Tire advice
12-03-2008, 01:34 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2008
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Posts: 9
Tire advice
Hi guys... I currently have 18x9 Boyd Coddington Smoothie II wheels on the front and 18x10s on the rear, fitted with BF Goodrich TA KDW 2 tires, 255/40-18 front and 285/40-18 rear. They are wearing down and I would like to explore other brands. However, there are very few other brands available for the front size 255/40-18. Can I go to a different size tire in the front, using the same wheels? If so, what would you recommend? Note that the car has been lowered 1.5 inches using the Eibach Pro Kit.
I was told I can do a 255/45-18 on front and it would be approximately 1/2 inch taller. Also I was wondering if a 255/35-18 might work? Would you recommend going any wider than 255?
I was told I can do a 255/45-18 on front and it would be approximately 1/2 inch taller. Also I was wondering if a 255/35-18 might work? Would you recommend going any wider than 255?
12-03-2008, 02:15 PM
#5
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: state of confusion
Posts: 7,635
255/45-18 is the front tire fitment for the GT500 and would work well on your 9" wheels. 245/45-18 would also work (I'd add a psi or so). 275/40 as mentioned above by Tex is also OK (without a pressure adjustment).
255/40 is a rather marginal size for these cars in terms of load capacity (though you can still band-aid this by running slightly higher inflation pressures, perhaps 2 or 3 extra for 34 - 35).
255/35 is flat-out too small in "Standard Load" construction. Still undersized (but not quite as badly) if you can find it in either "Reinforced" or "Extra Load" constructions and uprate your inflation accordingly. I honestly can't recommend this size for these cars.
Norm
255/40 is a rather marginal size for these cars in terms of load capacity (though you can still band-aid this by running slightly higher inflation pressures, perhaps 2 or 3 extra for 34 - 35).
255/35 is flat-out too small in "Standard Load" construction. Still undersized (but not quite as badly) if you can find it in either "Reinforced" or "Extra Load" constructions and uprate your inflation accordingly. I honestly can't recommend this size for these cars.
Norm
Last edited by Norm Peterson; 12-03-2008 at 02:18 PM.
12-03-2008, 05:09 PM
#7
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Utah
Posts: 43
I run 265\35r18 on the front of mine with the stock suspension. I won't run that size again because I think they look to small and low profile for the wheel well. I run 275\40r18 out back and swapped one to the front to see what it looked like. When I priced an Eibach 1.5 inch kit my tire guy said that the 275\40r18 would fit the front. Check with your tire store they are usually very good about mounting a tire for you and putting it on your car so you can check for clearance. I have Sumitomo tires on my car and I am not very impressed with the traction. I had a hell of a time getting traction at the drag strip even with a good smokey burnout. I am also looking for a better tire. I did lower my tire pressure to 23 psi at the track to no evail.
Last edited by JustCallMeSlip; 12-03-2008 at 05:15 PM. Reason: Additional Info
12-12-2008, 08:51 AM
#10
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1,692
........255/40 is a rather marginal size for these cars in terms of load capacity (though you can still band-aid this by running slightly higher inflation pressures, perhaps 2 or 3 extra for 34 - 35).
255/35 is flat-out too small in "Standard Load" construction. Still undersized (but not quite as badly) if you can find it in either "Reinforced" or "Extra Load" constructions and uprate your inflation accordingly. I honestly can't recommend this size for these cars.
Norm
255/35 is flat-out too small in "Standard Load" construction. Still undersized (but not quite as badly) if you can find it in either "Reinforced" or "Extra Load" constructions and uprate your inflation accordingly. I honestly can't recommend this size for these cars.
Norm
I am considering the Nitto NT555RII for road course track only use and was wondering about the load rating on the size 285/35ZR 18 which is 1609 lb @ 44 psi - http://www.nittotire.com/#index%2Eti...t555r2%2Esizes
As these tires are 25.91 compared to the 27 of my present 285/40/18 KDW2s they will lower the car another 1/2 inch which should also help. As they are for track use only the speedomoter is obviously not an issue. Lower speed per gear would be some concern but it just means I may now have to get up enough nerve to go into 5th gear on the back straight at Mosport! They would be run on a set of my present 9.5 x 18 Steeda Ultra Lite wheels.