Spark EV Tire Rotation...Not!

See option E...

So if the front and rears are different sizes AND they are directional, then you cannot rotate them (un pictured option F)

When I first bought my BMW 535i, the owners manual said to not rotate the tires at all claiming that the camber was setup to have a certain stance for the fronts different than the rears and rotating would cause the steel belts to shift around. that didn't stop the dealership from asking me if I wanted my tires rotated. So for decades I did not rotate my BMW a tires and carried this over to my CTS and Deville (gift car from my dad). But with the volt and my daughter's Subaru I have returned to rotations. I'm not sure it really helps all that much. Rotations sometimes helps hide any alignment problems are you keep moving a new tire in place where one might be gradually wearing faster than another. Really bad alignment problems will shred a tire in no time flat. The corners of the fronts will wear if you like to take curves fast, and if you lead foot with the traction control off, the drive wheels will wear quickly

I've been rotating my volt because everyone says to on this forum. I'm doing it on the Subaru because it's AWD system needs all for wheels about the same. Now that I'm past 2 years of volt ownership and no longer hypermiling, I'm thinking of taking one for the team and trying a round of no rotations. I just recently rotated my 2nd set of tires at 45k miles. What do you say, should I take one for the team in the interest of science?

My recommendation is to evaluate how far you travel and the type of driving you do before deciding for tire rotations. I travel few miles a week, mostly on straight paved roads and concrete highways at low speeds, so I never had to rotate my tires. My Equinox still has two original factory-mounted tires since 2009 because they are still good. The other two were replaced due to sidewall tears which are not repairable.

It is a pain for vehicles that have different rim sizes between the front and rear wheels, but if you are a careful driver, you can wear down your tires evenly, such that you only need to replace the two front tires after a long period (over 10,000 miles), and the two rear tires later. But if you wish to rotate all four, you will have to buy two new wheel hubs and have all four the same size. Some Chevy Corvette ownes have done this, and those are really huge hubs and tires! But you will save in the long term.

I read some time ago that Michelin is developing a new tire and wheel system, such that the wear is done on a smaller, cheaper replaceable thread piece, and the rest (including the sidewalls) is part of the wheels. This can reduce tire costs, and eliminate the environmental problem of piles of used tires that only have a worn thread, yet the whole tire is discarded. And this is a BEV's biggest expense!

Tire rotations are done for tire life, they wear longer, but if you go too long between rotations it might be unsafe to rotate them.

Rotating side to side isn't going to benefit at all unless you turn more one direction (oval track racing for example ) or like to burn out and one wheel slips more than the other.

Front tires wear out faster in most cars, so if you wait too long to rotate them they might be significantly worse traction, and when rotated to the back they could cause an oversteer condition.

Better traction tires should always be on the rear of any car regardless of driven wheels. Much safer. I have known many people ending up in a ditch disregarding this advice.

OP, just skip the tire rotations and replace all 4 when worn.