Need some advice on tires
 

So I've got some 17x8 +37 advan rg2s coming in and I was wondering what tires I should buy. I've read up on the Michelin super sports but that's about it..

I don't commute all that much and want tires that would be good for my ventures on the track and in canyons..

any advice is much appreciated :thanks:

Are the wheels gonna be used for daily use or only thrown on for track days/spirited driving?

A good amount of daily use as well. But no really serious day-to-day commuting.

BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KDW 2. The Super Sports are marginally better for the spirited driver, but these are a bit cheaper and they tend to last longer.

Or, if you're really hardcore, Kumho Ecsta V710's.

Also, what tire size would be appropriate for my 17x8's? 225/45?

Yup, or go to a 235 if you want slightly more grip/comfort but a tiny bit more flex.

Would the increase from 225 to 235 affect speed at all?

Michelin PSS are great tires for the street/track

It'd change the gearing slightly if you left it as a 45 profile. If you want your speedo to be more accurate, then going down to a 40 profile would help, but i'd prefer the additional grip of the 45 than having a 100% accurate speedo. We're only talking a couple of mph out.

225/45/17 is the exact same difference in diameter from stock as a 235/40/17, just in the opposite direction. the 225/45's are 0.3" taller than stock, and the 235/40's are 0.3" shorter than stock. Neither is significant in speed readout (my 225/45's GPS as the same speed as indicated by the cluster). 235/45/17's are 0.7" taller than stock, which will be more noticeable, but nothing that would be something to worry about.

If you want grippy tires and don't care about a bit of noise and faster wear look at the BFG Rivals, Dunlop Z2's, Hankook RS3's and Kumho Ecsta XS. I daily drive on 225/45 Z2's and love it. They're noisier than stock, but not annoying except on really old/rough pavement.

My car is mostly street with a bit of auto-x/track and I went for the PSS, loving them so far they've really transformed the car.

A larger and/or wider tire will marginally affect acceleration (ie. you'll accelerate slower with a larger and/or wider tire).

A few more tire recommendations: Toyo Proxes R888 and Pirelli P Zero System.

Running PSS on 18" 8.5/9.5. They perform really well. I have 225 in the front and hasn't lost any sharpness. The tires provide pretty good road feedback also. They weren't quite as heavy as I expected them to be. Would definitely recommend them. The only disadvantage is they seem to be noisier than other tires. A bit of extra road noise, but the little rocks and gravel in my city just get sucked up into them.

Pilot Super Sports are great.
Lower-cost alternative: Hankook RS-3

My first choice on size would be 235/40-17, but very limited selection, best bet Dunlop Direzza ZII, but $194/each at Tire Rack.
2nd size choice would be 225/45-17, huge selection (including the PSS and RS-3).

This is a good article http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...07&postcount=1

Really appreciate all the help thus far guys...

Seems to be between the Michelin PSS or the Goodyear Eagle F1's.. But from 1 review on tirerack.com about the Eagle F1's "just know the rim protector lip is quite pronounced, and in my opinion takes away from the look of the tire. The tire no longer sits flush to the wheel, and I personally don't like the look (you might). Too bad you can't see them on your wheel before making a purchase decision. "

Honestly think I'll be going with the PSS's... Not badly priced and the reviews are there to back it up performance wise.. Also, they are actually available.

Will be going 225/45/17 as well. Promise to post pics once the wheels come in! :) Thanks again minasan

I have 225/45/17 on the stock rims and the fitment is perfect. Looking at tirerack.com and comparing sizing, I would go for 245/40/17 for your width rim.

This is what min look like: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...1&postcount=46

I'd imagine 245/40/17 on your rims will look the same.

You absolutely cannot go wrong with the PSS. Fantastic tires.

would going 245/40/17 instead of 225/45/17 make that much of a difference? cause it's almost a $200 difference.

You're incorrect, 225 is never a perfect fitment for a road car on a 7J wheel.

Care to elaborate ?

Look up a particular brand/model of tyre and see what wheel width they recommend. A typical 225 tyre on a 7J wheel will be very comfy, but not have a lot of control!

I have a feeling that your concept of profile is slightly odd based on your previous two posts.

Did. the 225/45 says its rim width range would be 7-8.5" in... while a 245/40 is 8-9.5" and its meas rim width is 8.5", .5" wider than my rims width. I'm confused =/

So then, would the 245/40's provide a more appropriate tire section width?...What I don't get, and this is strictly from reading up on the rim width range on tire rack, if you go wider than the intended rim width range for that specific tire and you increase the tire section width, would that be better? Because the 225/45's are a whole inch wider than the intended rim width range. While the 245/40's are right on the measuring rim, at 8"

Still not sure what meas. rim width means either.

I am glad that I give you a feeling. My missus would be jealous.

245s will bulge out a bit more, but doable (as you've noted, within the recommended wheel width range).

It's the rim that the tire is mounted to for measuring the tire's mounted dimensions (incl. section width). A 245/40-17 mounted on an 8" wide wheel will have a narrower section width than the same tire mounted on a 9.5" wheel.

Lots of good selection in 245/40-17, so they're worth considering. But they are more $$$, and will have a slight bulge. Not that big a deal, but you might want to pick a tire that is rated highly for responsiveness and cornering stability to compensate for the minor loss of sidewall stability from running a tire on its minimum recommended wheel width.

But is doable necessarily better? I still can't figure out if 245/40 is simply the better pick overall. (would it look awkward on the rim? better for handling/performance?)

Unless you're trying to purposely soften the responses of the tire, you generally want the widest rims recommended for the tires. The less bulge there is the sharper the turn in will be and the more you'll feel feedback from the tires.

A measurement more important than the advertised width (ie 225mm) is the actual tread width. A 215/45/17 Primacy HP has 7.5" of tread, while a 215/45/17 Dunlop Z2 has 8" of tread. They have the same section widths (8.4") and rim range (7-8"), but if you look at the two beside each other the difference is quite obvious.

You're far better off all around by buying a better compound in a narrower width than a wider tire in a worse compound. If you're just driving on the street, 225's in a good sticky tire are plenty of grip.

245/40's on an 8" rim will be fine, but for my money I would go 225/45 (which I did).

Check my build thread to see what it looks like. 245/40 is going to look exactly like what I have. I have Michelin PSS.

As for performance, if your looking to still be able to get the back end out, go narrow. If you're looking for stick, go with the 245/40. Plus I think the 245/40 looks better.

Just my 2 cents.

245/40 PSS's are about $200/tire, or roughly $50/tire more than 225/45 PSS's. IMO it's not worth the extra cost for the wider size in that tire. If you want more grip, get a 225 width RS3, Z2 or Rival. If you REALLY want to stick, get 245/40 RS3's for about $150/tire.

Also, a 245/40 PSS only has 0.3" more tread width than the 225/45 PSS (8.5" vs 8.2"), where the 245/40 in other tires have 9.2"-9.5". A 225/45 Rival has 8.5" of tread, so it's the same footprint as a 245/40 PSS.

I'm not saying the PSS are bad tires at all, but if your first concern is grip they're far from the top of the list.

Under track conditions, maybe. In real-world street conditions, the PSS gives little/nothing away to Extreme Perf category tires in terms of grip, and is clearly superior in wet grip.
http://media.caranddriver.com/files/...res-tested.pdf

That test doesn't include the new Direzza ZII or RE11A or BFG Rival, but still, besting the RS-3 in dry autoX is no small accomplishment for a more balanced real-world street tire.