Why New Tires NEVER Go On The Front

[@tonijohnson09]

New tires always go on the rear of my car for that very same reason that gentleman explained and I didn't need an engineering degree to see that logic. I rather have better grip on the rear. Ppl underestimate just how much tire decisions, impacts a vehicle's operation.

[@Hi-Meh92]

Just going to keep this playing in my showroom so many FAQ answered

[@davidbias2509]

It's no fun when your rear axle tries to pass you in a corner. 😱

[@chrisjohnomnia]

It has happened to me. I live in Finland.

[@grapsorz]

it's rely fun some times ;) as long as you control it with the right foot ;)

[@chrisjohnomnia]

@@grapsorz It's fun if you have enough space. The back of the car could smash another car.

[@grapsorz]

well the clue is to control it. this is an average daily drive on snow for me. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hX-2c4luhriqrJI

[@tonijohnson09]

No fun at all 🤣🤣🤣

[@Cal94]

I think the distinction not stressed enough here is the front wheels steer you, the drive wheels move you, and the rear wheels ensure you go wherever you point the front wheels. You can consciously adjust to having less grip up front. You may not have time or space to accommodate your rear end deciding oncoming traffic is the place to be.

[@thesaturdayguy]

375K subscribers!?!? How is it possible in this level of quality. I was thinking in my self that this guy has at least 3M subscribers! Than i checked and could not belive that. Keep up man you doin well!

[@HumbleMechanic]

Thank you. 🙏

[@scunnerdarkly4929]

Very informative. It seems intuitive to fit the best tyres to the front wheels on an FWD car but the logic for putting them at the rear is solid. Another thing, I’ve always put new tyres on the rear and not because I’ve ever once considered unexpected oversteer, but because every FWD VW I’ve owned will eat the front tyres much more quickly. Rotating old rears to the front means they never stay on the car long enough to age and perish in spite of them having lots of tread due to their relatively low workload. I’ve always found the rears to have at least 75% of their tread left by the time the fronts are shot so it just makes sense to me to do things this way round.

[@aussiebloke609]

After my first foray into bad tyres on the rear, I learned my lesson. The damn thing was twitchy and squirrelly, never feeling settled or stable. The way it was explained to me was that you have some control over how hard you push the front tyres...you can slow down, use a little less steering lock, etc. until you regain some grip. But you can't directly influence the rear if they start to lose traction.

[@petetasker8599]

I will always put the best tyres on the front on a fwd or awd car. Nothing the Finnish guy said persuaded me to change my mind. I’d rather risk a bit of oversteer than go straight on in a corner or aquaplane straight into the car in front.

[@gamersroost]

THIS 1000% Maybe I am just old and thick headed, but, if I enter a corner, in a front wheel drive car in snow/icy conditions, and my rear tires come around, then I WANT THE NEW BEST GRIP in the front, so that I can counter steer. If you can't counter steer, then the car will behave the same as if you scream like a scared child and cover your eyes. Can we all agree that zero grip=crash 100% of the time? I also rather back it into a corner out of control than head in with zero control. I will NEVER put new tire on the rolling or non-driven axles. Sorry Charles, there's no way I can agree.

[@Stylez-13]

Yeap I listed to this type of guy advice until I hydroplaned and crashed... now I just put 2 new tires on front

[@10minlaterugotdropoed88]

Absolutely right. On first snow yesterday, lost the front two completely on harsh breaking whit very wet snow. Rear tyre has plenty of grip but front was cooked so changed today and feel a lot better now.

[@themechanicnextdoor5144]

Northern living canadian here, I've always recommended the tires in the front for the reasons you've mentioned.. but if you are loosing the back end in a lane change YOU ARE DRIVING TOO AGGRESSIVELY FOR THE CONDITIONS!! Slow down, pay attention, avoid sudden movements and winter driving is no problem

[@pnrcomps]

I've used Nokians for years the best winter tire I've had!

[@markomillian3299]

Anything that has the words NOKIA is the best lol

[@charlou3]

I personnaly had nokian hakka 8 suv on my tiguan, and for my wife's hrv she has nokian hakka 9 suv. The best in the market for my snowy area, packed snow type of winter. When you drive your own car, you never realise how good your winter tires ares until you drive one of your friends car....

[@basithph8958]

The best video ever for a tire tutorial!

[@HumbleMechanic]

Thank you!

[@richardbenson4750]

"...Rudolph got ran over by a humble mechanic..."

