On a rear wheel drive vehicle, which tires take the most wear, the front tires or the back tires, and why?
It depends on how you drive. If you brake hard your front tires will wear down faster since they provide the most stopping force. They also have the most weight over them. And as you corner the edges wear down. The rears however wear out quick if you drive like an idiot. It's best to rotate your tires front to back every other oil change to keep the wear fairly even. A point about braking, remember your tires are the only thing stopping you, your brakes only slow down the rotational momentum. Brake early and less hard, you'll save money on tires and brakes as well.
Back tires are going to get a considerably larger amount of wear compared to the front tires. Since the power is being transferred from the engine to the rear axle, the back tires are going to wear down faster, especially if you have a higher horsepower car, or like to drive aggressively. I have a friend who owns an e46 M3 and he's gone from 100% tire tread to around 40% in a month.
The front tires always wear faster no matter what the drivetrain configuration if you drive like a normal person (ie: don't treat every stoplight like a dragstrip). They do 80% of the stopping and all the steering which causes a lot of friction and friction is what wears the tires.
