I bought a 99 coupe a couple months ago and I noticed that the rear tires are nearly bald. The front tires have plenty of tread. They are all stock tires. Is it alright to replace the rears with a different brand, possibly non-runflat, and leave the front stock tires alone? I would love to replace them all, but money is short. Thanks.
It shouldn't be a problem. Non-run flats probably have a little more grip than the runflats. A lower grip tire might make the car oversteer more, but active handling will take care of most differences.
Since grip is approximately inversely proportional to wear rating,and the runflats are rated at 300, if you use the OEM size with a wear rating of no more than, say, 320, you shouldn't have a problem.
Just give the new rears a hundred or so miles to "scrub in". New tires have residual mold release on the tread and it takes about 100 miles of normal driving for this to wear off and develop a slide scuff on the tread at which point near maximum grip should be available, and if you install coventional tires a can of goop and a small accessory powered air compressor similar to what is provided for the Z06 would be a good idea.
Thanks a lot for the advice. Would most of the non runflats work alright? Like the Michelin Pilot, Bridgestone Potenza, Nittos, and BFG's for example. Thanks in advance.
Mike, DON'T DO IT !! Run flats have far stiffer sidewalls than non-runflats, consequently their handling characteristice are VERY different.
If you look back through the discussion topics here, you'll find that a couple of guys mixed the two types of tires with less than desirable results, and all of the reasons were well discussed.
Thanks for the advice, I think I'm just gonna bite the bullet and get some Potenza's. Luckily my birthday is comin up, I'll just ask each of my relatives for one tire :)
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Different Tires
