Directional Tires?

[SloPok]

Are the tires directional or undirectional?

[jwight]

I think they are omnidirectional.


Real answer is they are not high speed unidirectional tires; I guess bidirectional is the way to describe them.

[SloPok]

Originally Posted by jwight

I think they are omnidirectional.


Real answer is they are not high speed unidirectional tires; I guess bidirectional is the way to describe them.

That answers my question! I'm 1509 and will see my smart around December or January 2009.

I received a grand opening postcard for a $29.95 lube,oil,filter, tire rotation, brake inspection and ac performance test.

You can rotate the rear wheels with the rears and the front with the front. If the tires are wearing fine where they are I"m not going to rotate them.

[Fredvon4]

The smart fortwo has 155x60x15 on the front on narrow rims and 175x55x15 on the rear on slightly wider rims and they can not be rotated front to rear....

In an emergency a front tire rim assy can be used on the rear but you can not use the rear on the front because the steering axle needs both tires to be same size and track

Some members are planning to get a extra set of rear rims and run the 175s on all four corners... many of us are betting it should work fine that way...others are concerned about shifting the under-steer (by design) to too neutral or perhaps a bit of oversteer....

[Old smart]

Another difference between the OEM Continental fronts and rears is the wear rating. The fronts are 400AA and the rears are 300AA, making the rears "stickier" (grippier). That will further reduce understeer, but will be good for hard braking.

If the car is driven normally I don't think the reduction in understeer will be a problem. In normal driving most people never encounter the understeer that is there in all cars (except in very slippery conditions), but it is so evident in the smart from the history and number of comments made that there must be a LOT of it. So there is probably a reasonable margin of it that can be reduced. It could be that M-B/smart is overly paranoid; just look at how much space in the Owners Instructions is taken up by warnings.

[Karl Roth]

Tires can be directional in both tread and carcass. Some tires will delaminate the belts if you turn the rotation, others don't care. The understeer is noticeable on snow and sand covered roads after the snow melts. Don't drive fast enough on the street to get it to push on clean pavement.
karl