Tires: low profile tires, low profile tires, lateral grooves

Question
I just bought 4 low profile tires 215/45/17.  People are telling me my tires are on backwards I've taken my car to two different garages they say the tires are on correctly.  The tires on the driver side front and back have arrows going forward and the passenger side have the arrows pointed the opposite direction.  All 4 tires do read outside on each one.  Who is right and which way do my tires really go?  Please help.

Answer
Julie,

If the tires say "This side out" or words to that effect and that side is out, that is good.  These tires are called asymmetrical - that is the left side of the tire is different than the right side of the tire.

If the tires have an arrow on the sidewall of the tire pointing in a direction of rotation, then they are directional - and the arrow should be pointed in the direction of rotation.

BUT

If the "arrow" is really part of the tread pattern, then that is an optical  illusion that they are directional (and they are not) and you should follow what is on the sidewall.

There are some tread pattern that do look directional but aren't.  I could give you a more complete description of why this is so if I had a picture of the tread pattern in front of me - but the basic physics of the situation is that there has to be a clear path of lateral grooves to the outside of the tread pattern for there to be evacuation of the water from under the tread.