scorcherjf

I bought a set of NT01's for HPDE use in 18" sizes. 245/40/18 front and 305/35/18 rear to be exact. I've decided to go with OZ Challenge CL wheels (car is a 997.2 GTS with CL) and they offer them in 18x8.5 or 18x9 for the fronts and 18x11 or 18x12 for the rears. Either option will fit offset-wise, but I'm wondering which is the best width to go for performance? Nitto's site says the recommended widths for their 245 and 305 tires are 8.5" and 11" respectively, and this would be the lightest option as well since the wider rims are heavier. However, I see many guys tracking with the 9" and 12" widths. Is there a performance benefit of "stretching" the tire slightly on the wider rims?

Thanks!

brad@tirerack.com

I would stay with 8.5 and 11 also. Either of those sizes will fit with no issue. 245 on a 9 is pretty stretched out. They fit better in the 8.5" size. Most 305's don't recommend using a 12" wheel. 11" works better.

Please call me if I can help with the wheels!

kisik

For the reference, I use BBS wheels 8" and 11" ET51 for 235/305 NT01 combo. Fantastic fit. Excellent tires even in the rain. Many GT3 "racers" use 9x12 width from CCW. You can go to that root but it will limit you from using other narrower 295 tires but will open possibility of using 315/30-18 NT01 which sometimes have better availability then 305/35s
One day TireRack starts selling NT01s given how great the tires are.

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05' C2S

Rob996

I'm running 9 and 12 width 18 inch wheels with Nitto's nt01 in the exact size you mentioned.. I have these on a 2010 GT3.. I'm very happy going into my third season and third set of tires.. I've preferred having a slightly wider wheel for track time. For street use I would use narrower wheels to help the tire protect the wheel from curbs etc..

Damon we are still waiting for tirerack to carry nittos. You would sell tons of them,

jj1

How is a 245 "pretty stretched out" on a 9" rim. The 245 NT01 has a tread width over 9"s and total width is 9.72". A 9" rim is great and a 9.5" would probably make the most use of the tire.