New Tyre Advice Requested (Safety Related)

[Eddles]

Hi all, I brought a 2008 Mk1 Citroen Berlingo Multispace 3 weeks ago - it came with 3 Matador tyres, and 1 Michelin tyre - the Michelin has a manufacture date matching  the car's build date so I'm confident that it was fitted by the factory.  All tyres has plenty of tread - all at least 7mm including the Michelin.  The Michelin is on the NSR wheel.

 

The grip from the tyres has been acceptable since I brought it, but now the wet weather has come, I've found the tyres are shockingly terrible in the wet - I was sliding around mini roundabouts and the wheels kept spinning when I tried to accelerate lightly.  Due to this, I decided to test heavy braking with no-one around, and braking is a total joke - the ABS was going off like crazy and the car was slowing down far too slowly and I wasn't pushing the brake pedal heavily.  So I'm definitely getting rid of the Matador tyres.  I've had a look at the spare wheel, and it has a factory fitted Michelin with the same manufacture date.  It's completely unused, if on a rusty & battered rim and covered in mud.

 

I'm aware tyres has a recommended lifespan of 7 years regardless of usage so both Michelins are past the best by date.  I'm not too bothered about this personally, but I'm concerned how safe doing this really is.

 

I was thinking of my options - I can see 3 options:

 

1) Swop the spare Michelin with the OSR Matador - but keeping the rims - i.e. take off the Michelin and put it on the OSR rim, and put the Matador on the spare rim.  Then junk both the front tyres and fit them with new tyres.  Cheapest but least safe.

 

2) Leave the rear wheels & spare as is, just replace the front tyres with new ones.

 

3) Replace all 4 tyres, leaving the spare as is.  Most expensive but certainly most safest.

 

I'm keen on option 1 but I don't want to sacrifice safety for money.  Can anyone advise which option I should go for please?  It's a question of balance - but I'm not sure how safe it is to use out of date tyres.

 

Many thanks!

Edited May 17, 2017 by Eddles

[Routemaster1]

A while ago it was strongly recommended that the tyres with most tread (and by extrapolation, most grip) should be fitted to the rear. If you did this with Michelins on the back, you would reduce the risk of spinning out of control. Note that whilst in Spain a few years ago I nearly got wiped out by a Passat where the driver lost the rear on a bend. But that would leave you with traction and steering issues. If it were me I would ditch the Matadors and go for 4 decent tyres.

[MikeLane]

Bear in mind that Citroens are designed to use mainly the front brakes, the rear brakes having a much lower effect (see your MOT results), so the best tyres should be on the front wheels.

A few months ago I fitted Michelin CrossClimates to replace the Pilots on the front of my C5 and I have to say they are excellent - loads of grip even in the wet. Not sure how long they'll last but ,so far, little sign of wear. Because these tyres are fairly new to Michelin they were on offer so....

[Eddles]

Cheers everyone for your help!

 

I've decided to ask the tyre fitter to check if both Michelins are in servicable condition, and if so, fit them to the rears, and I've ordered a pair of ContiPremiumContact 5 tyres for the front.  I'd prefer to get Michelin Energy EV tyres but they're really expensive at £70 each as opposed to £47 each for the ContiPremiumContact 5's.