[@HumbleMechanic]

Hahahhahaha

[@Tmjpwns]

Nah, I did that 4-5 years ago 😂

[@Bratrod85]

Charles... As a tire sales/install employee, I bow before you. This kind of information I try to impose on all of my customers. There are so many misconceptions when it comes to tires and you addressed a good amount. I wish I could just show this to everyone that doesn't understand my explanation. Than you for another wonderful video

[@matte8441]

I own both an AWD BMW and a FWD Golf. I always put the good tires in the rear of either car. No problems conquering Canadian winters.

[@mrfridchikenfetus806]

In a snowy climate with less than ideal conditions, then better tires on the rear is absolutely recommended to keep your car from kicking out like you said, but in my experience living in the desert, or in the summer wheres there's not as much precipitation, then it is typically better to put better tires on the front due to the steering scrubbing the shoulders on the fronts. However unless your vehicle is rwd only then just get a set of four winter tires and keep them rotated. You should be OK as long as yall r driving safe

[@danielmarshall4587]

Yes heard this some years ago.... didn't sound correct. However the "oversteer is harder to counter than understeer" idea did hold water for me, and as the good man says, out in the real world when you're not at 100% attention you could get caught out. Another great vid thank you for your time and effort.

[@dnnich]

I have seen this tested and it's true the back end slides around. The only problem is then technically then you are never allowed to rotate your tires if it's fwd because your front tires will always be more worn. The only cure is to put the new on the front and do burn outs till they are even.

[@MiellDuBz]

Truckers 2 cents: Always replace the steers first, even more important if you have a fwd/awd car. If you can't steer, brake, get traction to drive you're setting yourself, family, other drivers on the road up for failure in bad weather. The lane change situation is a small niche imho. There's definitely a case to be made for rwd cars though. I enjoyed the discussion, but respectfully disagree. Drive safe everyone, Godspeed. ✌️

[@paulobeckerrb26dett]

Not a trucker, but I'm with you on this one. Situations which would require better tires on the rear (such as preventing oversteer when driving on the wet or quick lane changes) are more easily avoided by driving defensively and/or slower when you know you have bad tires. Having to brake really hard to stop on a very short distance, however, is by definition something you can't anticipate. The only thing that helps you in these cases is having more grip on the tires that do most of the braking.

[@keeperofthegood]

I take many inbound calls with automotive issues in my day job. New/Best tires on rear is one issue people call in spitting angry screaming over when the stores refuse to install new tires on the front or refuse to rotate the tires because the best are on the rear.

[@highspeed01]

as mechanic in Canada i beat my head against wall at the rear tire rule because on fwd the front will always wear faster because when braking the weight is transferred to the front and turning front get more wear because of the forces. so i cring when people buy 2 new tires because they can only afford 2 but company rule says put the better tires on rear but the front is lets say at 5/32nd tread left causing high risk of understeer if or when the front tires loose grip causing loss of steering with the chance of accident

[@AllanO808]

Fine if you mostly commute in towns, but if you are on faster roads or a more spirited driver then always to the rear. If the fronts are at risk of losing grip then they need replacing, money saving isn't worth writing off the car or worse. Can't afford it? Don't drive.

[@highspeed01]

@@AllanO808 🤣.

[@oransands]

Then rotate the rears to the front and put the new tires on the rear.

[@highspeed01]

@@oransands 🤣

[@highspeed01]

@@AllanO808 i drive 60 percent highway

[@PolarAppleCaps]

I agree. Because since winter started I have been oversteering in the corners in a FWD. Because my rear tires are bad

[@peanutbutterisfu]

I own a repair shop in upstate ny and I worked for a chain store that would only put new on the rear. It’s not just lane changes you gotta worry about it’s the conditions of the roads specifically on the expressway where plow trucks plow a few miles at a time or one lane at a time so even if you have the best brand new snow tires you can loose control if ur going to fast. I see it all the time people going too fast. If you drive at a safe speed I’d rather have better tires up front so I don’t slide thru an intersection

[@gamersroost]

@Charles @HumbleMechanic you're the best. What about this situation? Mk5 GLi 276,740.32 (I checked, just now) miles. 2 months ago I bought 4 brand new tires, Ziex 950's actually. I needed to replace some front-end parts for an alignment, due to negative toe on passenger side. Otherwise, the alignment was "ok" and in spec. I replaced every single front end suspension part; yes, all of them..., and couldn't get in for an alignment. Understandably, after all of those repairs, the toe was WAY off even after doing the things we do to make the alignment go back close to where it was. I drove the car 6K miles in 2 months and never rotated the tires. The FRONT TIRES were totally worn to the tread-bars from bad alignment, over accelerating and running 40 PSI instead of 35. NOW: The Ziex 950's on the REAR have lost ONLY 1/32 of life over these 2 months and they are worn evenly for that tiny amount. They are a very soft compound winter/summer tire. it's winter, and I want my triple peak rated snow tires on my drive wheels, and my Ziex 950's on the rear. I can't imagine in this situation where forcing the snow rated tires to the rolling axles and having the snow tires on the rear would be better. Please help me Charles!!!

