Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General First time driving the SVT in the snow

Originally posted by Michelin Article:

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Let's say you drive a Nissan Altima and you notice your rear tires have 50 percent of their tread left, but the front tires are worn and need to be replaced. You go to your local tire shop, and they happily pull the fronts off and fit a set of brand new ones in their place. Is there anything wrong with this scenario? It seems logical, even the safe way to go, right?

We were given the keys to two identical Altimas, one with new tires on the front and half-worn tires on the rear and the other car with just the opposite front/rear setup. On a half-mile polished-concrete, wet skidpad, we approached 55 mph in the car with worn front tires. The only hint of a problem was that the steering would occasionally get light, and we found ourselves intuitively slowing down to avoid understeer (running wide of a turn).

Switching to the car with the new front/worn rears (as the tire shop suggested), we again approached 55 mph. Suddenly, the car snapped its tail out, and we were beyond oversteer and well into an off-pavement excursion. We were no longer drivers, but passengers in a car spinning out of control. We tried a second time. Even when anticipating the moment the car would break loose, there was no time to correct for the slide because it happened so fast. By the third attempt, we finally learned how to regain control of the car.

The problem is that, in reality, you don't get three chances to avoid an accident. Next time you buy two new tires, insist that they go on the rear, not the front of your car. It doesn't matter if it's an all-, front-, or rear-wheel-drive car: Always put the fresh ones on the back.

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