.
I mean, you absolutely can...but the money spent to do that is actually detrimental. You may as well save the money and do it right down the road.
Even if the "grip" is similar between 2 tire sets, the characteristics in how it delivers performance will vary (ie: one breaks away sooner than the other, or one communicates differently than the other)...not to mention, the characteristics of the tires will differ once up to proper operating temperature (1 tire may like less heat than the other). It gets pretty messy. NFSBOSS likely had the best recommendation for a specific budget--that is, find a set of used tires.

Depending on if you want front or rear (I have both), you can have my tires for free. Shipping at your expense from Canada. They are the factory P zeros but have gone through a number of track days. No good in the rain any longer..
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
Don't mismatch the tires if you are doing any performance/track or 'sprited' driving. Like everyone says above it's really not a good idea. The rare exception would be drag radials for straight line use only.

I'd suggest selling the fronts if they're in decent condition and getting a new set of other tires.

What do you mainly use the car for?
 
Grant 302 said:
Don't mismatch the tires if you are doing any performance/track or 'sprited' driving. Like everyone says above it's really not a good idea. The rare exception would be drag radials for straight line use only.

I'd suggest selling the fronts if they're in decent condition and getting a new set of other tires.

What do you mainly use the car for?

Car is used mainly as a DD with periodic track days. I hear what y'all are saying although I'm not fully convinced that the difference in the mismatch of similar but different branded tires is materially different than the mismatch from brand new rear tires and front tires of the same brand with 11k on them (for which there will obviously be a big difference). So I like the idea of finding some used ones and if not maybe I'll just by all four. Any opinions on the BFG vs. Bridgestone etc.? Thanks for the opinions.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
Cartman said:
Car is used mainly as a DD with periodic track days. I hear what y'all are saying although I'm not fully convinced that the difference in the mismatch of similar but different branded tires is materially different than the mismatch from brand new rear tires and front tires of the same brand with 11k on them (for which there will obviously be a big difference). So I like the idea of finding some used ones and if not maybe I'll just by all four. Any opinions on the BFG vs. Bridgestone etc.? Thanks for the opinions.

Well, it's your money and your car. Different branded tires will have different rubber compound and will react differently as the tires warm and let go. Sure, the same is true of a same model new tire, but at least the behavior will be as close as you are going to get. Mixing brands will be a crapshoot that I don't think is worth taking. But if you insist on doing it and can tolerate a bit of understeer, go with a slightly grippier tire for the rear.

Any of the 200-300 tread wear UHP Summer tires will work for a DD/track car, but I have preferences depending on the setup. For staggered setups, I would tend to want asymmetrical treads for the ability to rotate left/right without remounting tires. For a square setup, I prefer directional tires for the ability to rotate front/rear without remounting.
 

302 Hi Pro

Boss 302 - Racing Legend to Modern Muscle Car
2,009
441
Southeast
Hi Cartman:

Lots of good advice here on tires and I agree tires can be very expensive. I just wanted to mention my experience with tires a few weeks ago.

I was looking for tires on eBay and came across a full set of New Conti Extreme Contact DW's from Discount Tire Direct on special eBay sale for only $758 delivered. (after a $70 mail in rebate).

If you don't find a good used set, give that a try, deals and sales pop up pretty often on different brands of tires.

Good luck,
302 Hi Pro
 
I am putting on the Bridgestone S04 in a couple weeks before heading to Charlotte. Cant beat the price of about $600 installed for all 4. I plan on switching to dedicated track tires when going to track though. Bridgestones are 280 treadwear so they will just be my street tire

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 

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