tires,im running all season 235/50/18 now,if i go to a high performance summer tire in 255/45/18 will it hook all that much better? im looking at the mt street comp or nitto invo.id really like to get some wider wheels but its not in the budget right now.my tires now are michelin pilot as sport
big enough difference to buy?
butters
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Before I switched to DR's I ran Toyo T1R's which were freakin awesome for a summer street radial. So there are some great tires out there and like I think I already said, don't skimp on tires. They are the most vital mod you can make as far as the performance of your car.
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I don't know how your car will ever catch traction with 235's or 255's. I run 295's on my stock 8.5" wheel. Traction is awesome and tires don't wear bad at all. A bunch of people will tell you having that big a tire on a stock rim will be bad. From my 80k mile experience with 285-295's on 8.5" wheel... They would be wrong.
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Go as wide as you can if traction is what you seek.
Compound is more important than width.
Nittos are not "real" width...IE they run skinny...a 305 Nitto is a 295 Michelin. I think they do that so you can say you have a wider tire than you really have.
A Mickey Thompson, M&H, or Nitto drag tire is going to hook better than a summer performance tire, but will not corner as well.
A tire that corners well will not hook like a drag tire - it is all about tradeoffs.
I like Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's for all-around, but they are costly.
Compound is more important than width.
Nittos are not "real" width...IE they run skinny...a 305 Nitto is a 295 Michelin. I think they do that so you can say you have a wider tire than you really have.
A Mickey Thompson, M&H, or Nitto drag tire is going to hook better than a summer performance tire, but will not corner as well.
A tire that corners well will not hook like a drag tire - it is all about tradeoffs.
I like Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's for all-around, but they are costly.
Every tire manufacturer will have a chart with recommended wheel widths for every size tire. You also have to consider side wall height when looking at wheel width. A taller tire is going to give you more wiggle room when going wide. And there are reasons why you shouldn't run too wide of a tire and the manufacturers recommend a min and max rim size for each tire. Please don't listen to others when they say you will be fine with too wide of a tire. One, the characteristics and design of the tire and it's sidewall are made to perform within certain parameters. When you deviate from those parameters you will encounter handling issues. Also when you go to wide you actually lessen the effective contact patch because the edges of the tire are not going to lie flat unless you under inflate your tire and that brings about a whole bunch of handling and safety issues. Yeah you can fit a 305 on an 8.5 inch rim but you're not going to get he proper performance out of it. Go as wide as you can for the size of your rim, that will give you the best results.
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gotcha,i wasnt going to put anything over 275 on the stock rims.eventually im getting bigger wheels but for now im goin with what i got.im leaning towards 255 or 265 and i want them staggered.a few people told me nittos dont run well at our track,could this be true? are tracks that different?
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Butters, on the 8.5" stock wheels I have had 295 Michelin Pilot sports and before I had 295 BFG G-Force KDW's and they fit nice. Both tires have been 295/40/18.
I'll try to post you a picture of what they look like.
I'll try to post you a picture of what they look like.
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Here are a few pictures of the BFG's (295/40/18). LMK if you need more.
![Image]()
![Image]()
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133 Posts
I've had 255, 265, 285, and 295's (all with aspect ratio: 35 or 40) of the same tire on my S197 with the factory 8.5" wide wheels. I've noticed no loss of drivability, traction, or handling when increasing the rear tire width. All sets of tires have seen 1/4mile tracks and autocross courses. I don't care what some manufacturer tells you... They just don't want a lawsuit from a person who tried to put 305/50's on their Prius. I know the sizing might not be "ideal", but I don't get my sizing preferences from the same chart that your average granny refers to.
295's might be pushing it, but they look 100x better and perform great. You won't be penitent about increasing the width, trust me.
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You will be fine with 265-275's. The tire and the compound is what makes the biggest difference really. Nitto's are great.
Butters, 275's with a decent sidewall height is the widest I would go on an 8.5" rim. A 265 would be my choice for your rims. I wouldn't think about running 295's on anything much less than a 10" rim, it just doesn't make any sense. And Nitto DR's will run just as good as MT's (which i think are the benchmark for DR's) but you do have to get them a little hotter.
Cole, I can't see you not getting any tire squirm and tread deflection with those tires on an AutoX course if you're really pushing the car. And you can't tell me that the tread stays flat during hard cornering either because i know it doesn't. Just because you don't feel it doesn't mean it's not happening. If you think they look good then that's really all that matters, but I think it looks hideous, almost rice (without trying to be insulting bro), but you have over an inch and a half of tire bulging out past the rim. And if you admit that it's not the "ideal" set up, why would you recommend it to someone else? I'm not going to debate with you about it because I think it's pointless, but I just don't think you should be throwing it out there as advice just because it "works" for you.
