Rear tires on the front ?

[bcredliner]

As you probably know, at the limits the X5 understeers and wider tires on the front should reduce that some. New struts and the spacers will help body roll. I didn't find it helped enough so I went with the H&R lowering kit, Eibach sway bars, Dinan strut tower brace and Dinan camber plates--made a huge difference. I upgraded the bushings but I don't think the difference was worth the effort. The H&R springs are close to the same rate as stock so the ride is not that much stiffer. The result is far better handling than I need for street driving. The most noticeable single improvement was the sway bars with the lowering kit a close second.

In the evolution to where I am with suspension I went through some extreme trammeling. I had the stock size rims and tires on the front with Bilstein HD struts. I went back to stock struts to get rid of it. Ride was too harsh for daily driving anyway. I have tried many different tires. I now have Continental contact extreme contacts. I lost a bit of handling but they are very quiet and should take considerably longer to wear out. Most I have been getting out of rears it 10-12,000 miles and 15-17,000 miles on fronts. So far the Continentals look like they will be a great value.

I haven't been on a track where I can see what happens when I go beyond the handling limits. I am going to do that in the spring. My guess is that I haven't done enough, if there is enough that can be done, to get to enough oversteer where I am most comfortable.