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[gregk2]

On a spirited drive today i took a little more speed into a roundabout than i normally would, but nothing too outrageous, and the handling was a bit all over the place, almost without warning it was hint of understeer quickly followed by fairly big oversteer (for a fwd car anyway) Had not just lifted off and chucked it in, was applying light throttle and it just felt very squirmy at speeds i wouldn't expect it to.

Running wider rears all around as most will know i presume. I have noticed the tracking may be out as the car pulls to the left quite a bit, the tyre pressures seem ok if a tad on the low side 31/32PSI.

Just seemed a bit unpredictable and wondered how others handled around corners. Rear tyres have lots of tread, fronts are adequate.

[Unknown]

The forfour should be pretty solid when taking things a bit hot, the car has ESP and TC as standard. Depending on age it could be worn shocks or the bearings are starting to go.

My old gal ran skinny 14s and always was predictable in its handling.

[basilbrush]

Could be the ESP detecting the initial understeer and then bringing the car back into your intended direction with the oversteer. You say the front tyre tread is "adequate" does that mean near the limit?
Some makes of tyres really do lose their abilities big time when the tread gets below a certain level.
Are you using different makes on front and rear axle sets?

[Problemchild]

I know what you mean and i am feeling the same....... almost as though this hot weather has dried out most of the tarmac grease but not all.

need to check my tyre pressures as they do tend to go down (esp the rear right)

i also need to get an alignment check done as i have had a few big knocks recently

JJ

[gregk2]

Could be the ESP detecting the initial understeer and then bringing the car back into your intended direction with the oversteer. You say the front tyre tread is "adequate" does that mean near the limit?
Some makes of tyres really do lose their abilities big time when the tread gets below a certain level.
Are you using different makes on front and rear axle sets?

Not near the limit as such, but not too far away from it.
They are different tyres front and back, Hankook V12 Evo on Front and Falken FK452 on the rears, probably doesn't help things.

[gregk2]

I know what you mean and i am feeling the same....... almost as though this hot weather has dried out most of the tarmac grease but not all.

need to check my tyre pressures as they do tend to go down (esp the rear right)

i also need to get an alignment check done as i have had a few big knocks recently

JJ

How much for an alignment check usually?

[gregk2]

Oh..and i got some tyre shine at the weekend and may have laid it on a bit thick..that may be contributing..oops.. Tyres are nice and shiney though 

[Problemchild]

don't know how much but i fancy a proper geometry set up (not sure whats possible)

JJ

[mr singh]

get your suspension checked, a duff damper might compromise handling as well as an incorrectly fitted suspension bush.

set your tyre pressures to the RECOMMENDED tyre pressures on the filler flap, should be around 32 (or 34) PSI all round and 36 PSI when fully loaded.

tracking might also cause it to handle strangely. Krap fit do a free alignment check and then its £10 per adjustment

[gregk2]

get your suspension checked, a duff damper might compromise handling as well as an incorrectly fitted suspension bush.

set your tyre pressures to the RECOMMENDED tyre pressures on the filler flap, should be around 32 (or 34) PSI all round and 36 PSI when fully loaded.

tracking might also cause it to handle strangely. Krap fit do a free alignment check and then its £10 per adjustment

Thanks Mr Singh. Krap fit..i like it 

[Fast Eddy]

Could be the tyre shine.  Check your drop links too

[mr singh]

Thanks Mr Singh. Krap fit..i like it 

don't trust them for ship! they tried to fail my mums old focus on EVERY brake pipe on one of its MOT's... but they couldn't cos they were covered in grease. they said that they were about to burst... yeah right i greased them up at 30k when we bought it and it had done about 40/50,000 miles with them covered in grease before it was MOT'd by them AND they couldn't diagnose a squeak on my old city coupe where as Mercedes diagnosed it straight away

[mozilla]

Im impressed, how did you manage to get oversteer ;-)
Maybe it was just really bad surface imperfections, when I used to run the wides on the front I do remember some scary tramlining on horrible roads although I cornering was more confident

[CrazyG]

Mixed makes of tyres will affect the handling.  Of that there is no doubt.
Tyres near their end of life are a lot more unpredictable than those with
even 1mm more tread.

