Worn winter tires in front or rear?

[Fummins]

Has anyone ever tried to get the back end to swing out on a Mirage in the winter? These cars have stability control(or whatever term Mitsubishi uses) that does a decent job of preventing the back end from sliding out, at least at lower speeds.

I've always ran better tires on the front, of fwd cars regardless of the season.

I've seen lots of different opinions on tire width too...

I'm with Mark and prefer narrower tires for winter. When we gets lots of snow on the roads that often melts fast and turns to slush. Wide tires are horrible when you hit a patch of wet snow/slush doing 50-60mph. They float/hydroplane. It's even worse with a tin can that's barely 2000lbs. I prefer to slice/carve though rather than be slowed down instantly and float across it.

I know people that believes the opposite is true and wider tires give a bigger contact patch so you get better traction and braking on ice. But you now increase your chances of hydroplaning imo.

[Mark]

Maybe snowy hill climbing has more to do with weight than the tire width? Just wondering.

People are free to think whatever they want. I've been climbing a winter ridge road that doesn't get much sunlight since 1994 to get home. For AWD/4WD vehicles, tire width is not as much of a factor. For lightweight FWD vehicles, I am convinced tire width is a much bigger factor.

The 14 years I drove my Festiva, I used 3 pairs of tires during that time (2 pairs at a time of course). I never found or needed 12" snow tires. The tires I had were all-season tires (145SR12) of different mileage/age. The best pair was used up front & next best pair was in the rear during the winter months. During the summer, the best pair came off & 2nd best pair moved up front & oldest pair were used on back. I could have reversed that during the summer months without issue. When the oldest pair were worn out completely, they became my next newest/best pair. Tire rotations happened when I moved tires in the spring & late fall. The lack of TPMS in those days made all this simple to do.

I was going to to do the same with my Mirage, but I felt the Mirage needed a pair of snow tires. I bought my Mirage in October. By mid-December, I determined snow tires were needed up front. I ordered a pair of steel rims ($50 each) & two Nokian Nordman 7 snow tires.

I realize most tire expert will recommend snow tires on all four wheels during the winter months. When my snow tires go back on this fall, brand new Kumho tires are going on the rear. They will be better than the tires currently on my Mirage. When my Nokian snow tires appear to be more worn down, I want to use them in the rear for the winter months. Something with newer threads will take over the front at that point.

As tires wear out I sort of develop an opinion on them -

Federal SS657 - were the first pair of tires I have worn out completely on my Mirage. I used them up front for a few summers and on the rear for a couple winters. When they were $40 tires, I felt they were a good value. I don't think their lifespan is any better than the factory Dunlop tire, but they were about 1/3 the cost at the time of purchase. Pumped up to 40 psi, I don't think I took any hit in economy (worn tires are better than new ones when it comes to economy most of the time). Two big strikes against the Federal tires these days - 165/65r14 Federal SS657 have seemed to disappeared, & they had shot up in price. If Kumho or Nexen tires about the same price I would go that route.

Dunlop Enasave - My last pair of Dunlop Enasave are redeeming themselves somewhat. They are wearing better/longer than I expected. Definitely not a great winter tire, but they do the job during the summer months. It's easy to make the Mirage spin out with any tire, because its lightweight up front. Losing one to sidewall issue is my biggest knock on them. Currently, they are about $161/tire & that would be my second knock on them. I also don't trust them. When I take longer trips, I throw a full size spare tire in the car.

So far I have a very favorable opinion of my pair of Nexen N'Priz AH5 tires. I used them on the rear axle the past two winters, & I felt they did extremely well. The back of the car felt very stable, & I sort of test them out under controlled conditions. Since they have a max rating of 51 psi, I tend to keep them inflated a little more. I don't sense any mpg difference with them, but I am only using a pair at a time, too. My only knock on them (460AA/50,000 miles) has been their jump in price. I paid $50/tire for them. Now they are more like $75-80/tire. 500AA/60,000 mile Kumho Solus TA31 can usually be found for less money. Thus, I am trying them next. I have a pair all mounted & ready to go on next.

I also have a favorable view of the Nokian Nordman 7 tires (made in Russia, not Finland). My oldest daughter lives in Finland. When they were visiting a couple weeks ago, my son-in-law said when anything goes wrong in Finland they blame Russia. I thought that was funny! They claimed their independence from Russia in 1917, which isn't really all that long ago in term of history. Russia still owns some areas that once belonged to Finland.

The Vredestein Quatrac 5 is another tire I want to try some day. I sense it may be a better winter tire than most all-season tires. It may be a great choice for winter months when they are newer, and they could be used up during the summer months without taking much a mpg hit when they get more worn down.

Sorry, I sort of babbled here. Time to go do something else!!!

[Basic]

Has anyone ever tried to get the back end to swing out on a Mirage in the winter? These cars have stability control(or whatever term Mitsubishi uses) that does a decent job of preventing the back end from sliding out, at least at lower speeds.

I haven't in Winter, but the roads around our farm are all gravel and man it sure works there. Almost too well. It just cuts all of the power. Its a weird sensation.

[Eggman]

Has anyone ever tried to get the back end to swing out on a Mirage in the winter?

I have - a lot. The ABS stops it quickly and efficiently. Shut off ABS for any semblance of fishtailing or better yet stick with rear-wheel drive.

[Fummins]

If you want my advice for wiper blades, I use black ones with thin strips of rubber on them so they don't scratch the glass.

[Mark]

If you want my advice when it comes to even tire wear, whether they're all-season, all-weather, dedicated winter, wide, or narrow, always rotate the tires every 12,000 km/7,500 miles (i.e.: front-to-back or forward cross, not spinning them round and round 'til the engine blows).

Most snow tires these days are directional snow tires, which hampers the traditional methods of rotating tires.

Personally, I am not interested in having 4 evenly worn tires on my Mirage. I don't want 4 half worn snow tires on my Mirage during the winter months. I have winter ridge road hills to climb, & I want/need extra traction up front.

My Nokian Nordman 7 snow tires have been my up front winter tires since I have bought my Mirage. Since they are directional tires, they can't be switched side to side (I don't care for directional tires for that reason alone). When I feel they are worn down more, I will move them to the rear axle for the winter months.

When I switch over to my winter tires in a few weeks, my Nokian snow tires will return to the front for another winter. My rear axle will receive a brand new pair of Kumho Solus TA31 tires. Why?

When I need new snow tires up front on my Mirage, I want them to be as new as possible. Thus, I kept my newest all-season tires on the rear axle in the meantime. When I feel it's time to move my Nokian snow tires to the rear axle, I will buy a brand new pair of snow tires for the front. This is why I have owned 6-8 rims for every FWD car I have ever owned since 1994.

Likewise, I have owned 8 rims for every AWD/4WD vehicle I have ever owned. In the case of AWD vehicles, I do want my tires to wear evenly. I have a set of 6-7 year old Cooper CS4 tires for my Forester. These were my winter tires for a few years, but they have been my summer tires for a number of years now. My second set of tires are Cooper Weather Master ST2 winter tires, which are not directional tires. I can do a normal rotation when I put them back on every winter. I wish they still made these tires, because their replacement ones are now directional. Non-directional snow tires are becoming harder to find.

For anyone interested, the 165/65r14 Dunlop Winter Maxx 2 are not directional snow tires and can be rotated like normal, too. An asymmetrical tire like the Vredestein Quatrac 5 can also be rotated like normal, too.

A normal rotation for me is front tires go straight back, & rear tires criss cross to the front.