Better to have stickier tires up front or in rear?

[justatroll]

Originally Posted by Shutter

Better tires up front won't cause the rear end to come around unless you are turning, and most panic braking is in a straight line.

Tell that to the people who pretty much invented brake bias valves like Tilton & Wilwood.
Many cars on the street & race cars intentionally reduce rear wheel braking under panic situations for exactly that reason.
You NEVER want the rears to lock before the fronts.
Therefore it is 'safer' to have the better tires in the rear to minimize the possibility of it happening.

[Keenercarguy]

I agree with mistersheep (sell the old rears) but,
I run Michelin Pilot Supersports in the front, and Dunlop Direzza DZ102's in the back. The DZ102's have moderately less grip than the Super sports: but they're not bad by any measure. They also have a much higher treadwear (460 vs 340) and last noticeably longer without sacrificing much grip. Best part is that the handling characteristics are perfect. Granted I'm also fairly modified suspension wise...
I'd DEFINITELY run a better tire up front if you're at all comfortbale correcting oversteer in that super unlikely scenario that it occurs. I'd say it's also much more important to be able to steer, if you're going to run a lower performance tire somewhere, don't put it on the wheels that are the difference between hitting that deer or weaving around it. All IMHO

[totopo]

Originally Posted by nickmerronesucks

I recently bought two GT radial 255/35s cheap because i needed two rears. well I would like to ditch the stretched front tires and get another set of 255/35's.

I've been looking into grippy tires such as the hankook RS-3, Star specs, R888, Etc

Would it benefit me mounting those on the front or the back? I figure more grip up front would be nice, but would it benefit me more in the back? I plan to run the Gt radials until they are worn.

Do you ever drive in the rain? If so are you a professional dirt track driver?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=52&

I like how all the boy racers try to optimize for lap times... while you drive on the street.

If you care enough about driving dynamics, then buy new tires.

If you don't care enough, then don't risk your life and the lives of others around you.

[totopo]

Originally Posted by Shutter

while I basically agree with this(putting better tires in rear), its typically because 95% of the population throttle-lifts mid corner, causing the rear end to come around. And 95% of the population doesn't know what to do when that happens, and so 95% of them crash/spin out.

Better tires up front won't cause the rear end to come around unless you are turning, and most panic braking is in a straight line.

Even with "good tires", you can still throttle-lift oversteer the car though.

I love how people talk about street driving as if it's equivalent to track driving. Track conditions are stable. You take your warm-up lap and you know the condition of the track.

When you are on the street there are so many things you can't control. If there's rain, someone doesn't see you and cuts you off, debris is in the road, there's an accident, there's a puddle, oil, leaves, so many things. It doesn't matter what you do, it is a lot safer to have better tires in the rear.

Swap them when you get to the track.

[nickmerronesucks]

I am not worried about over steer:


I can correct it.

I was simply asking if there was any benefit to have a STICKIER tire not more or less tread. In the front VS the Rear..On the drift car I was running a very sticky front tire and junk in the back.

thanks for the input but this has gone in the wrong direction. with the putting peoples lives in danger non sense.

FWIW the brz is a weekend toy that i just take to car meets and drive the twistys near me and sometimes to work.

[nickmerronesucks]

Originally Posted by Keenercarguy

I agree with mistersheep (sell the old rears) but,
I run Michelin Pilot Supersports in the front, and Dunlop Direzza DZ102's in the back. The DZ102's have moderately less grip than the Super sports: but they're not bad by any measure. They also have a much higher treadwear (460 vs 340) and last noticeably longer without sacrificing much grip. Best part is that the handling characteristics are perfect. Granted I'm also fairly modified suspension wise...
I'd DEFINITELY run a better tire up front if you're at all comfortbale correcting oversteer in that super unlikely scenario that it occurs. I'd say it's also much more important to be able to steer, if you're going to run a lower performance tire somewhere, don't put it on the wheels that are the difference between hitting that deer or weaving around it. All IMHO

Thanks this was the answer I was looking for. This is how I thought of it as well.

[Vracer111]

I ran Kumho Ecsta XS on 17x8 +36mm offset up front with stock Primacy on 17x7.5 +40mm rear for a little bit (because of worn rears on the XS) and had a more of a blast daily driving than on the stock tires all around. Definitely had to be on top of it more but was nothing dangerous. Would definitely put sticker tires up front...stickier tires in the rear makes no sense at all except for drag racing...

Front end understeering and not being able to turn in as well as a stock FR-S because the rear doesn't want to rotate as easily does not inspire confidence - compared to the rear behaving just like stock but with better front end turn-in and grip. And at a minimum hold button to keep TCS and VCS off...will go a little nuts and stupid on you if left on.

[Vracer111]

Originally Posted by totopo

I love how people talk about street driving as if it's equivalent to track driving. Track conditions are stable. You take your warm-up lap and you know the condition of the track.

When you are on the street there are so many things you can't control. If there's rain, someone doesn't see you and cuts you off, debris is in the road, there's an accident, there's a puddle, oil, leaves, so many things. It doesn't matter what you do, it is a lot safer to have better tires in the rear.

Swap them when you get to the track.

I think you are confusing better condition with stickier tread compound differences... you absolutely don't want to have track compound on the back with stock Primacy on the fronts when it comes to emergency driving situations. Track tires on front with stock Primacy rear is better than stock Primacy all around if you are a competent driver.

[strat61caster]

Relevant fun:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98681

[justatroll]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Relevant fun:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98681

Yes and as many pointed out (including totopo) the EXPERTS all agree - better tires on rear.

I believed the opposite at first, but I was convinced eventually.

And as I stated above: BOTH my sons work at tire stores and they are both taught - better tires on the rear, or we wont put them on.

[Pete156]

Better tires (ones with the most tread) are always installed on the rear at tire shops simply because a rear flat is considerably more dangerous at speed than a front flat.

[nickmerronesucks]

Again has nothing to do with the original question but great opinion.

[SlammedSilly]

NICK MERRONE SUCKS!

that is all

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by Leonardo

I tried different front and rear. It caused the TCS to activate. Very very annoying!

I didnt even have different compounds but just newer tires of the same compound and it sucked due to this

Originally Posted by nickmerronesucks

Blah.. unfortunately A set of four isn't really in the budget right now as I still need to hit the dyno, and do some other things.

I would get tires squared away before worrying about dyno time. What good is power if the thing that keeps it to the ground isnt squared away