ayglass

After seeing a scary picture of some cracked aftermarket wheels I started thinking again about my assumption that I would eventually replace the fuchs with something wider to mount some wider (and maybe 17") rubber. What if I just gain my additional stick with some softer tires?

I think my situation is different from the average "slippery slope" owner in that I don't track my car. I drive it on the weekends and maybe once during the week. I like to drive the winding mountain roads around North Georgia and occasionally push it a little. I'm a good solid "70%" driver and I'm not likely to go any faster even on a deserted back road. I figure about 15k miles per year, mostly in the dry unless I accidentally get caught in the rain.

The arguments *for* this approach are:

Keeping the stock wheels. This might offset the cost of frequent replacement of soft tires.

The stock width tires are likely to be less hydroplane-prone than something like 315's on the rear.

If I don't get what I want performance-wise I've only lost the cost of a set of tires.

So I'm open for comments from those of you with more experience... How does a soft street tire compare to a wider set of street tires traction-wise? How often will I be replacing them? Who makes a soft street-legal tire that has acceptable rain performance?

pcar964

The R-compounds (MPSCs, Corsas, Victo's, etc) will be very difficult to get up to proper operating temperature on the street. Yeah they'll still grip better, but wear out faster also. If I were you, I'd go with a wider set of good street tires, such as Pilot Sport PS2s (not sure if they make them in your sizes? but worth a look)

DeWolf

Continentals make a great street tyre. I had 245/40x16 on the back and 205/45x16 on the front of a 951S and I will be putting them on my 930 when the current tyres are gone. I had Pilot Sports before the Conti's and found that the Michelins just wore out to fast.

DeWolf

Continentals make a great street tyre. I had 245/40x16 on the back and 205/45x16 on the front of a 951S and I will be putting them on my 930 when the current tyres are gone. I had Pilot Sports before the Conti's and found that the Michelins just wore out to fast. The Conti's required less balance weight than the Pilots too.

pcar964

The Continentals in my experience - they wear like bricks, they grip like bricks. The PS2 is generally thought to be the best all-around street performance tire today.

ayglass

I had not thought about operating temp. That's a good point. I'll probably never get true track tires up to the proper temp. My thought was trading wear for traction, but given that I might not get the additional traction, this might not be such a rewarding experiment. Keep the comments coming though. I get quite an education via this forum.

DeWolf

pcar964,

The conti's I had were excellent. I have actually managed a tyre store some years ago and some of the conti's back then were less than desirable. I will try to find out the model of the tyre. I've gotta tell you they really were good. I did some track work with the old 951 and they performed really well. I don't know about the cost of tyres in the US, but a PS2 here in 245/40x16 is around $650 per corner as opposed to the conti at $450. Food for thought anyway.

hailwood

i will give a big thumbs up to my yokohamas both on and off the track and wet or dry. i cant say enough good things about them. go to this link to view all of the info:

also, i did a lot of reaserch on tire size and when i had my wheels made by HRE i ended up using their suggestion. 295 on the rear and 235 on the front. everyone i have seen at the track said that is what they feel is the best set up. if you email me at lesliegr@metrocast.net i will send you some pics of the car. i cant imagine putting wider rubber on it, i think over 295 would just start to look silly and really serve no purpose.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....VAN+Neova+AD07







The ADVAN Neova AD07 is the Extreme Performance Summer tire member of Yokohama's global family of ADVAN performance tires developed for sports car, sports coupe and performance sedan enthusiasts who love sport driving. Used as Original Equipment (O.E.) on the Lotus Elise, the ADVAN Neova AD07 is designed to provide high levels of traction, responsive handling and driving control in dry and wet road conditions. The ADVAN Neova AD07 is not intended to be driven in cold temperatures or in snow.

The ADVAN Neova AD07 molds a "fine particle" Micro Silica (MS) tread compound (to provide greater road surface adhesion) into a directional tread pattern that features massive tread blocks with rounded edges to increase cornering stability and steering response while promoting more even wear. Five large circumferential and multiple directionally aligned lateral grooves resist hydroplaning and enhance wet traction. The tire's structure includes two wide steel belts reinforced by spirally wound nylon to provide strength and uniform ride quality and high-speed capability while the sidewalls are tuned to resist lateral deflection providing handling control and cornering stability.

Like the motorsports tires this Extreme Performance street tire has evolved from, the ADVAN Neova AD07 radial's construction and compounds have been tuned to maximize the tire's traction and performance within a specific range of ambient temperatures. Therefore, unlike less highly-tuned tires, Yokohama's care instructions specify that due to its compound characteristics, ADVAN Neova tires must be used and stored at temperatures above -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) to maintain its performance and avoid tire damage.

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Results based on 47 submissions of our online tire survey.


Surveyed Averages 1 100% 9.4 8.4 8.6 9.5 9.6 9.4 N/A N/A N/A 8.2 8.0 7.1 183,845

Would You Buy This Tire Again?
Most said: "Definitely" (Average of 9.4 out of 10)

How Did This Tire Rank In Its Category?
1 out of 3 tires (Score of 8.6 vs best tire in category score of 8.6)

Compare This Tire to Other Extreme Performance Summer Tires
Color Key
Superior (8.6-10)
Fair (2.6-4.5)
Excellent (6.6-8.5) Unacceptable (0-2.5)
Good (4.6-6.5)