[@bendude6748]

This just makes me want to drive in the snow lol

[@HumbleMechanic]

You ain’t kidding about that. It’s 55f here I’d love to be thrashing

[@ds78613]

Then why is it still advised to rotate tires on a car that wears front more than rear tires? Add to that AWD where replacing in sets of four is advised, it’s not practical to replace two like it would be on a 2WD vehicle.

[@DigitalDissident]

Please make a video discussing EGR system & other emissions related deletes. EGR reduces air intake, puts exhaust soot into ur engine, reduces fuel economy, & reduces the lifespan of internal components.

[@CateraMV6]

Fun fact, Snow tires actually capture bits of snow on the tread and then snow sticks to snow real well, therefore, they have increased grip on powdery snow. Dont beleive me? well try driving on wet snow where no snow sticks to your tires and see how the grip is. I got to experience this over the last weekend at the SnoDrift in Lewiston MI.

[@GaborDuzmath]

Just put new tires on all 4 wheels Edit: Charles answered my comment, the VW master agreed with me. It's a good day!

[@HumbleMechanic]

This is the way

[@colinstu]

I've experienced this before. Brake hard, and the rear swings out ... no accident, but all four tires were quickly changed after that experience.

[@coldlogic800]

How old a car are you driving? Rear brake lock up was in the era of front disc, rear drum brakes. Regardless that was your braking system and not your tires.

[@scottholt2]

Best tires on the driven axle (or primarily driven for AWD) if you want to get the most mileage out of them and rotate them regularly That’s how we do it in Nova Scotia. I should mention our roads aren’t snow covered most of the winter so most of the time we’re driving bare cold asphalt. I mean today it was -10 Celsius but no snow on the roads because 4 days ago it was +10 Celsius

[@Patrick94GSR]

If you rotate tires regularly then they should all wear equally, and you'll be buying 4 tires at a time instead of only 2.

[@CateraMV6]

I try to think about what you guys explained in the video and I struggle to find a situation where I have to execute sudden lane change at least in my commute. Far too often I have to come to complete stop, or accelerate but never the rapid lane change so I hear what he is saying but I will stick to putting best tires in the front.

[@HumbleMechanic]

Do you think that modern ABS and ESP overcomes a lot of the traction issues for bad rear tires?

[@thatgirlliani]

Not enough. My Jetta had garbage rears and even in the summer on a rainy day it was sketchy to make any hard turns or sudden movements without worrying about the car losing it.

[@kbrownfocus]

No, and here's a simple reason, and I used to see it all the time, when you have more ware in a tire the abs will activate when not really needed, and insted of stoping how it should, it will actually propel the vehicle forward, like the 03-08 Dodges, ABS would kick in with low/lower tire tread, and it would send the vehicle into a propelled skid, completely opposite of what ABS is supposed to do. Also with bad tires the ESCwill go crazy trying to keep traction on dry, and especially wet conditions..... Here's another little secret... STOP CRISS CROSS ROTATION! Straight Front to back is all you need, especially with the advancements is caster, camber, toe in/out there's no need for CCTR

[@kbrownfocus]

@@aosorea ok.... So answer me this since you think you have all this Google knowledge, what about directional tires? Which are built the exact same way a standard steel belted radial is built, see here's the thing, adjustable camber caster toe means tires last longer in-between rotations, don't believe me, go work for Goodyear for a week and you'll learn that, and I'm not talking about the quick lube, I'm talking about the factory, CCTR is money grab, you get flat spots, and irregular tire ware..... Not to mention my dad is an automotive engineer, and for decades has said that CCTR is not needed, due to the steel belted radials, this was back in the late 70's as well, I have been straight rotating pretty much my entire life and I go years with out having to buy new tires due to tread ware, I take $400 set of 4 economy tires and get 20k mi more out of them, then what they are rated for, hell a set of Nitros M/T that should've only lasted 20k mi, I got 43k mi out of, constant road and off road use, I NEVER CCRT my tires, even when I was in the Army, I saved my unit of $86k in tires by not doing CCTR...... Oh and fyi I had one tire that went bad and that was a Goodyear Wrangler on my friends jeep, and it was a bad tire. When I worked at Discount Tire, I asked the GM why are we still doing CCTR, and he said to make money, that was back in 2000 when I was in high school, I said so that's why you don't like it when some people come in and what straight rotation, and he said BINGO!!

