Tire rotation is an important part of vehicle maintenance. Rotating your high performance tires every 3,000 to 5,000 miles as recommended can provide performance advantages, even out tire wear and preserve balanced handling and traction of the tires.

Wear on the tires of performance vehicles is usually greater than on touring or luxury vehicles. Individual wheel positions can have different wear rates and may cause different types of wear on each tire. This is why rotating your tires at the recommended times, even if they don't show signs of wear, is necessary.

Tire wear reduces the tread depth of a tire. When all four tires wear evenly, the wear helps maintain handling, increasing the cornering traction and allows the tires to quickly respond to the driver.

Following the tire rotation advice we've given you will be helpful not only to you now, but also when the tire comes to purchase new tires. When you replace tires in complete sets, you can maintain the original handling balance. If you replace only some of the tires, the tread depth will vary and handling may not be optimum. In addition, when you replace tires in sets you have the option of improving your tires. Tire manufacturers are constantly adding new features and introducing new tires to the market. You can take advantage of the new products when you replace all four tires at a time, rather than trying to find a match for the tires you already have on your vehicle.

While beneficial in many ways, tire rotation cannot correct mechanical problems or problems caused by incorrect tire inflation.

* On front wheel drive cars, rotate the tires in a forward cross pattern (fig. A) or the alternative X pattern (fig. B)* On rear wheel or four wheel drive vehicles, rotate the tires in a rearward cross pattern (fig. C) or the alternative X pattern (fig. B)* If you car has directional wheels or tires, rotate them as shown in fig D.* If you car has non-directional tires that are a different size from front to rear, rotate them as shown in fig. E.