Tire Question - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

M5r · 29th December 2002, 07:22

I know as a general rule, you are never supposed to mix tires but here's my question. I have Potenza S03s on my car right now. Fronts still have good life on them but typical heavy right foot, my rears need replacing. The $181 for the Michelin Pilot Sports is almost too good to pass up. Is it really that big of a deal if I got the Pilot Sports for the rear and waited till the fronts wore out on the SO3s before changing those? I've heard arguments including the breakaway characteristics at the limit of each tire might be different but both of these are ultra high performance tires and on the street, maybe this wouldn't even come into play. Any input would be appreciated.

Need4Spd · 29th December 2002, 09:50

All tires have different break away characteristics, even among the same types of tires, and even among the same brand but different models. You may not find out how different until pressed to the limit. That could be during an emergency lane change. I almost learned the hard way once long ago when I mixed different tire brands front and rear, which produced horrible oversteer. I don't think the S03s and Michelins would be quite that drastic, but not having tried them in that mix before, I wouldn't want to be the experiment.

The Viper Michelins are a good deal, but I figure my life is worth more than the money I'd save. So, if I were you, I'd either replace the rears with S03s or go with Michelins all around. (Aren't the S03s nearly the same price as the Viper tires?) But if you end up doing this anyway, at least let us know how the car handles with this mix!