[@Wolfpack310]

Yes up to a point. But the law of fysiks takes over at some point.

[@lerssilarsson6414]

Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) are amazing and can do wonders. ;-)

[@miketeeveedub5779]

As a Canadian prairie winter driver (where it goes to -24c all the time and snow 6 months a year), you should always get 4 new matched tires installed and rotate them at their specified intervals. If you live where there's snow on the ground for more then a couple of months, then get a matched set of the BEST winter tires you can afford too. If you're replacing 2 tires at a time, then you're not rotating them enough. Great content Charles - Nokians are very popular here.

[@andrewwardle-bu9yx]

front wheel drive on the front as they are doing the stearing and driving of the car , all the rears are doing is following the front ?

[@nickpappas4133]

Here in Canada CAA always recommend best or snow tires on the rear.Now it’s 4snows only in winter,dealership and tire shops will not do two snows.In Quebec it’s the law to have 4snows in winter.Still remember nearly putting a S8 off the road in a winter storm during a PDI.

[@coleb6474]

Again I live in Phoenix It rains less than 20 days a year here Yes. The tire with THE MOST TREAD SHOULD BE ON THE BACK “IN WET WEATHER SITUATIONS”. However. Your front tires will wear twice as fast as the back. So you figure it out.

[@jyrkikortesniemi7840]

Vag-cars are the best cars to drive in winter. They are always top when the Finnish car magazines do winter reviews and tests of different car makes and models. And with studded Nokian winter tyres you can't go wrong.

[@lerssilarsson6414]

Dunno, my Polo's dashboard is flashing like an Xmas tree. A warm cozy feeling...

[@Hillside-Hotrods]

Put the best tires on the rear, now in winter I can’t get out of my driveway, I can’t steer, I can’t go anywhere, if I can the snow covered roads my front end slides around. Do your family a favour put your best tires on the front. I always have 4 good tires for winter cus I’m not stupid. The best of best go on the front cus I steer, brake and accelerate and I’m not concerned about the one off chance my rear end can spin out. Any of the new cars have a yaw sensor and will correct for all the non drivers out there. Engineers say the dumbest things. Welcome to real world testing not on a closed course. In bad weather we drive by winter driving rules. On the plus side great video

[@markomillian3299]

Good to see you again, excellent video thanks again

[@maviedanslevent]

Nice video man! Glad the audio worked out too haha. You can enjoy your nice NC weather now!

[@HumbleMechanic]

Thanks man!!! Had to fudge a little but ya probably never know. :)

[@reprisalwithin666]

Well if you want to prioritize safe lane changes over safe steering and grip to pull the vehicle in the snow go ahead. I'd rather have the grip in the front where all of the drive and controlling is done. Have fun spinning your fwd when you need to go somewhere and when it comes to braking remember that your rear end is alot lighter than your front.

[@kinzie3915]

If you crash or crash to someone in front of you because you lose the grip in the front, you will quickly reconsider putting new tires in the front. I have enough experience with new tires in the rear and would never do it again. I would rather lose the grip in the rear than in the front.

[@adamjones6941]

I worked at a tire shop, and we always put the best tires on the back.

[@Patrick94GSR]

Driving on snow is way different, and easier, than what we get here in the mid-south USA, which is ice. And it happens so infrequently that people around here don't use winter tires. Icy conditions with regular tires is absolutely treacherous. I do not take my cars out at all if we get accumulated ice on the ground.

[@Tmjpwns]

Driving around my neck of the woods? In general I always put the better tires up front, making a car oversteer a bit is much more controllable than understeer imo. Past 14 years on the road, only one accident due to understeer, could have been avoided with oversteer.

