Appropriate tire size for 250-350 whp

[Tiz]

Has anyone experience with a turbo kit and can recommend an appropriate tire size that provides sufficient traction?

I am wondering how far I will get with a staggered setup 225/45 R17 and 255/40 R17.

Many thanks.

[ZionsWrath]

If straight line get wider rear. Handling a priority? Square 255, sticky tire

DD car? Best bet 245/265 stagger with a square set 255 or 265 for track use

[BlaineWasHere]

What suspension?

[Tiz]

KW v3+
car lowered by approximately 20mm
daily drive, only occasional track/auto x use

I heard many people saying that a 245 square setup or anything larger than 225 at the front will have a material impact on the car's turning ability. What would be the advantage of going wide at the front?

Thanks so much.

[Tansey86]

The type of tire greatly dictates how wide you'll have to go.

[Tiz]

The idea is: Advan Neova AD08 225/45 R17 front, 255/40 R17 rear

[BlaineWasHere]

Wider front tires means more front grip! I run 17x9 255/40/17 square and I don't eve have power mods. Why would you not want as much grip as possible? I'm also on KW V3.

[Tiz]

People say that the steering feels numb if the front tires are so wide. Moreover, factory cars like the Porsche Cayman do not use wide front tires. I am sure that there must be pros and cons related to a square setup. But unfortunately I do not really understand the effect of wide front tires.

[mrk1]

Real wide front tires can tramline more and can be more prone to hydro plane. Wider also means heavier and more money, generally. Im not discouraging wide square setups at all just mentioning a down side to consider.

I personnally love the look of huge tires but I also like a can that will move around a little and stay lively. Right now with stock power and stock tires I can drive as fast as I want on the street with out any over the top sliding at either end. Staying smooth is the key.

For the power range you suggested I would go for a 245 square with a good tire like a RE11A or AD08

just my .02

[Tiz]

Thanks for the response.

What would be the advantages/disadvantages of a 245 square setup compared to the proposed staggered 225 front, 255 rear setup?

Acceleration should be better with the staggered setup. It should also feel more lively.

Do you expect significant understeer because of the smaller front tires and can't this be corrected with the help of the KW suspension and stabilizer bars?

[OrbitalEllipses]

Tire compound > contact patch IMO. Do you want more contact patch? Yes. But you want a stickier compound too.

[Jive Turkey]

i'm runing 265's all around. my steering is not numb by any means. i did most of hte bushings in the front though so i do have more feel than stock to begin with.

at the track the car was so neutral and i can still get the ass loose if i want if i really hammer on it but honestly i would be WOT and flat out through a lot of corners and the car was straight as an arrow.

in the end it depends how you drive, no tire will be able to keep you from getting sideways if you dont know what you're doing. however i wouldn't go smaller than a 255 in a good compound, unless all you wanna do is be sideways all day, or have to ***** foot the throttle.

[mrk1]

Originally Posted by Tiz

Thanks for the response.

What would be the advantages/disadvantages of a 245 square setup compared to the proposed staggered 225 front, 255 rear setup?

Acceleration should be better with the staggered setup. It should also feel more lively.

Do you expect significant understeer because of the smaller front tires and can't this be corrected with the help of the KW suspension and stabilizer bars?

The rest of the suspension setup and alignment play a HUGE roll on how the car handles. Just adjusting tire pressures can make changes. Changing other suspension aspects change how tires contact the ground and how lateral force is managed. On stock tires I used to have a lot of interference from traction control (inside rear wheel spinning). Now with a number of tweaks I no longer get that interference on the same corners with the same stock tires. I get a kick out of reminding people Im still on "Prius" tires.

I run 265 Super Sports all the way around on my e46 M3 but thats a much heavier and more powerful car.

Ultimately its just like any other mod, pick what works for you.

[Acree]

Originally Posted by mrk1

The rest of the suspension setup and alignment play a HUGE roll on how the car handles.

This. x1000. You can not just simply choose a square or staggered setup. The entire suspension geometry comes in to play as well as springs rates and sway bars. I would recommend finding a race shop or racing team who does what you want to do, autox/roadrace/etc, but who's really really good. Check out they do, and copy that.

Stock cars with staggered tires come that way because the engineers set the car up for it. The same goes for square setups.