195/50/15 front - 195/45/15 rear?

[game1]

Fitted my new wheel and tyres today and on they way back from work the rears were rubbing all the way home (A road's)

Have track day tyres on (195/50) and want/need to keep these for traction. Was just wondering would it be o.k to run a decent 195/45 on the rear :confused: and keep the 50 on the front :D

[Asa-James]

couldnt see why not. a mate runs the opposite on his golf (50's back, 45's front) and doesnt have problems,

[marc novataken]

im running my nova on 195/50 at front and 195/45 at back and it only rubs when i corner too fast with people in back of th car and mine is lowered 40mm. how low is yours?

[game1]

Not sure how low it is :confused: wheels are a 45 off set. It's running on Spax Coilovers with up-rated springs of some sort and rear arches have been rolled too. Car is fully stripped with just a cage and two bucket seats.

[game1]

:roll: have just been told... by law the larger profile of the tyre must be on the rear, any idea if this is true :confused:

[stevie-p]

Not sure how low it is :confused: wheels are a 45 off set. It's running on Spax Coilovers with up-rated springs of some sort and rear arches have been rolled too. Car is fully stripped with just a cage and two bucket seats.

do you have any pics of the car sounds good??

[burgo]

just asked me bro who is a MOT tester and he said it makes no difference. as long as you have the same profile on the same axle its all good

[game1]

just asked me bro who is a MOT tester and he said it makes no difference. as long as you have the same profile on the same axle its all good


:D cheers for that fella :thumb:

[Welsh Dan]

Speaking from experience, keep the most grippy ones on the back.

[game1]

Speaking from experience, keep the most grippy ones on the back.


Please explain. Surley it would need more grip on the front being let powered :confused: and as long as the rear tyres are the same speed rating and still directional tyres it would be o.k :confused:

[Welsh Dan]

If you lift off on a remotely wet roundabout you'll spin like I did. Its much easier to control the front end when it lets go than it is to control the back.

My situation was exaggerated because I had Eagle F1s on the front and ditchfinders on the back, but I learned a valuable lesson.

[game1]

If you lift off on a remotely wet roundabout you'll spin like I did. Its much easier to control the front end when it lets go than it is to control the back.

My situation was exaggerated because I had Eagle F1s on the front and ditchfinders on the back, but I learned a valuable lesson.


Fair comment. Only use the car for about 2k/3k a year and wont be using it in the wet. Tyres on the front are track day tyres, so surley the rear would have more grip in the wet/damp in that situation anyway :confused:

[Welsh Dan]

Track day tyres is a bit vague, if they're slicks or semi slicks then yes :thumb:.

[game1]

Current tyres are these :thumb:


http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m12b0s662p10772

[Nobby]

If you lift off on a remotely wet roundabout you'll spin like I did

or do what i did buy a mk2 escort and "pow - on":thumb:

[loggyboy]

just asked me bro who is a MOT tester and he said it makes no difference. as long as you have the same profile on the same axle its all good
Exactly right...


Speaking from experience, keep the most grippy ones on the back.

Ive NEVER understood this. In my expereince a front wheel drive car is always more likely to loose grip at the front (ie from too much power, too much speed in to a bend, too harsh braking or too harsh steering) now thats lots of different ways to loose grip on the front, now with a FWD the ONLY ways to loose the back end is from lift off, or going to fast (but even then its more likely that the front will loose grip 1st). So thats 2 (maybe 1.5) rear possibilities against 4 definates for the front. It also comes down to controlability, over steer is fairly easy to control with opposite lock, making the main rear end reason for loosing grip an easy to control one. the 4 Front end reasons only 2 are easily controlable (too much power (simply remove the power) and too much braking (use cadance). the other 2 are controlable but only prior to applying them (ie in hindsight (sp))

The simple fact is the front wheels in a FWD drive car do 4 important functions, aceleration, braking, steering and general control, where as the rears only do a very small amount of braking, and general control.

The only time when i could slightly appreciate the argument behind having better tyres on the rear is in a RWD car, but even then i think its more important to have more grip on the chief steering and braking wheels.

[Welsh Dan]

Loggyboy, I agree with the theory of what you're saying, but my experience has taught me otherwise. Many times I did catch the back end by giving it opposite lock and more throttle, but a few times it just happened too quickly for me to to anything about it, even at low speeds. I just don't want the same thing to happen to someone else because they're not expecting it.

[loggyboy]

I guess the answer is to have the same tyres on all 4 corners and change the ones with more tread dependant on the time of year.

[game1]

:D thanks for replys. Have decided to try some yoko aso1's in a 45 profile on the rear. I'll see how the car handles and keep in mind what could happen.

[Lee]

No ones even mentioned that the profile has sod all to do with how much grip there is :confused:

A 195 50 and a 195 45 will be putting pretty much the same amount of rubber on the floor give or take a mill or two!

[loggyboy]

No ones even mentioned that the profile has sod all to do with how much grip there is :confused:

A 195 50 and a 195 45 will be putting pretty much the same amount of rubber on the floor give or take a mill or two!

The front rear discussion was an off topic one thats why.