Worn shockabsorbers will also affect the handling in the wierdest of ways.

As a guide, the Poilice always change their tyres when they reach 4mm ! !
Yes, that's nearly double the tread gauge block height. but they do so for
a very good reason...because they want predictable handling and grip,
and they have found over the years that once they get to under 4mm
the ride and handling depreciate at a rather alarming rate.

Ok, so you may think that that is being extravagant. We're all entitled
to our opinions, but if you are driving a Brabus, then to get down all
that loverly power that you all love and want to use, you have to pay
the price.  In fact I'd go so far as to say that anyone driving any other
ForFour should change their tyres when they reach 3mm. Your life
depends on those skinny rubber bands wrapped round those pretty alloys.

Face it, for the job they do, in all weather conditions, and the mileage you
get out of them, and the time they last for, they are relatively cheap.
For a normal ForFour, a set of 4 tyres can cost no more than a service.
And you have a service every year....but not tyres.  Once every 3 years perhaps ?

As a note, Brabus owners will now find it increasingly harder to get their hands
on 235/35/17 Falken's and Hankook's as it appears Blackcircles don't list them
anymore !  They do however list 215/40/17  in Falkens, Hankook's, and Toyo T1R's.
(18 inch wheels appear to now be the more 'favourite' choice.)
So you may find that you will have to 'change down' from 4 large 8" wide's all
round to 4 slightly skinnier 7.5" wheels shod with 205 and/or 215 profile tyres.
They're cheaper that the 'old' 235's, so I would suggest that what you save with
them you invest in a Bilstein coilover kit (like JJ's) and make it handle better to
start with. 

[gregk2]

Mixed makes of tyres will affect the handling.  Of that there is no doubt.
Tyres near their end of life are a lot more unpredictable than those with
even 1mm more tread.

Worn shockabsorbers will also affect the handling in the wierdest of ways.

As a guide, the Poilice always change their tyres when they reach 4mm ! !
Yes, that's nearly double the tread gauge block height. but they do so for
a very good reason...because they want predictable handling and grip,
and they have found over the years that once they get to under 4mm
the ride and handling depreciate at a rather alarming rate.

Ok, so you may think that that is being extravagant. We're all entitled
to our opinions, but if you are driving a Brabus, then to get down all
that loverly power that you all love and want to use, you have to pay
the price.  In fact I'd go so far as to say that anyone driving any other
ForFour should change their tyres when they reach 3mm. Your life
depends on those skinny rubber bands wrapped round those pretty alloys.

Face it, for the job they do, in all weather conditions, and the mileage you
get out of them, and the time they last for, they are relatively cheap.
For a normal ForFour, a set of 4 tyres can cost no more than a service.
And you have a service every year....but not tyres.  Once every 3 years perhaps ?

As a note, Brabus owners will now find it increasingly harder to get their hands
on 235/35/17 Falken's and Hankook's as it appears Blackcircles don't list them
anymore !  They do however list 215/40/17  in Falkens, Hankook's, and Toyo T1R's.
(18 inch wheels appear to now be the more 'favourite' choice.)
So you may find that you will have to 'change down' from 4 large 8" wide's all
round to 4 slightly skinnier 7.5" wheels shod with 205 and/or 215 profile tyres.
They're cheaper that the 'old' 235's, so I would suggest that what you save with
them you invest in a Bilstein coilover kit (like JJ's) and make it handle better to
start with.

Very informative, a good read!
I have been looking for tyres, and didn't realise how few were available! I have found the falkens that i have on the rear for £90 http://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyres/car-tyres-225-35-r17?Version=v2&utm_expid=37562226-2&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2F though..so might get a pair of them ordered to match the rears.