Do tyres have to match?

My front driver's side tyre on my Toyota RAV4 has a slow puncture and I'm wondering how important is it to brand match, tread match etc. tyres when you replace a tyre? Should I move the two rear original tyres to the front and the odd pair to the back? I’m doing approx 15,000 miles.

Asked on 4 January 2023 by Jerry Pollentine

Answered by Lawrence Allan
Our stock advice with new tyres is to always match up the tyres across the axle. Unless it is an emergency you don't want to just replace one tyre at the front or rear - both tyres across that axle should be replaced. Otherwise you end up with mismatched grip levels and tread depths, which could potentially be dangerous in bad weather conditions.
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