Anyone Putting Power Down with 205s?
 

I am curious enough to test this soon - is anyone running a 200tw tire with a 205 section width, with forced induction? After feeling the poor response of my 18x8.75 245 tires, I'd rather have less mechanical grip and have the fun back in the car.

So I ask - who here has run a 205 or 215 section width tire with 250-300whp? I understand that with enough determination, any tire will spin. I'm referring strictly to during straight line acceleration. Here's a "Choose your own adventure"-

You let the clutch out easy, and around 3300 the turbo starts to come on. Full torque online, your axles keep putting more force onto the tires as you accelerate! You're at 4100rpm now, car is starting to scream! DO YOUR TIRES HOLD? OR IS THE FRICTION OVERWHELMED AND LOST?

lemme know :) please don't blindly recommend against it, especially if you don't know why tire compound matters. Please also specify what tires /psi if applicable. I post this assuming nobody is trying to grip anything with a 200tw tire at 50 degrees or below, so ambient temperature data isn't pertinent to me.

The less linear your powerband, the more interested I am in your experience

It probably has less to do with your section width and more to do with the massive increase in unsprung mass you may have introduced with 18x8.75" wheels and tires.


I Imagine if you went down to a lightweight 17x9 or 17x8 wheel with 245's it would feel a heck of a lot better.

There are reasonably weighting 18" wheels too (often on expensive side though), i wouldn't call that apriori as massive increase.
I foresee problems fitting narrow tires on these rims though with too much stretch. For 8.5" suggested minimum width is 225, for 9" - 235. Not sure i'd wish to put 215 or even more so, 205 on 8.75" wide rims.

This. I'm curious what weight of your wheels is.

Oh I guess I neglected some important information. They're heavy 23lb XXR wheels. I had wheels that were a 17x8 previously that were 22lbs a wheel (5zigen wheels) and responded extremely well.

I also want to say I am not keeping the XXRs, I'm moving onto different, much lighter wheels. I just don't know what yet

If you don't know which wheels you are going to be getting why are you looking at tire section width already? Shouldn't that wait until after you've decided which wheels to mount your tires on?

I'm posing the question as a tool to help decide. I have preference for a narrower tire, so I'm asking anyone else who may have this same preference. This is far more cost effective both on tires and wheels. I have a set of 16x7 Motegi wheels that would love to wear some RS4s, Azenis or maybe R888s.

I know it's backwards thinking, but I value the tires more than the wheels. I could run butt ugly stock bugeye WRX wheels in a 16x6.5 because they are 14lbs a piece. I have far from an unlimited budget and even $1,000 on a set of wheels is extroadinarily unfeasible I'm spending my money on home projects, the car is my lowest priority

I can't imagine you will find many people giving you feedback on this as its not exactly a normal request, I can't speak from experience but one of the guys in the UK had a Cosworth SC fitted to his car (280hp) on the stock Primacys and was surprised at how well they were able to apply the power. I can imagine a 205 with a grippier profile/compound would fair well if not better.

It's also worth noting not all tyres are made the same. One 205 tyre will not have the same tread width as another. I've heard the Primacy in a 215 profile is pretty narrow and is actually more like a 205 in comparison to its more performance orientated relatives.

However saying this you will be on the limit of the tyres performance, which may well catch you out in less then ideal conditions. I've driven a 280hp Harrop supercharged GT86 and that lit up the rear wheels in 2nd gear on 255 section tyres just because there was a dip in the road. Whilst I understand your logic for preferring a narrow tyre it might prove to be too much of a limitation/restriction which would quickly become frustrating.

If I were in your shoes, I would find the lightest and widest 17" wheels in your budget and then find a 225/245 width tire in a less aggressive compound. If you're looking for linear handling and a touch less grip over all, it's much more economical to go to a slower wearing tire. Why slide and burn through an Rcomp?

225/50 on those 16x7 wheels will give you an enjoyable, dynamic driving experience. If they're the cast Motegis, they aren't the lightest for their size, but you already have them and they're down in the teens for weight. Everything is lighter, and you have some decent mechanical size for grip, and a little more sidewall for our oh-so-lovely pothole strewn roads up here in New England. And the size is available in many 200TW and lower tires...

Light wheels and a good 225 tire is a good balance of everything

The car isn't driven very hard and it's my DD, I've found that the last set of 200tw tires I had lasted for two years before I voluntarily parted with them, they still had 70% life- I will take what you've asked literally and confirm that I don't drift and will have junk tires for autocross if I partake. I will admit an r compound would be a huge waste! I also want to confirm that I'm looking for increased turn in response compared to the 245s. I like a super stiff sidewall and solid tread blocks. It honestly could be that I had the wrong tires in this size and am scarred because it gave me a perceived lack of turn in. They are Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2.


From my NA Miata days I came to love the Falken Azenis, and it is definitely apparent that the 200tw segment has great size variety in a 16" wheel. I admit, I'm also hoping the increased profile makes life better on our roads.

My current track tires are RT-615K+ in 225/50-16. That's not an official Spec Twin size, so they're readily available. TBH, I wanted something a bit more aggressive like RS-4 or perhaps Rival S, but at the time I bought, TireRack was promoting them heavily and knocked 100 bucks off the set. It was too good a deal to pass up. I find them to be about on par overall with my previous set of 180TW Ecsta XS in the same size, and they're wearing like iron..

A lot of people give me shit for defending the Azenis, but I've had them intermittently for about 10 years on at least 8 different cars. I always go back to them. They've gotten far better as time has passed, too.

https://i.imgur.com/Yez6wXP.jpg in a 275/35R18, with AWD, 370WHP, I could not get them to let go of any corner. Admittedly, the car weighing 3,800lbs helped.