Car tires configuration

[skuz]

It's the first time since I had my first car in 1994 that I change tires.

However, feeling cheap because of current income (~$0), I got 2 pairs of used tires, still in very good condition, almost new.

Problem : while both pairs are almost identical, one pair is 1 inch wider than the other.

My car is front wheel drive and the mags (the stock plain ones) are 13".

Should I put the narrow ones on the rear ? front ? would it actually matter ?

[Joe Desa]

Narrow on the rear. Wide on the front. You’ll have better traction for braking and accelerating.

Under braking more of the vehicle’s weight is transferred to the front brakes. That’s why you see the front end dip when you brake hard.

[omc1jz]

Put the Tyres with the MOST tread left on the FRONT,
As Skuz said this will help with braking and traction..

Maty..

[thekingofpain]

Its gonna look 100% dorky with wider on the front---easy fix if yer not happy---simply swap em front to back...

The wider tire will pull a little bit.

[gjimene2]

since your car is a front wheel drive, put the wider tires on front, if it was a rear wheel drive, it would of gone on the back.

[omc1jz]

The MOST important thing is to have the tyres with the most tread on the front, your steering will feel a lot better..

Because of the east west config of front wheel drives the cv joints are never the same length, wich in turn causes torque steer
or pulling to one side. In a front driver there is nothing worse than having to fight the steering wheel .. so avoid the wider tyres if you have to.. (comfort thing)

Yet if you were taking your car and racing it and dont care about comfort (most of us true enthusiasts dont ) put the wider tyres on the front and let the pressure down to about 22-26psi so you have even more tyre-on-road contact.

Hope that helps...

Cheers Maty...

[skuz]

Oh no that's no racing car, it's the Tercel for everyday trips.

The weekends racing car is awaiting better weather so I can continue working on it. Its tires look like 9 inches wide, impressive when you've only had a Tercel before...

So I'll try with the wide ones in front first. That's what I thought logical for the reasons Joe said, but I've sometimes seen my logic destroyed for some things so I thought I'd rather ask first.