Mixing Tires
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Joined: Feb 2021
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From: Lower Westchester, NY
2018 s560v4
Mixing Tires
I was thinking of leaving my RFT on the front and switching the rears to non-rft in an effort to quiet the car ride as well as keeping the cost down since the fronts are still on good shape
Any comments ?
Any comments ?
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15 S550 4Matic, 86 560SL
Unfortunately these cars burn through rear tires twice as fast as the fronts (and that’s WITH 4Matic). I agree with above, tires are not a place to skimp, but I have never had an issue with mismatching axles. I often do it, like you, because I want to change the tire brand/model. There is a lot of “theory” of how this can ruin your differential but practically speaking I have never heard of it being true.
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From: Santa Barbara, CA
S550C4, Porsche Cayenne
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S600
These are powerful and capable cars, as streamliner said the tires are the only thing holding you onto the road.
I suspect you don't want to leave the road unexpectedly, and all the Nanny systems are programmed assuming that the front and rear tires are within spitting distance of the amount of traction the originally spec'ed tires delivered.
So, if your new rears end up with more traction, you will leave the road facing forward (understeer)
and if your new rear tires have less traction, you will leave the road going backwards (oversteer).
If these were (instead) high powered sports cars, and a tire needs to be replaced, you can replace the tire on 1 wheel ONLY when you can find an identical tire that is within 3 months of the date code of the bad tire !! Otherwise you get to replace 2 tires (somewhat sporty cars) or all 4 tires (real sports cars). With these kinds of cars, we want to lean on the tires hard, and we need predictable response from them. It is a chilling experience when the arc of travel will end up leaving the road, and you hare having to steer in that direction to maintain control over the car !!
However, you can make whatever choice fits the direction of how you want to leave the road.
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From: Huntington NY
S560
No, no and no. Never put 2 different types of tires on different axels- the handling characteristics will be screwed up. Sorry to say but you have an S class and you need to treat it like one which means not cheating out to save money and compromise safety.
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W212 FL
I would not do it either .However, I have heard some BMW X Series come with both front and rear tires with a different brand 
. Let's say : Front tires are Goodyear rear tires are Pirelli .
Me: "It's a joke , right ? "
My friend : " No, that's for real"
Me: " That's interesting , that must be another version of ultimate driving machine experiences
"
. Let's say : Front tires are Goodyear rear tires are Pirelli .Me: "It's a joke , right ? "
My friend : " No, that's for real"
Me: " That's interesting , that must be another version of ultimate driving machine experiences
"
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Joined: Sep 2018
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From: New Orleans Area
2015 E400 Sedan
Due to pothole damage while traveling out of town; I have the left side completely different from right side of car.
No choice as only tire in my sizes in town were different from what I was replacing.
All Continentals but different models. DWS06 on Driver and Conti-pro-contact or something Fancy on Passenger - I forget - Old Age
Thought I would be worried and swap them out later and save these new ones for the next set - But My wallet spoke to me...
Said try it a while....
Well, it has been 9 months or so maybe couple 1000 miles and no issues, Heck I no pull when driving nor braking.
I Forget they are different until I clean them and can see different sidewalls.
IF you are not racing the car I say go for it. your wallet with thank you later.
Car will not know nor will the tires only you will know
No choice as only tire in my sizes in town were different from what I was replacing.
All Continentals but different models. DWS06 on Driver and Conti-pro-contact or something Fancy on Passenger - I forget - Old Age
Thought I would be worried and swap them out later and save these new ones for the next set - But My wallet spoke to me...
Said try it a while....
Well, it has been 9 months or so maybe couple 1000 miles and no issues, Heck I no pull when driving nor braking.
I Forget they are different until I clean them and can see different sidewalls.
IF you are not racing the car I say go for it. your wallet with thank you later.
Car will not know nor will the tires only you will know
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Joined: Mar 2022
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From: Atlanta, GA
2020 S450 4Matic, 2022 GLS450 4Matic, 2015 C300
With my last car, a CLS, the dealer was quite happy to put different brands on different axles, so I only replaced the rears. I wasn’t running RFT vs Non, the sidewall difference does sound like it could be weird 
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From: NYC
S63, GLE580, BV250
I don’t think it’s destructive or will have any major changes to vehicle safety, drive ability or functionality. Considering that individual traction changes frequently when driving on all road conditions the systems in place compensate for it. Also rear tires are changed more frequently due to wear compared to the front so new rear tires with full tread will have different characteristics of handling than the front regardless of whether is the same make/model tire or not.
