Has anyone with a NB gone to 245F/305R tires? I'm curious if you noticed an improvement in traction, change in handling/steering feel, etc.

 

c'mon, nobody went wider?

 

I went with 305 rears. No noticeable seat of the pants difference.

 

I'm going 245/305... but I couldn't tell you the difference, because the wheels I want to mount them on have not been finished to be delivered to me yet.

New wheel specs are 19x8.5 and 19x11

 

With 235 fronts? No difference in relative F/R traction?

Oh perfect! My wheels are also 19" and 8.5 and 11 wide. Would love to hear what you think when you get them on.

 

same havnet noticed any difference.

the the OP, doesnt the 245 series tire in the front make the overall diameter of the tire over 3% larger then it was before?

 

None that I've noticed. I go back to 295 rears for winter with Sotto Zero's, and other than different tire noise and probably better traction in the slush, couldn't tell much based simply on the extra width.

 

Here's an outlier approach. I'm running 245F-295R on 18". I also added width to the front wheel and added less width to the rear rear wheel (I have 3 piece bolt-up wheels that allow choice of width).

My intent was to tune out some of the push/understeer of the stock car. I run the car on the street and do a lot of track days on street tires. I don't have any in-car data but it seems to have made a difference and I'm happy with the results.

Things to keep in mind
1) Wider tyres are more prone to aquaplaning.
2) Wider tyres are more sensitive to camber control.
3) Wider tyres on the same rims might not perform as expected, as rim width relative to tread width can have a significant effect.
4) It is virtually impossible to get a result with all other things being equal as there are a lot of variables.

 

I was very interested to read this - any more data you can share - front camber settings? Overall alignment?


Any change in steering feel?


I've seen a couple of references in forums to running a wider front to dial out some understeer so I'd love to know your experiences with doing this.


Thanks!!!

 

Good question. Got this from a calculator online:

Front:
235/35 R19 = 25.5" diameter (80" circumference)
245/35 R19 = 25.7" diameter (80.9" circumference) [+1.2% diameter]

Rear:
295/30 R19 = 26" diameter (81.5" circumference)
305/30 R19 = 26.2" diameter (82.3" circumference) [+0.8% diameter]

 

What we need to look is the difference in the footprint. All else being equal the increase in handling will come from the differences in the footprint, the stiffness of the smaller sidewall and probably a negligible amount from the different tire weights.

 

Nobody noticed an improvement in cornering with the slightly wider tires?

 

Yes I switched to the slightly wider tires and I now require a neck brace due to the higher G forces I generate driving the back roads here in NY.

 

I have standard 305's in the rear. But I went to 245's in front because the rims could handle it.

I won't say it got more grip. With better tires and an alignment, car does grip better.

 

Biggest difference?
Cost!