Running an 11.6" wide tire on an 8.5" is not solid advice by most peoples standards. Anybody else is going to tell you to get a wider rim if you want to run that wide of a tire. I run a pretty wide tire on my rim, but I also have 5.5" of sidewall. And I also don't claim that it is any good for cornering.
Cole, I can't see you not getting any tire squirm and tread deflection with those tires on an AutoX course if you're really pushing the car. And you can't tell me that the tread stays flat during hard cornering either because i know it doesn't. Just because you don't feel it doesn't mean it's not happening. If you think they look good then that's really all that matters, but I think it looks hideous, almost rice (without trying to be insulting bro), but you have over an inch and a half of tire bulging out past the rim. And if you admit that it's not the "ideal" set up, why would you recommend it to someone else? I'm not going to debate with you about it because I think it's pointless, but I just don't think you should be throwing it out there as advice just because it "works" for you.
Running an 11.6" wide tire on an 8.5" is not solid advice by most peoples standards. Anybody else is going to tell you to get a wider rim if you want to run that wide of a tire. I run a pretty wide tire on my rim, but I also have 5.5" of sidewall. And I also don't claim that it is any good for cornering.
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A little extra width on the tire looks riceish? I don't want to hear any comments about rice when you have more stickers on your poor fake Boss than a 6 year-old boys lunch box. I'm not running HUGE amounts of negative camber or anything, you need to know rice before you dis it.
Additionally, if I want to give accurate advice as to how tires ACTUALLY perform, I will. Don't be so dictatorial about my speech. I never told him to do it; I simply said, if he wanted to it would work. The rear tires are much less sensitive to hard driving than the fronts. My front tires are appropriate width for the rim (255/40/18); however, the rear 11.6" tire is planted firmly on the ground. As the half-assed picture above clearly shows. I'll be sure to get a clearer picture for the visual disabled folks, such as yourself. Thanks for your concern.
Additionally, if I want to give accurate advice as to how tires ACTUALLY perform, I will. Don't be so dictatorial about my speech. I never told him to do it; I simply said, if he wanted to it would work. The rear tires are much less sensitive to hard driving than the fronts. My front tires are appropriate width for the rim (255/40/18); however, the rear 11.6" tire is planted firmly on the ground. As the half-assed picture above clearly shows. I'll be sure to get a clearer picture for the visual disabled folks, such as yourself. Thanks for your concern.
Wow dude. I said I didn't mean to offend. Don't have to get all butt hurt ober my comments. Maybe you should change the Voltaire quote in your sig. I know what rice is, I'm Korean (that's supposed to be funny to lighten the mood). We used to put oversized tires on our cars when we "frogged" our car/trucks, just like we put tall little tires on our low riders. Chill. We do what we do to our cars because we like it. No fault in that and everyone has a right to an opinion, this is America. But you do have to agree that the best advice for butters is to get good tires in the right size for his rims, and that will give him the best performance, no?
Edit: Sorry if you feel I was being insulting, that was not my intention.
And I don't like my Graphics much either especially since they came out with a Boss Mustang this year. But they are not really fake, they are from Shinoda Motorsports and Larry actually owns the Boss moniker, so they're about as real as you can get. Just haven't got all the money together for the final paint scheme for my car so the stickers will have to stay for the time being.
And if you want to talk about suspension and how your rear tires play a major part in the way your car handles, especially since we run a solid rear axel as opposed to an IRS, I will be happy to discuss it with you in another thread.
And some people call my rear spoiler, Steeda Steet Wing, rice but I think just the opposite. Rice in my book is modding your car for looks as opposed to actual performance. The Steeda street wing provides the most amount of downforce with the least amount of drag. So despite it's wide surface area and winglets on the side, it provides more function than looks. And I didn't say your car was rice or called you rice, but you yourself said it wasn't ideal but looked good.
And some people call my rear spoiler, Steeda Steet Wing, rice but I think just the opposite. Rice in my book is modding your car for looks as opposed to actual performance. The Steeda street wing provides the most amount of downforce with the least amount of drag. So despite it's wide surface area and winglets on the side, it provides more function than looks. And I didn't say your car was rice or called you rice, but you yourself said it wasn't ideal but looked good.
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