waisoserious

I need a new set of front tires. The tire shop is offering me a set of Continental UHP at a heavy discount cause theyve been sitting on the shelf for 3 years (unused). But I am using Michellins Lattitude Sport 3. Is it ok to mix front and rear tires? What you guys think?

C43Ayemgee

I believe they should be matching since the car is AWD, The thread pattern will be different on those tires

RichardCranium3

vincheung

Some will say you are supposed to keep them all the same and of course that would be ideal but considering tire wear is typically uneven front to back I dont think its an issue. In my younger more monetarily unfortunate years, I had a point where all four tires were of different makes/models/brands and experienced no issues with drivability or handling (rain, snow, dry). The factors that COULD come into play would be tread patterns if driving in heavy rain with pooling conditions, as tread patterns would provide for different water displacement. However, if the tires are new with plenty of tread life, it would be a negligible difference and with traction control, esp, and all of these technological advances I doubt you would have any issues.

I say go for it.

RichardCranium3

^ This. To that end, really the key thing is matching the axles. No different that running slicks in the rear and skinnies up front on a drag car. Definitely don't want to mix one tire on the driver side and something different on passenger side. I'm waiting on a pair of Pilot Sport AS3's to show up to replace my completely worn fronts.

Biggreenogg

HTXgearhead

YES. I have been doing this for years on my previously owned cars. As long as they match side to side, you are good to go. If you push the car really hard with traction off, you might notice that the tires have have different slip points during cornering though.

skim7x

I agree with everything said thus far. I want to add that, imho, tires are the second most important "mod" you can do for your car for all around performance -- acceleration, cornering, braking, and overall safety. Don't skimp on tires -- get the best tires that fit your particular needs that you can afford. The best mod in my opinion are advanced driving courses.

threefirs

Aside from everything mentioned above - I wouldn't buy 3 year old tires - even unused.

SSleeper

^^This. Don't worry so much about them sitting on your shop's shelf for 3yrs as much as what the date code on the sidewall tells you.