Hey all. I have OEM Michelin Pilot Sports on the front and new Falken 452's on the rear, on my 04 auto Coupe with 18" wheels. I've noticed a few things:
- the Falkens don't seem to have as good sidewalls as the Michelins - they feel a bit mushy.
- when corning hard, the car seems to understeer, which it never used to do. It's so bad that the car plows forward and the slip light comes on. I'm wondering if this is because the front Michelins are worn? They appear to have tread life left (the wear bars aren't showing but there is tire feathering from the standard alignment issue with the G). Could it be the new rear Falken's have better traction than the worn front Michelin's?
- I noticed at about 80 mph, my G seems to gyrate (slips side to side) an inch or two each way. I'm holding the wheel straight but it still does it. Wind is not a factor since I've driven it a number of times in different conditions and wind directions.
These problems didn't exist when I had Michelins all around - it was rock solid. The obvious answer is to change out the fronts to Falkens but I'm worried the problem will get worse or I'm trashing two perfectly good Pilots for no good reason. Any comments/ideas? Are the Falkens a good tire ? (maybe a little late to ask but better to find out now).

 

not a good idea to mix tires

 

like soopa said, its really not a good idea to mix tires like that

 

Are the Falkens the OEM size in the rear?

 

Agreed.

 

Agreed +103

 

Yes, the sizes are all OEM 245/45 R18 rear and 225/45 R18 fronts. What if I had put new Pilot Sports on the rear - would I still have to replace the fronts as well? or just a bad idea to mix brands? There are same size and speed rating. After having just bought winter tires and rims, tires are fast becoming a very big expense.

 

Many owners have mixed different make tires on either the front or rear with appropriate called for sizes with no issues. In your case, it just might be a combo of tread design and or tire compound and wear makeup or even a bad tire that the VDC just doesn't like. I would keep the tires with the best tread life and replace the other 2 tires with the brand to match the others. Ideally, you would want to have all the tires match with same brand. Why keep tires that already have wear and some feathering issues? Good luck.