Yet another Tire question

[mhanksii]

I have two questions: 1 does it help or hurt to put wider tires on the front of our ponies and 2 does a wider tire hook better and handle or is it better to stay with a tall tire that will have a longer more narrow contact patch? Right now I am thinking about doing a 245/45/17 all the way around or 245/45F 255/45R on stock 17X7's

Should you choice to go for the bonus question, out of General Exclaim UHP, Kumho ECSTA SPT, Fuzion ZRi, or what would be a good summer only $100/per tire?

As always thanks for the advice and insight. Now drive it like you stole it! :Track:

 

[kooldawg6]

Question 1: Wider tires up front will make it handle a bit different. It will be added rotational mass, more tire to force to turn creating more friction possibly hurting your turn in and wider tires tend to track road imperfections more than narrower tires(my '86 Ranger with 15" wide tires sure made sure of that. Adding a steering stabilizer sure toned it down, but was still noticeable at times). The wider/taller tire question is hard to answer since there is such a wide variety of driving situations our cars can encounter on a daily basis. Just going by the size you're looking at, tire compound is going to make the biggest difference. Wider tires have a bigger footprint allowing for more available traction, while taller tires have more sidewall give allowing for more available traction. Both will add rotational mass. You see most "race" tires as being both wider and taller than the traditional "street" tires. So they go both routes, but have the power and suspension issues covered to compensate for such. If your going after a sensible DD, I don't see why either of your 2 tire size choices should hurt you. The only difference is that if you stagger you can't rotate front to rear for optimal tire life.

Question 2: I have no personal expereice with any of those tires. I had a different model of Kuhmo ECSTA on my '93 LX, but only had it for 2 months afterwards, so I never really got a feel for them.

 

[doc stang]

from recent experience this week:
i just moved "up" from :
stock 18x8.5 polished bullitts,
with bfg KDWS 235/50 18's

to:
chrome fr500 18x9 (front) & 18x10(rear)
Goodyear F1 GS-D3's 275/40 18 at all four corners

I am NOT happy!!

the turn-in is 'squishy', and there seems to be about 1.5" to 2" of play in the steering wheel (in either direction) before the car reacts. my confidence in the handling has gone down instead of up.

it felt like a tack driver after all the suspension mods below, but the rim/tire combo seems to be a moderate step backwards. handling seemed supremely confident and predictable before the shoe change.

some have suggested it is the tread depth,
others have suggested the larger factor is that the 275's may be too wide for the 9.5 fronts.
certainly the rotating weight increase has some part in it.

i hope to swith the fronts out for 255's or 245's soon, and save th5 275's to replace th5 rears.

I HOPE this will fix things. it has been a depressing week afer all the anticipating i have been doing, waiting for the rim/tire combo to come to fruition.

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[kooldawg6]

Doc, I can understand what you mean about the turn in. The tires appear tall and wide enough on the 9.5" rim to cause the wheel to move from side to side a bit before the tread section will move. A narrower tire or wider wheel should help that. Looks good from a muscular standpoint, but not a performance one.

 

[87fcoupe]

Tire rack told me on stock 18 x 8.5 in rim that widdest tire I can put on is 285 40 18.Has anyone tried this (for the rear)?

 

[justpball]

I have 20x10s on the front and rear of mine... 285/30/20s on both, it does track some on roads that are not perfect, but it looks just right to me so I will trade the little bit of handleing for the looks...

 

[mhanksii]

Doc, I can understand what you mean about the turn in. The tires appear tall and wide enough on the 9.5" rim to cause the wheel to move from side to side a bit before the tread section will move. A narrower tire or wider wheel should help that. Looks good from a muscular standpoint, but not a performance one.

That feeling and loss in handling is exactly what I am trying to avoid while also getting more traction for full throttle take offs. With my 17X7 is a 245/45 to wide and will a 255/45 even mount right on the rear? Anyone with answer would be great because my stock tires have 20500miles on them now and are starting to slide uncontrollably!

 

[BJ1000RR]

I thought they were 17x8's?

anyway, I put 245's on my 17x8s and they mounted well, so 255's might fit.

by the way the nitto 245/45/17 DR's hook good on a lightly modified GT.

 

[Hoboattacker]

Tire rack told me on stock 18 x 8.5 in rim that widdest tire I can put on is 285 40 18.Has anyone tried this (for the rear)?

That's about right. The biggest I've heard that you can fit on a 9" rim is a 285/40/xx so yeah, that would be about right for a 8.5" rim also. It will bulge a little too, but I personally think that looks good

 

[bigcat]

stock GT wheels are 17x8. a 255 will fit just fine. the 18s are 18x8.5 and you can go a little wider. many people have put 275s on 8 inch rims. most tire manufacturers will say a 275 needs to go on a 9 in rim minimum.

 

[mhanksii]

stock GT wheels are 17x8. a 255 will fit just fine. the 18s are 18x8.5 and you can go a little wider. many people have put 275s on 8 inch rims. most tire manufacturers will say a 275 needs to go on a 9 in rim minimum.

But with that wide of a tire will I feel it rolling on the rim in hard cornering? Also the 255 is that front and rear?

I know I have a bunch of noobish questions, but I was looking at some different tire specs, mostly on tirerack.com, and they said that a 245/45 has a wider contact patch then a 255/45? That isn't true I know the 245 is longer and narrower but in area the 255 still has more rubber to the road right?

 

[SlideWRX]

I currently have the Ecsta SPT's in 235/50R18 and like them. On the mustang, I only have the stock pirelli's to compare to. They are quiet, ride nice & handle very well.

On my WRX I run Eagle F1 DS-G3's. The F1's definitely have a softer sidewall that some of the other Summer tires, but I like it. The turn in is a little worse but the grip is still way up there, and they have been the best in the wet so far.

Tom

 

[mhanksii]

But with that wide of a tire will I feel it rolling on the rim in hard cornering? Also the 255 is that front and rear?

I know I have a bunch of noobish questions, but I was looking at some different tire specs, mostly on tirerack.com, and they said that a 245/45 has a wider contact patch then a 255/45? That isn't true I know the 245 is longer and narrower but in area the 255 still has more rubber to the road right?

Anyone? Last minute advice would be great, buying tires on Tuesday.