[CharlesJones]

I've heard it said many times that you shouldn't mix different tyres front and back, but I can never really understand the reasons why. I can see why you need the same tyre on the same axil, but any car behaves so different between front and back that I can't really see how the subtle performance differences between different brands of tyre are going to make any difference. I mean, the rear tyres are a different width and profile to the fonts anyway, so even if you get exact same brand they are still going to have different adhension levels and side wall flex. However, I can see how if you had really grippy tyres on the front and crappy slippy tyres on the rear if would cause you car to oversteer more, but if you use good quality tyres for both ends that isn't going to be a problem.

Having said the above, I am not saying there is no danger in mixing tyres front and back, but just that I can't really see why there should be a danger. I'm wondering if it's just one of those myths that people stick to because everybody else does - a bit like "only use Brad Penn oil" etc. Then again maybe there is truth in it? I would love to hear some genuine evidence either way.

I currently run different makes of tyres front and back although only because I find it very difficult to get good performance tyres of the same make and of the correct size for both ends (I run 15 inch tyres). I guess if I could get the same brand of tyre all round I probably would just to be on the safe side, but as it happens I feel safer with high quality mixed brands than lesser quality matching brands. I would never mix on the same axil though.