Ok, this does not concern a MINI so this post might be moved but it concerns me, a MINI owner. My dad has a 1998 Taurus and I went down to visit him and noticed that each of his 4 tires are a different brand!...Cooper, Continental, Tiger Paw, and Ajax???...but they are all the exact same tire size. I am not sure if they are all the same general class, i.e. all seasons, touring etc. ( I forgot to check that).

So, how unsafe is this?...my dad is 86 but still drives even on the highway.....any thoughts form any tire gurus?

Thanks!!

 

Because different types/brands of tires all have different traction and wear ratings (Or even temperature and speed) it's generally recommended to at least have the same type of tires on the same axel. I've always replaced tires in pairs (rear tires at 35% wear and one fails, I replace both). It's cheap insurance...

I'd at least find out what class tires they are. If one is a performance all season, another is touring, another is all season, etc. Imagine running r compounds on one side of the car and runflats on the other... What do you think happens when you slam on the brakes. Your car is going to veer off the road . The taurus doesn't have any electronic nanny's to overcome some of the forces in situations like this... like CBC, EBD, DSC, etc.

If it were my father, i'd ask him what was up, and either buy him new tires, or have him buy them.

 

Maybe he's performing some kind of tire test...

It's not a good idea to do what he's doing, but if he's just puttin' along it should not be a problem. If he's buying tires one at a time I doubt he's getting anything more expensive than the most most basic all-season non performance tire.

My mother was doing that nonsense for a while - I bought her a set of new tires.