Jon_Purdy

I'll be in need of replacement tires for the stock Pirelli's. Is there such a thing as having too much tire for a certain power level? I ask because I'm staying N/A for the foreseable future and have been eyeing either 275's all-around or 255's/285's. I have the following power mods:
JBA Shorty Headers
MRT Catted H-Pipe
C&L Racer Intake w/Brenspeed Tune

Jon

MTAS

I'm N/A and have 295/45/18 Nittos in the back, trust me it's not too much tire for the car. I can spin those *****es at will

mfdengineer

That's awesome!!

Jon_Purdy

Thanks for the quick replies. I had been leaning toward 275's but then I got blown off by a Shelby and that has made me rethink my future tire choice.

Rebel73

I don't think that TOO MUCH TIRE is ever a problem. Lack of traction is our biggest issue.

JonCo

+1 .

Shotokan1509

Well its a double-edged sword.. bigger tires generally mean more rotating mass.. so it is a balancing game of weight vs traction, this will be seen for "rolling starts" or highway romps.

Yes it is actually possible to have too much traction, a low hp car with super sticky drag tires can bog off the line and have more rolling resistance

After all that, I have 295's on heavy wheels on a 300rwhp car

TillmanSpeed

But 295s look

Shotokan1509

QFT


Jon I.M.O. stick as much tire as you want back there, I say the more the better. The very slight performance you lose from the weight is not your biggest problem(and is debatable weight vs. traction), the biggest problem would be carrying enough paper towels to wipe your drool every time you walk up to you car.

don_w

That's definitely true on the track, but on the street, it would be tough to have too much tire. A trap that many fall into is getting big wheels and thin profile tires, thinking its helping them. The benefit of a tall tire is the sidewall. A 28" tall tire on a 17" wheel is going to be better (and lighter) than a 28" tall tire on a 20" wheel.

Shotokan1509

Yep, just clarifying that there is the possibility of "too much tire".. but that doesn't stop me, but then again what do I know, I run tires tires that are biased to the corners rather than a straight dig.


Start getting really technical, yep more sidewall the better for hooking.. but also have to remember that changing the height of a tire affects your overall final drive ratio so those 4.10's you installed by the time it gets to the ground the final ratio is not what you were expecting.

These of course aren't pointed at you Don since you know all of this better than I do.. just want others to understand.

RRRoamer

The width is not that big of an issue in respect to lost performance. It's when you go with larger rim sizes things get jacked, fast. Moment of inertia is a cubed law, so moving that metal out an inch makes a BIG difference in inertia. Of course, that DOES help prevent you from spinning your tires...

Rebel73

No argument there. I was thinking of street application. In my case, for instance, on the street, I can break loose the crappy stock BFGs so easily. I think there will be a definite improvement in traction when I throw on the Nitto 285s/255s on there next week, even though they might be slightly heavier than the stockers.

jamesdem1123

For me, after a just an intake and a tune the stock tires would spin if you breathed too heavy on the pedal. I now have foose 20"s with nt555 285/30s and i can still spin them if i want. Bigger is better, as long as your not adding huge amounts of mass to things that have to rotate.

afcop13

Exactly!!!

Hatchman

I have 295s and think they look pretty good. I've never had anyone say that my tires look too big. Maybe on a 120 hp civic it would be too much tire, but a 300hp Mustang will be fine and can handle the extra weight.

69_gt500

I have 275/55/15 M/T drag radials on my 89 LX. I couldnt get them to spin in the waterbox. When I launched, the engine bogged and I almost stalled. That a good example of too much tire. Its a stock 5.0 BTW