This may show my age, but when I started work on cars back in the sixty's oversteer and understeer was one of the first things you were told about with regard to tyre rotation. You did not blindly swop them round, you measured tread depth and wear pattern and put the best rubber on the back. This may sound counterintuitive, but if the back slips first then the car oversteers and you end up putting reverse lock to get it straight, if you are very quick and lucky. If you are not lucky you end up off the road after a spin. If the front slips first you understeer and all you need to correct it is lift off the power and apply more steering if needed. This dictates how I rotate my tyres. When the front are worn out they get changed for new and the rear ones are fitted to the front while the new rubber goes on the back. If any research has been done on the subject, that put my method out of date I would be glad to hear it. Jon the Chief
No, your notion is still correct. It is safer to have the best tires at the rear: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52 Some will argue that tires should be rotated so that the tread wear on all of them is kept as even as possible. But if the tread is the same all around then this increases the chances that the rear will hydroplane before the front, or that all of them will hydroplane together. It is far better to have the front pair hydroplane first; this is nature's way of telling you to slow down. Let the front tires wear down, purchase tires in pairs and always put the new ones on the rear. This maximizes the chances that the front pair will hydroplane first in wet conditions.
