AAKVIPER
Enthusiast
example, kumho or nitto in the fronts and Michelin Pilot Sport 2 at the rear.
Arthur
Arthur
Has any Viper owners added different front and rear brand tires?
- Thread starter AAKVIPER
- Start date
I haven't tried it on a Viper but have on other cars and my experience has not been good. Twitchy, especially if the fronts have different sidewall dynamics than rears....front can move fast, rear follows a split second later and you can end up spinning. Probably worse in a Viper. I wouldn't do it.....not saying it isn't possible to find the right combination, but doing so would kinda be a needle in a haystack IMO.
No, it is very dangerous. There will be several people on here that will tell you the same thing.
They will be along shortly....
.Might check similar threads at the bottom of this page for the same answer....
Paul Hawker
Enthusiast
Only for drag strip use.
For all other uses tire construction should match on all 4 corners.
You can play with tire and wheel sizes, but never construction.
For all other uses tire construction should match on all 4 corners.
You can play with tire and wheel sizes, but never construction.
LS6 Molester
Viper Owner
i have nitto rear michelin front
dave6666
Enthusiast
The world ends when you do that.
TowDawg
Enthusiast
I'm currently running Invo's all the way around with 295's up front.
I've played with a bunch of different tire pressures, and
The fronts stay planted really well in the corners, but the rears keep
wanting to come around. They aren't spinning at all, they just want
to slide sideways. I never had this issue with PS2's and I'm really
thinking about leaving the fronts alone and switching the rears to the
NT05's. I'm hoping that keeps the rear in line.
If it makes it handle funny, I'll go to NT05's as well, but hopefully it
will balance out. If anything, I would think I'll have more cornering
grip in the rear than in the front, which would lead to more understeer.
Obviously, I want a great balance, but if I have to choose between
understeer or oversteer on tight, mountain roads, I'll take understeer.
I've played with a bunch of different tire pressures, and
The fronts stay planted really well in the corners, but the rears keep
wanting to come around. They aren't spinning at all, they just want
to slide sideways. I never had this issue with PS2's and I'm really
thinking about leaving the fronts alone and switching the rears to the
NT05's. I'm hoping that keeps the rear in line.
If it makes it handle funny, I'll go to NT05's as well, but hopefully it
will balance out. If anything, I would think I'll have more cornering
grip in the rear than in the front, which would lead to more understeer.
Obviously, I want a great balance, but if I have to choose between
understeer or oversteer on tight, mountain roads, I'll take understeer.
Cobraken
Enthusiast
Never mix brands on a street or road race car. I wouldn't even do that in a Mustang. An exception would be slicks on a drag car that are a different brand from the front.
Paul Hawker
Enthusiast
TowDog.
Reason is that you have upsized your front tires, but not the rears. The fronts will stick better with the larger tires, but the rears grip will be the same as stock.
Most modern cars are designed with some understeer in the front to keep the rears from sliding out in normal driving.
This can even happen with putting fresh tires on one end, and leaving older, harder tires on the other end.
That is why it is not usually recommended to put different construction/brand tires on the same car.
For firmly sprung vehicles like the Viper, you can get some nasty handling surprises when nibbling at the edge of adhesion.
Reason is that you have upsized your front tires, but not the rears. The fronts will stick better with the larger tires, but the rears grip will be the same as stock.
Most modern cars are designed with some understeer in the front to keep the rears from sliding out in normal driving.
This can even happen with putting fresh tires on one end, and leaving older, harder tires on the other end.
That is why it is not usually recommended to put different construction/brand tires on the same car.
For firmly sprung vehicles like the Viper, you can get some nasty handling surprises when nibbling at the edge of adhesion.
dave6666
Enthusiast
Maybe the guy just wants to go to the quikie mart or take a highway stroll. But there goes the race track mentality being enforced again.
Some people just like driving their cars. It is perfectly OK to own a high performance car and use it as you please.
I've always been a big believer in being smart enough to not over drive my equipment.
Dude... don't make the world end yet. Match the tires. Got stuff to do this weekend and would hate to be denied on your selfishness.
Some people just like driving their cars. It is perfectly OK to own a high performance car and use it as you please.
I've always been a big believer in being smart enough to not over drive my equipment.
Dude... don't make the world end yet. Match the tires. Got stuff to do this weekend and would hate to be denied on your selfishness.
TowDawg
Enthusiast
Paul, I agree the wider front tires offer more grip, but the rear Invo's really seem to want to come around on me. I can't grasp that the grip gained up front is proportionate to grip lost in the rears compared to my old PS2's. A lot of it is the softer sidewalls of the Invos. If I have a lot of driveline load on the rears and let them "set" into the turn, they will hold ok, but any quick switchback or trying to run in a higher gear and lower RPM's make it pretty hairy.
TowDawg
Enthusiast
Paul, I agree the wider front tires offer more grip, but the rear Invo's really seem to want to come around on me. I can't grasp that the grip gained up front is proportionate to grip lost in the rears compared to my old PS2's. A lot of it is the softer sidewalls of the Invos. If I have a lot of driveline load on the rears and let them "set" into the turn, they will hold ok, but any quick switchback or trying to run in a higher gear and lower RPM's make it pretty hairy.
