running snow tires on the front only of a front drive car

[George Tur]

----- Original Message -----
From: <JordanVw at aol.com>
To: <conner at cfm.Ohio-State.edu>
Cc: <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Friday, December 13, 2002 1:17 PM
Subject: re: running snow tires on the front only of a front drive car


> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
>
>
> thanks for the feedback folks.. it seems the general consensus is to run
all
> 4 snows to increase stability/handling even tho the rear wheels arent
drive
> wheels.
>  my question is - if i go out and spend another $150 on 2 more snow tires
for
> the rears of her '86 5k NON-Q will this solve the problem? or are snow
tires
> just not meant for high speed freeway driving? (80% of her commute is on
> turnpike ay 75-80mph) thats where she complained about the "squirrelyness"
> on the highway, not around town.

The speed she is driving at might be the answer. At lot of the snow tires
have a lower speed rating than the all season tires. If she has Q rated
tires, I think they max out at around 80 to 90 mph, they might be performing
differently at the higher speed than the all season tires on the rear.
Another thing to remember is that the sidewall of the snow tire is going to
flex differently than the all seasonal tires. I know that when my son puts
his snows on the 87 5ktq it definitely changes the feel of the car at high
speed. The car tends to float over bumps and not be as crisp turning in.

Given that you don't see any odd behavior at the lower speed you might ask
your mother to try to drive at a slower rate, say 60-65 mph, to see how the
car handles. My own two cents is to get another pair of snow tires for the
rear to match the characteristics of the front.

Good luck.

George Tur
91 V8