[@MrRocktuga]

These principles are correct, but there’s a catch. Sometimes you can’t just take the tires from the rear and use them on the front (considering that you put new ones on the rear) without having major issues with vibration/shaking, or even having the car pulling to one side. A few years ago I had a tire technician advising me to do that on one of my cars (a RWD Mercedes), because he assured me that it would be ok after having all 4 wheels balanced and the steering aligned. To cut a long story short, he spent over 4 hours between alignments, balancing wheels (including rotating the used tires inside the wheel in order to balance it with the wheels, or should I say “against the wheel”), and the final option was to maintain the new tires on the front (as I asked from the beginning) and the used ones on the rear. Bear in mind that this shop and technician has a lot of experience with Mercedes cars (and even some higher-end cars), and he was aware that things don’t always go easy. But that was it for me, and I never let anyone do something like this again on any of my cars, because tires often have different wear patterns in the front vs in the rear, even if it isn’t something noticeable to the eyes or easy to measure. Some cars are more forgiving about this than others, I’m sure. But unless I start with 4 new tires and rotate them very often (and I do mean often), chances are that they’re going to “bed in” differently and cause these issues in the future, _specially_ with low profile tires. I totally agree with the concept that it’s safer to lose a bit of grip in the front than in the rear, but if a set of tires is starting to become unsafe, they need to be replaced (no matter the axle where they’re mounted). IMHO, the best place for any unsafe tire is in a recycling facility and definitely not in a car. 😉

[@breadbox777]

But won’t stability control help if you do start to loose control? Like I can’t snow drift either of my vehicles with traction control off because stability control kicks in and applies the brakes on one side to straighten it out.

[@SebastianBlix]

So to counter understeer or to increase the possibility of oversteer put new tires on the front. Got it. Thanks for the video! 😅

[@HumbleMechanic]

Bald tires all around! Lol (please don’t)

[@shaun8256]

a company i worked for said they do this because a little old lady couldnt control the back of the vehicle when it started to slide. personally i dont mind the back end drifting out, id rather have that then go into a corner and have the front end go straight when i turn the wheel. but like i said i know how to handle a car that the tail washes out. to me the front end controls where the vehicle goes and if its rear wheel drive bald tires on the rear just means you are not going anywhere in snow but bald tires on the front you go but cant steer.

[@teovm]

4 tires for regular driving is just what it should be. And they should be the same as all new cars with ESP and ABS and Auto cruise, lane keep, etc relay very much on equal grip. If you rotate your tires regularly, depending on the driving cycle the will pretty much be the same. Also if you are in a climate where winter and summer tires are needed you just have no other way. The problem became when you have a blow out on a pretty used tires, like more than half used. Then your best bet is to go and get a used tire, if not you must get at least 2 and where will you put them? Well depend on the car and how much the old tires are warn. If the old tires will last one season you can put them in the front so that they will wear down faster and change them with new. The 6 year rule is good if your tires are always outside. If stored properly softer tires can last 10 years no problem. Those are most good winter tires as there is less UV in winter and they are stored in dark and cold environment in summer. Also most winter tires have bigger sidewalls and more give. Most summer tires sit all day in the hot and are blasted with UV from the sun. This is what makes the rubber age. In summer we tend to drive faster, stop faster thus more heat cycles and more pressure differences -> ageing. Also in summer the heat difference can be more than 25 degrees Celsius every day. In winter only 15. That is why winter tires tend to last more than summer tires if used properly.

[@TopiasSalakka]

My dad insists that the best tires should go in the front, as per his experience (he has driven for 35 years in Finland), and i've followed that rule. So far i've been fine. An internet friend also said that for a driver who can control oversteer it's better to put the best tires up front. To be fair, both of my tire sets have almost equally good tires... Summers have only 0.5mm difference in tread depth.

[@truthfulness4578]

Between you and the road is your tyres your life safety is important change all 4 your life is worth spending little more on think for your loved ones I bought 2 tyres then for this reason I bought another 2 I couldn't afford them but I still did it you can do it to

[@theendishere7]

I dont think there should be a question. Always get all four tires changed. Providing you aren't a pro racer, if your back end kicks out when in a turn... you are in trouble. Likewise if you are entering a turn and the traction breaks loose... you are in trouble. Either situation is a bad place to be in.

[@Mattmazz77]

I honestly believe the opposite with what you said about the blow out. I would much rather have the rear tire blow out then the front because if it blows out of the front you have that whole roll over issue to deal with. And with the snow tires, 4 is better but 2 on the drive wheels unless you have awd or 4wd. It also depends on the driver and conditions. Of course great tires all around would be great like you said in a perfect world.

[@Mattmazz77]

@@aosorea ok. Who uses tubed tires?

[@billmoore7133]

They are wrong and common sense proves it out, but test it out for your self I did, their theory does not hold up!

[@quickliqproductions]

Thanks for pointing out the front and rear of the car in the thumbnail! 😜

[@HumbleMechanic]

Hahaha you know it

[@Wenro]

Hakkapeliitta 9 represent! :D

[@gaycha6589]

This assumes all accidents are at speed on highway. Reality is Most accidents happen at under 30mph and in town. (80% in UK) So why reduce your braking distance/steering bite in the 80%?

