What are the Best 16" Tires?

[driggity]

Originally Posted by discretion

Wow that sounds great. How is the road noise?

I had Continental DW on my Legacy GT and was very happy with them on that car. Road noise wasn't a problem, but that was a more insulated car than the twins are. One other thing to note is that they are going to have softer sidewalls than some of the other comparable tires. That didn't both me at all on my Legacy GT but it is something to note.

[discretion]

Originally Posted by driggity

I had Continental DW on my Legacy GT and was very happy with them on that car. Road noise wasn't a problem, but that was a more insulated car than the twins are. One other thing to note is that they are going to have softer sidewalls than some of the other comparable tires. That didn't both me at all on my Legacy GT but it is something to note.

Softer sidewalls so more body roll? I'm going to do RCE yellows and Bilstein HDs as well this summer. Do you think that would combat body roll?

[venturaII]

Originally Posted by discretion

Softer sidewalls so more body roll? I'm going to do RCE yellows and Bilstein HDs as well this summer. Do you think that would combat body roll?

If you're trying to tune body roll with sidewall stiffness, you're not going to have much luck..

[discretion]

Originally Posted by venturaII

If you're trying to tune body roll with sidewall stiffness, you're not going to have much luck..

I was just wondering what the effects of the softer sidewall would be. I've heard others say it causes more body roll, too much of which is not something I'm after.

[Traktor]

If you are going down a wheel size then you won't want to go to a softer sidewall.

I'm pretty sure the Michelin Pilot Supersport can be had in the 225/50 size; that tire is pretty much the default for high performance street cars. It's what I will get for the street after the OE tires wear out.


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[churchx]

IIRC MPSS is not made for 16" wheels, only Michelin Pilot "non Super" Sports 1,2,3,4 are. While they sound similar named, those are of different rubber compounds and designed for a bit different use/properties ..

[Turdinator]

I have the genuine 16"x6.5" wheels on mine. After wearing through the stock Yokohama E70DB I put Yokohama C Drive 2 on. The had good grip but were to soft and balloon like for my taste. They also wore out very quickly. I now have Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE003 on there and I love them. Great grip in both wet and dry, reasonably stiff sidewalls. Noise wise I wouldn't say they were any worse than the stock tires. They are 205/55R16.

[driggity]

Originally Posted by discretion

I was just wondering what the effects of the softer sidewall would be. I've heard others say it causes more body roll, too much of which is not something I'm after.

In my experience a softer sidewall doesn't mean more body roll. It will make everything feel a little less direct though. The only way I've noticed more body roll from tires is when they added significant grip. That leads to more weight transfer which equals more body roll.

Unfortunately, I don't have experience with going down to 16s on my FR-S so I'm not sure what the impact would be.

[B T]

I really enjoy my 235-45/16 Hankook RS3s but will be trying Direxxa Star Spec II next. leaps and bounds better than stock.

[makesdrivingfunagain]

I drove the stock suspension and tires for 12k miles.
Then changed to a 16x7 with a continental extreme contact dw. I drove this for around 12k miles with 25 autocross laps. This was a 225/50/16

About 8 months ago I switched to a 225 50 16 yokohama advanced neova. Ado8r


This is a daily driver with 100 percent stock suspension. The continental is my favorite street tire. I did complete a round 80 laps on the neova andv they got va lot more left. For a street car for my self I like the continentals, they are softer sidewalls more comfortable and cheaper than my yokoha mas

[wasupman2]

I'm running 225/40 and 225/45 on a staggered 16x7 and 7.5 setup on my car (stock suspension). The handling is much quicker and more responsive compared to stock. They're really nice summer tires to have. I've had no hydroplaning issues at speeds ~80 mph (though I don't condone driving fast on highways during raining conditions).

The tires are pretty much at the end of their life at ~35k miles, but they still grip the road fair with some understeer for hard turns. I haven't driven with any other tires yet, so I can't make a comparison to other extreme summer performance tires. So far, it seems like everyone likes RS3s for the track and ExtremeContactDW for DD.

[BWilky]

As noted by another member the Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE003 is sold in the US as the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500.
Been reading AUS reviews on the RE003 and they seem pretty good and the Firestone version is pretty cheap here.

[BWilky]

Originally Posted by wasupman2

I'm running 225/40 and 225/45 on a staggered 16x7 and 7.5 setup on my car (stock suspension). .

Would love to see a pic of your car with this setup. I am thinking of 205/55/16 and 225/50/16 staggered setup. This was common for old 911's

[wasupman2]

Originally Posted by BWilky

Would love to see a pic of your car with this setup. I am thinking of 205/55/16 and 225/50/16 staggered setup. This was common for old 911's

Sorry for the late reply. Just saw the notification that you've replied.

Here it is.
https://goo.gl/photos/7piNwmVRFksJuMqp8

The wheels were 5x114.3, so I was running on 15 mm adapters. I'm running a different wheel setup now.