All 4 Invo's have really low mileage on them and have 2011 manufacture dates, so I might see if there is any interest in selling my whole set of Invo's and going with a set of NT05's.
TowDawg
Enthusiast
I've been all over the map with air pressure. I'm running really high 40+ in the fronts, and that's given me the best grip up there. I guess the higher pressure helps offset the stiffer sidewalls. I also haven't haven't had an alignment done in a while, so I'm going to check that. The only place that I trust to do it right is a couple hours drive in Atlanta, but I'll get down there at some point this winter.
Chuck 98 RT/10
Enthusiast
It is against the law to mismatch tires. People die when you do that. One guy even died backing his car out of the garage. If his tires all matched he would have never had the stroke that killed him.
It's also against the law to let your tire pressure go low. Low tire pressure is the cause of more deaths than all the wars and cancers combined since the beginning of time. But now low tire pressure never kills anybody because the government makes everybody buy tire pressure sensors. Thank you government.
It's also against the law to let your tire pressure go low. Low tire pressure is the cause of more deaths than all the wars and cancers combined since the beginning of time. But now low tire pressure never kills anybody because the government makes everybody buy tire pressure sensors. Thank you government.
uvbnbit
Enthusiast
It's OK if you run different on either side, or different on all four corners, but NEVER different front/rear.......
i.e. not recommended. There's a guy on here, i think his name is Jon, will let you know for sure.
i.e. not recommended. There's a guy on here, i think his name is Jon, will let you know for sure.
AZTVR
Enthusiast
The tongue-in-cheek answers above do make me think. On a serious note, and I mean that; is there anyone here who does believe that having a Nitto on the left front wheel and a Michelin on the right front wheel would be acceptable even if they are the same measured diameter and contact patch size? I suspect that very few would do that to save money. So, what, exactly, is our technical reason for believing that mixing it up front to back is? I am talking about for a "regular" street driver who does not have the ability to tune his driving style for that combination in at-the-limit driving situations. I think that that is really the argument of the folks that say don't do it.
Let's address this example. You are doing 67 mph on the interstate in heavy traffic, in the left most lane, and you are in the left rear blind spot of the vehicle in the lane to the right of you. He goes to make a very quick unexpected lane change into your lane that would result in him hitting your right front with his left rear. What do you want for a front and rear tire combination? Matched or mismatched? Does anyone recommend the mimatched combo for that scenario?
To the person that does want to save money by mismatching front and rear, that is the question to be answered. Is that risk worth it to you, monetarily? Is it worth it if your 6 year old daughter is in the seat next to you?
Let's address this example. You are doing 67 mph on the interstate in heavy traffic, in the left most lane, and you are in the left rear blind spot of the vehicle in the lane to the right of you. He goes to make a very quick unexpected lane change into your lane that would result in him hitting your right front with his left rear. What do you want for a front and rear tire combination? Matched or mismatched? Does anyone recommend the mimatched combo for that scenario?
To the person that does want to save money by mismatching front and rear, that is the question to be answered. Is that risk worth it to you, monetarily? Is it worth it if your 6 year old daughter is in the seat next to you?
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dave6666
Enthusiast
And what if in that exact moment that driver makes that one in a million chance move in front of you, that an asteroid lands in the middle of your hood?
I make a point when driving to not let people ride beside me. Asteroids are out of my control however and I do predict as Chuck has hinted at, I will die from one.
I make a point when driving to not let people ride beside me. Asteroids are out of my control however and I do predict as Chuck has hinted at, I will die from one.
AZTVR
Enthusiast
I did think that my example was a real world example. I can think of 4 instances in 40 years of driving that are not that different. I've never seen an asteroid while driving. Encountered plenty of asses out there on the street, though. I have had two coworkers in the last month describe to me a similar but not identical situation that happened to them. So, I felt that I was asking a reasonable question. I really did not actually expect a different response than I got, though.
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dave6666
Enthusiast
Back to seriousness, I would never mismatch tires side to side on any vehicle but for a temporary time frame. Like until the tire store opens. But within reason, like on a street car for someone that doesn't drive stupid, and isn't talking about drag slicks on the back and snow tires on the front, I would personally never hesitate to mismatch brands front to rear. All the horror stories - the supposed fire and brimstone if you do - there is very little data to support that when I confront those that tell these stories. The few times facts are brought out, it seems likes it's at the track. There we go again, everyone should behave like a track rat
Timnineside
Enthusiast
Since everyone else is making jokes I say just buy a Helicopter. Can mess the tires up on that.
-Tim
-Tim
Paul Hawker
Enthusiast
On my new Huey. Is it OK to mix up the manufacturer of my Helicopter blades. Can I use two carbon fiber ones and two aluminum ones if they are pretty close to the same weight : >=)
Think OP gets the idea. Best to have matching tires for most situations.
Think OP gets the idea. Best to have matching tires for most situations.
dave6666
Enthusiast
Guess that's why you keep chiming in?
obviously you didnt read another thread from canada dry guy
you get a f for paying attentiondave6666
Enthusiast
It's 11:00 so I'm drunk already. Give me credit for waking up ******.