[@andrewwardle-bu9yx]

only mainly make a different if you are driving a car to its limit on say something like a golf r or audi SQR GT TURBO , i have been driving for 45 years not and never owned 2 sets of tyres , i have never been in a collison or swerved of the road , if you are driving a car near to a tyres limit its only a matter of time before you become unstuck ... i always keep a good eye on the them especially for damage . i never used to buy cheaper tryes but i think even cheaper tyres nowadays are of a resonable quality , will be a great day when the public could buy tyres which never wear out , they probable have them now but will be another 300 years before they are released due to the amount of companys going under ... the first 20 years of driving i had to mainly buy a new exhaust ever year . now i never ever buy exhaust , all these used tyres are not doing the environment any good .......... i dont think in my time tyres have come a long way ? i have always driven a ton of metal at 70 mph and had no problem ? i know things like run flats have come along and have owned some ( the ride is not as good , there 3 times the cost and most people change them for regular tyres ) have to go now getting tyred ..........

[@davideyres955]

Understeer = sliding off the road into a hedge forwards Oversteer = sliding off the road in to a hedge backwards.

[@n9wox]

-24C is only -11F. You're good.

[@HumbleMechanic]

I live in the southern us. Winter is usually 20F at the coldest. Hahah

[@n9wox]

@@HumbleMechanic Oh the stories you can tell the grandkids some day, #savedbythebeard

[@Karroway]

This is one of the few channels I watch that I take what the creater says as pretty much gospel.... gave me some great ideas for my Golf R since I started watching him 👍

[@HumbleMechanic]

Sweet!!!

[@Serps-ii9zc]

There are far less negative comments on this video than I thought there would be. Seems like people are finally starting to realize the right place to put new tires. I went to a Ride and Drive with Continental when I worked for a tire shop, they did a local one, and yes, new/better on the rear. ALWAYS on the rear.

[@HumbleMechanic]

Lol I am surprised too.

[@wm2427]

On front wheel drive if you have crappy tires in the front and gold in the rear it does you no good if you're trying to go somewhere because you can't get any traction and can't even move from your parking spot.

[@HumbleMechanic]

\You should never have crappy tires on a car.

[@wm2427]

@@HumbleMechanic ya not me customers who can't afford them

[@jessyradcliff5018]

Mk5 lets get it on the show lets make it happen your the best man love your show

[@stevedewolf1]

Sorry, no. Been driving in snowy western ny for almost 40 years and rather loose the rear than the front. The vehicle makes a big difference also, big engine front drive cars handle bad in crappy conditions no matter where you put the tires…

[@SilentSniperVT]

I’ve been selling customers Nokians at my last shop for 10 years now and we refuse to just add 2 snows to a car.

[@HumbleMechanic]

That’s good!!!!

[@RedDragonProtection]

Great to the point. Answered all the questions i was looking for. Thanks.

[@Ahto42]

Just my 2 cents- I would but tires with a better thread to driving axle, because it equals the thread hight over time. I like my car to be neutral steer :). There is a debate that wich is worse, not able brake and steer arround the obstacle, or oversteer, if you almost never drive on a highway.

[@Luketransformer]

Thanks for all the great information on driving in the snow!

[@Biit000]

Awesome episode. In winter I drive daily on that kind or worse weather.

[@MrBEAN584]

"i got awd i dont need winter tires" well all cars have brakes on all wheels.... so a fwd car brakes just as well as awd. but those snow tires kinda makes a difference there. its not about getting up to speed, its about slowing down :p

[@HumbleMechanic]

The number of times I have heard "but I have 4wd" is crazy. We don't take tires seriously in the US

[@Andrew-zv4fm]

Having winter tires I think depends on where you live. I have AWD and I have all seasons. But where I live where snow is a possibility but it's not bad as say upstate NYS, all seasons work well. If lived in upstate NY I would use winter tires.

[@MrBEAN584]

@@Andrew-zv4fm i live in norway, from like september to mid april it's purely snow and ice. i run stud-less "all season" tires on my bmw and on my 4x4 skoda, and my gf got studded snow tires. as long as the road got snow on it there is no noticeable difference. but on icy roads there is a different story. studs grip ice a bit better, at least fresh to a couple years old.

[@coldlogic800]

Summer tires can crack when used in freezing temperatures. Winter tires are designed to operate at those temperatures.

[@braddowns17]

Doesn't matter if you have 20 wheel braking or 20 wheel drive if you don't have the traction to use them.

