Mixing tyres

[Mike1]

I currently have 215/40/16 Goodyear F1s (GSD2) all round on my 2000 VVC. The rears are due for replacement and my local supplier can't get the GSD2s anymore, so I've ordered a couple of Toyo T1Rs, The fronts still have plenty of miles left on them so for a while I'll have mixed brands front and rear.
Does anyone here have any experience of mixing these two brands? Would it be better to swap the Goodyears onto the rear and the Toyos on the front?
What kind of problems might I experience?
Thanks in advance.

Mike.

[Rob Bell]

Play it very cautiously as the tyres bed in for the first 300-500 miles. They'll scrub in eventually. I've not mixed these brands before - perhaps others may be able to comment? Usually I would have replaced all four tyres at the same time - this is the safest option on a mid-engine roadster like the MGF

[Mike1]

Thanks Rob. Is this bedding in period particular to the Toyos or the same for any tyre? I'm doing 106 miles a day at the moment so it wont take long to reach that 500 mile mark.

[Rob Bell]

It's a general rule of thumb - but please do feed back your experience

[Andythetyre]

Modern tyres don't need scrubbing in.

Toyota t1r's are a good premium budget tyre.

My missus had a mini a few years ago and we bought
a set of 18" alloys with them on and it handled really well.

[Rob Bell]

Yes and no. On an F, if you mix fresh rubber at the rear with worn at the front, you can get rather alarming 'driving on ice' characteristics that eventually settles over time. This can occur even if replacing tyres, like for like, with the same brand. If using the same size tyres front and rear, many find that swapping the worn fronts to the rear and using the fresh rubber at the front can settle things down.

I suspect that these are observations born out of the engine layout and therefore load distribution upon the tyres - and are quite different from the FWD example you mention Andy

[Geoff.F]

You could always try another tyre dealer who can suppy F1 GSD2s.
http://www.hiqonline.co.uk are Goodyear Distributors and are currently offering them.
Geoff F.

[Mike H]

Just to re-confirm what Geoff said above, GSD2's can still be obtained, although perhaps not as easily as previously, possibly due to batch manufacturing? That said, I got a new set for the TF about 2 months ago from my local dealer without any hassle.

[colintf]

I got 2 rears from the same local MG dealer with no problem

[Canalsman]

GSD2 tyres are definitely still available - they are standard fit on the TF's still on sale ...

I'd try some other suppliers.

[nigelandjo]

I ran a set of Toyos on my previous TF with GSD2s on the front and had no problems. The fitting centre did warn me to take it carefully for the first few miles as the road was damp, but experienced no problems.

Nigel

[Mike1]

Thanks Nigel, I've read a couple of other threads where people say that they've had no problem with that combination so I'm a little less worried now.

[Art]

If anyone can point me in the direction of a supply of some front GSD2's I would be grateful, I have been everywhere locally, tried the National outlets and they seem to be unavailable wherever I try.
The knowledgable manager at my local H* depot informed me GDS3's were the new improved version and would be ok, I told him of the reply I had received from Goodyear stating rears were going to be produced again August/September time but they were out of stock of the fronts with no planned production date, he did not believe me, phoned them himself and was told the same, rather grudgingly he sort of apologised for doubting me.
I can and am willing to travel if someone can tell me of a dealer with the front tyres in stock.

[petevick]

The HiQ link that Geoff gave above is showing GSD2's Art

[UK Kiwis]

For what its worth...my experience.

On our second set of Avons. 1997 VVC MGF.

Rear Avon 205/50R15

Front Avon 185/55R15.

I have always had utter confidence in these tires at very high speed on the Continent and over mountain passes as fast as safety will allow.
Never a hint of breakaway, very good in the wet too. I am sure there are other options but I intend to stay with Avons as long as I can get them.

[Mike H]

After re-reading this thread, I thought I'd call my friendly tyre dealer to see what was what with the GSD2's. He called Goodyear directly and they have confirmed that there is no further production planned for the GSD2's in 2010. (Backs up my batch theory that I mentioned previously!). In addition to considering the Toyo option he did also suggest the Yokohama AS01 S Drive as another alternative. I've no experience of the Yokohama's, either directly or by reputation, but it's interesting that they came up earlier this week on the BBS as an alternative option.

UK Kiwis - which particular model of Avons did you opt for?

[Art]

The HiQ link that Geoff gave above is showing GSD2's Art

Pete, I have searched the site and could only find Gsd3's I phoned Geoff's local branch at Stratford to be told " if is listed on the web site it does not mean they have them in stock anywhere within the group " the upshot is they don't have any so my search continues, any offers of help appreciated !
If my mobile phone did not have unlimited calls from home I feel I would be well on the way to bankruptcy with the amount of calls I have made this morning

[UK Kiwis]

Not much help here. The only other sigificant markings on the tires are:

Front ZV5 82V

Rear ZV5 86V

What ever that means?

I did buy a couple of tires on a tour last year. ( Had a terminal in one tire puncture and replaced both) They looked to be the same tread as I had on the previous ones.
Cannot rember the make as they were European. They were so hopeless, wandered all around the place. I scrapped them as soon as I got back to UK. Expensive exersize, so buy what you know to be good and what is recommended and known to be good is my advice.

[adrianclifford]

Andy, getting back to a comment made by Rob about replacing just the rears, I've used Toyo T1-R's for a few years now on 15",16" and 17" on the F and the TF. With the F the rears wore out after 24,000 miles, plenty of meat left on the fronts so I changed the rears, same tyre but the handling was truly awful, it wandered around so much, coming home from the pub meet one night (completely sober of course) I pulled off the road and checked all the wheel nuts as it felt as if they were really loose, a very strange and uncomfortable feeling.
Simply changing the fronts too cured the problem immediately. I don't know if this is idiosyncratic to the Toyo's or a general observation and common to other tyres.

[Marty c]

Well I use to have goodyear gs3 on the front and gs2 on the rear which worked very nicely!

had to have new fronts about a month ago

I put toyos on the fronts

so now runing goodyear gs2 on the rear
and toyos T1Rs on the front

this works too in fact better than old goodyear fronts