With that being said, I personally prefer to maintain the same brand/model tire like almost everyone is recommending. My reason for it is my minor OCD when it comes to vehicles I suppose. My recommendation if you are concerned with ride quality and want to save money, go for non-RFT all around, keep a plug kit plus a quality pump in the trunk for punctures, a can of tire slime/fix it for non-pluggable damage, and AAA or roadside assistance with the car insurance company.
I drive daily in NYC, weekend 200 mile round trips, east to west coast round trip (once) and have never been stranded due to tire damage (or even worried about being stranded). I’ve had to top off air with the pump maybe 1-2 times over the past 4 years to get to a local shop to be patched.
With that being said, I personally prefer to maintain the same brand/model tire like almost everyone is recommending. My reason for it is my minor OCD when it comes to vehicles I suppose. My recommendation if you are concerned with ride quality and want to save money, go for non-RFT all around, keep a plug kit plus a quality pump in the trunk for punctures, a can of tire slime/fix it for non-pluggable damage, and AAA or roadside assistance with the car insurance company.
I drive daily in NYC, weekend 200 mile round trips, east to west coast round trip (once) and have never been stranded due to tire damage (or even worried about being stranded). I’ve had to top off air with the pump maybe 1-2 times over the past 4 years to get to a local shop to be patched.
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2019 S560, 2015 Honda Civic Hybrid
Funny, with staggered wheel sizes and faster wear in back we're almost guaranteed to be driving on different tires front to rear. Some people may just do all four tires at once when only the rears need replacement, but that's pretty wasteful, isn't it?
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From: Maryland
2024 S580
My issue is the runflats vs non runflats, not the different brand or model of tires.
I still wouldn’t put different tires on it, and certainly not side to side on the same axle.
I still wouldn’t put different tires on it, and certainly not side to side on the same axle.
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From: Palm Beach, Fl
2016 S550 sport, 2018 GLC300, M3, Zo7, 2021 Sierra Denali
Shocking some of the responses. Do not do that. It is widely known NOT to mismatch tire brands. It is not safe. This has been the basis of many lawsuits. It is why a dealer will never do it. The issue is handling and BRAKING. Different tires have different tractions rates which is very important in emergency braking. Also different Traction in the wet. People do it everyday and get away with it...till something happens. Imagine your tires are adhering to the road just fine at 70 mph in the rain. Then you have to make an emergency hard brake, Fronts hold fine and rear skid, abs is confused and car loses control. This is well known to all fleet managers of the same vehicle. Whatever tires are on that vehicle get matched for replacement, never mix brands. Its a safety issue. Swap all 4 to non RF. When the rears wear out again then you can just replace the rears with the same brand.....because they match and its safe.
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From: Birmingham, AL
2019 S560, 2022 Audi S8
Don't mix up the tire combo. When you do this, the weight difference of the differing tires WILL affect the geometry and weight distribution of the car to the tires. I replaced a right rear tire about a year ago with a non-RF. The other 3 wheels still had good tread on them so I took the chance and just bought the one tire that needed replacing. All seemed fine at first but after 1000 miles the car developed a shudder in the steering wheel. Turns out that just the small amount of weight difference in the one tire compared to the rest caused a continuous shudder in my steering wheel even AFTER I went ahead and replaced the other 3 tires immediately. The problem followed the solution but it was too late. I just lived with it for a few months and now I don't have the car anymore after getting the Audi. The next customer might not even notice it but I did since I was so familiar with how it operated before the mix-match. Before that happened, the car's ride was flawless.
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From: New Orleans Area
2015 E400 Sedan
Check out what the tire manufacturers say:
example:
To mix or not to mix your tires? | Continental tires (continental-tires.com)
Interesting reading after Internet search.
Manufacturers and retailers say similar things but did not find one where they said NO.
Now Priority Tire does not like mixing RFT with Normal. - Scroll down 3/4 way
Should You be Mixing Tire (Brands) on the Same Vehicle? - Priority Tire
I guess you can search for more if you need it.
example:
To mix or not to mix your tires? | Continental tires (continental-tires.com)
Interesting reading after Internet search.
Manufacturers and retailers say similar things but did not find one where they said NO.
Now Priority Tire does not like mixing RFT with Normal. - Scroll down 3/4 way
Should You be Mixing Tire (Brands) on the Same Vehicle? - Priority Tire
I guess you can search for more if you need it.
Last edited by ygmn; Oct 24, 2022 at 06:51 AM.
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From: Maryland
2024 S580
Here's my opinion...why take a chance on it NOT being safe? Independent folks have said repeatedly, you should never mix tires on the same axle, and its just common sense to me that you can't mix runflats with normal tires as you will have different handling characteristics on one axle vs the other. Seeing that tires are so critical to a car's safety, and my and my family's safety is #1 in my book, why would I take a chance?