[@commontater652]

Rule 1: Put new tires on the rear. Cool. Rule 2: Rotate tires when there is 2mm difference. Whuh? These two are contradictory. The fronts on _most_ cars wear more quickly, so we are reminded to put the "better" tires on the front every 5k miles or so. Tread depth is probably not the reason the "two new tires on the rear" rule exists; it is more likely that the wear on the old tires from hysteresis is why tire manufacturers recommend this. For *that* reason, I can agree with the rule. Of course, explaining such concepts to the general public would be... problematic, so we get the simpler explanation.

[@cardo1111]

Always put them on the rear. It is easier to control understeer than oversteer.

[@HumbleMechanic]

YES!

[@Andrew-zv4fm]

@@aosorea but he said the opposite of that.

[@Cal94]

@@aosorea I think there's a distinction you're not making, that they make in the video. The drive wheels move you. The front wheels steer you. But the rear wheels are what control your tracking. A misaligned rear wheel means you no longer track straight, as Charles states. So your rear wheels' ability to ensure your car tracks wherever you steer it is critically important. Because if you watch videos of the most horrific crashes, it's usually the back end sliding out on someone, resulting in them going into oncoming traffic. you should be able to consciously adjust your driving style to driving with less front grip. You may not have time to adjust to an absolute loss of rear grip.

[@brihal6498]

How cool u get to go to Finland 🇫🇮... Way better than working at a VW dealership!

[@ZeronXL]

Hi Charles, first this is a great test, BUT your driver is forgetting something very important, in most cases normal cars (no talking about SUVs, trucks, wagons and other heavi cars) are lighter in the back so you will lack grip no matter if your tires are new or old. And second I'm having a problem not connected to this video and I hope you can assist me, I'm about to chainge my timing chains on a VR6 ABV motor and found out that there are 2 tipes of chain tensioners INA 551 0070 10 and SWAG SW30100002 and some others but the main differences between the two tipes are the thread, the end of the piston and the head of the bolt so my question is are they interchangeble or i should put a specific one? And BTW studded tires are illiegal in some countries, here in Europe.

[@sinofwrath8355]

Hello, I have a 2009 VW rabbit s with the 6speed automatic trans. Every few months my transmission will randomly start to shift hard. Sometimes it throws a code but a lot of the times it stops before it throws a code at all. The few times it throws a code I havent been able to get to a place where I can scan it sadly. Any idea on what it could be doing?? I also heard from a friend you can put the transmission into a "Learning" mode/state. Is that true at all?

[@jezlucas3878]

On my Vw t5 van fwd Can rears go on the front ok?

[@gilmello8296]

Me, I want that A3 hatchback, Audi, sorry you can’t have it in the states😢

[@vieczurable]

I always had everyone who knows 'this matter' against me by saying what you just presented. It is obvious. Most of control loses are because of dancing rear of the car and not by not sufficient front traction.

[@roddydykes7053]

Good lord you better not come to Saskatchewan, we hit -53C last year and it turned my trucks coolant into a slurpie, froze the pump and blew the head gasket

[@HumbleMechanic]

Yikes

[@samghebrit8054]

What's up bro h u doing being watching yr video quite illustrative and brief I have one problem bro! I have a vss sensor on the computer check I don't have shifting problems but I put the gear on D the car starts after like 10mins could it be a dirty vss sensor?if it's a dirty vss how can I clean it? second can I use brake cleaner to clean that that sensor I need yr advice thanks for concern bro God Bless

[@patkelly7999]

Great video and advice Charles:):)

[@dulkinukas]

So if you've got two newer tires on the rear, and two not-quite-as-new (but still good condition) tires in the front, what's the best way to rotate them? Do you simply rotate them side to side (example: right rear goes to left rear, left rear to right rear, repeat for front tires)? Or should you rotate front to rear as you would normally do? Thanks! (Also, awesome that you got to see Finland in the winter, Charles!)

[@JR-kl3cp]

Depends. AWD or 4x4 is typically cross X. Meaning back right to front left and reversed and back left too front right reversed. Rwd I believe is straight back too front and front too back although it does vary on tread depth. Fwd is pretty much the same concept except better tires always on the rear.

[@300DBenz]

Hey, Charles, is there any way you can convince Nokian to start making 14 inch all season tires again? They’re my preferred tire maker but they no longer offer tires that fit on my 1985 Benzs’ stock “Bunt” wheels.

[@HumbleMechanic]

I Will pass it along. Sadly not a ton of 14s out there. :( gotta have those dubs I guess. Ahhaha

[@bd-dn9hf]

Hey Charles, first off great channel, with great information-- super interesting and informative. Do you have any info on tire pressures when switching over to a winter set up on the Golf R? Using the VW owners manual I'm using the tire pressure for the GTI (35psi) as a guide for my winter set up (225-45-17{w} vs. 235-35-19{s}). Any thoughts? Keep up the great work!

[@viktorandersson9293]

Hey Charles! Love the video, awesome to see you out and about i my part of the world, One question tho about the best tires front vs rear, The directions from vw themselfes says to have the tires with the most thread depth in the front and so does audi, What are your thougts about this? Greeting from a fellow VW mechanic

[@HumbleMechanic]

I’ll look in my manual and see what it says. So vw and audi have taken a very hands off approach to tires. They have basically removed alll tire maintenance from the manual and tell people to refer to the tire manufacturer. Other than for pressure, I trust the tire manufacturers over VW. However let me see if I can get vw on record. Lol

[@sensiblewheels]

Revisiting this one after a bit. Just a informative as day 1! I know there's a chance you'll read this @Charles. I was wondering about tyre rotations on a haldex system (Not really haldex but you know!) ? Since it only kicks in when traction is needed, I think we follow the same procedure for fwd. I'd like to hear from you

[@HumbleMechanic]

That’s what I do!

[@sensiblewheels]

I can't get over how you manage to respond on older videos. Truly the Humble Mechanic. Thank you!

[@robertnbobn7664]

I can feel my car handle very well with new tires on front of a FWD. Ive never had a problem. Just the tongue lashings i get from unprofessional drivers. Feel the car on curves and slow down. Cant have fun anymore in a smart anti slide rear tires.

[@Antto]

Amazing information!

[@HumbleMechanic]

Thank you

[@vaughan2203]

Completely disagree with the Fin. Oversteer during a lane change? At what degree, man?! A lane change is practically linear. Anyway... If your car is front-wheel drive, and you can only afford two snows, put them on the front wheels! Aargh! Those front wheels are responsible for not only propulsion, they are for steering and control of the vehicle. Especially under braking. If the rear no-snows do start to slide, go back to basics and steer in the direction of the slide, without braking, and it'll correct. After all, you'll have snows on the front drive wheels and you can do that. Had the snows been on the rear only and you attempted to correct, the car would continue to slide until stopped and may or would not correct. But then it shouldn't happen, 'cuz you got snows on the rear - except now you lose control, braking and grip for propulsion at the front. Try going up a snow covered hill in a front-wheel drive vehicle without snows. Spin, spin, spin. I have four Continental snows on my Golf and passed others recently (Hondas, Nissans) who were stuck mid-hill as they had snows only on the rear or none at all.

[@HumbleMechanic]

Best tires all around. Ideally. :) It’s about controlling oversteer. It’s also I think important to remember that we(car enthusiasts and people connected to the car) are very different than the average driver especially in the US.

[@hf3593]

When it comes down to traffic accidents where tires were an issue. Which group had the most accidents, the ones with the best tires on the front, or on the rear?

[@BrandBijl]

Where do you place new tires? How a teacher explained it to me long ago: Take a toy car and tape the front wheels with tape so that they cannot turn. Place it close to the edge of a table and lift that side of the table until the toy car moves to the lowest part. do this again with tape on the rear wheels .....

[@recycleratt]

I have hear the front and rear argument alot, has anyone asked what happens when you put one new in front and one in back?

[@terraformingcats8175]

Hey Charles, will you do a review and test of a catch can on your 2019 R? I just bought a new 2019 R in a 6 speed. I'm considering a catch can. But, some have said it's not necessary unless I'm tracking the car. I did watch your direct injection video and it was most helpful. But, it would be really cool to see a video of your new R with an installed catch can. And, then a follow up after a few months of your results. I'm sure you'd get tons of views. Thanks buddy and I'm sorry again to hear about your puppers.

[@gaivoron]

Nokia makes the best snow tires.

[@Wolfpack310]

Always rear

[@takeomack2782]

Nice brother!

[@Andrew-zv4fm]

Great video. Well as always. :-) But kind of unrelated, Audi USA had a competition this past holiday season by submitting a resume and a video why you would be good to test drive the Audi eTron. I missed the deadline. Would have been cool to have been flown out by Audi to test drive the eTron in the snow and in the really really really cold.

[@_Steven_S]

Did you get a chance to test out just the two snow tyres on the RS4 😁

[@HumbleMechanic]

I wish

[@EmperorTerran]

2:43 holy fuck, I knew what oversteer and understeer was, real vs front, the behaviour, but it never clicked me the name and the behaviour of the car!