tire question for you guys

[ShaneM]

i have been dying to find to find some new tires for my boss and have been torn. i was out at the eagles canyon toy run this weekend and the guys form vorschlag were running their 5.0. they have used a bunch of tires and were running the potenza re-11 on that car 265/40-18 all around and have been pleased with the tires.

i looked on tirerack and bridgestone makes the 285/35-19 we need for the rears in the re-11. the fronts are the issue, the closest they have are 265/35-19.

the stock front tire on the boss is 27-inch diameter, 4-inch sidewall, 13.5-inch radius, 84.9" circumference, and 746 revs per mile.

the 265/35 would be 3.7-inch sidewall, 13.2 radius, 26.3 diameter, and 82.6 circumference with 767 revs per mile. they are right there for fit.

does anyone think that little bit of a change would affect the handling of the car at all?

 

[nota4re]

Definitely not enough for us mere mortals to feel a difference. I'd be interested in your assessment if you go with these. I've had the Yokohama AD08's on order - deciding (reluctantly) to live with 1" smaller diameter all the way around.

 

[ShaneM]

im thinking ill give them a shot, have to see though. they show to be back ordered on some sizes until mid January. im not sure i can wait that long.

 

[OLOABoss]

RE-11 is a very good tire in dry and wet. Its only shortcoming is for track use it doesn't like heavy cars, overheats and gets greasy. AD08/R-S3 are better on heavier cars that are tracked but not as good as the RE-11 in the wet.

Peter

 

[ChuckP]

I'm running Yoko AD-08s on 302s wheels (9.5 and 10) and love them. 265x35F and 295x30R. These sizes are close in rolling radius to stock, but will give you a few MPH speedo error (reads about 70 MPH when GPS says 66). Great compromise for a street tire that does a respectable job on track. I have 4 track days one them with stock factory camber and both front and rear tires look great. I've run them in the wet on track and passed an AWD WRX so they are fairly decent with full tread. However, they suck when cold. I made the mistake of too much throttle in 3rd gear on a 38 degree day getting around a slow car and learned why they are called "summer" tires!

 

[2012YellowBoss]

does anyone think that little bit of a change would affect the handling of the car at all?

I am not sure how much you will fell the change but I have found the closer to factory size the better I like the way the car handles. I have been running 295/35/18 in the rear, they are .67 shorter then factory. I started on 265/35/18's that were 1.7 shorter then factory then switched to 275/40/18 that are .46 shorter. It felt a big difference with the 275/40 up front and same 295/35 in the rear. What is nice about this combo and helps the car handle better is they have the exact same factory stagger and height difference even if they are shorter and wider overall.

 

[Tflong24]

The Michelin Pilot Super Sport seems to be the "it" tire. Great grip, great tread life.

 

[ShaneM]

not wanting to make a $1450 mistake i emialed Bridgestone and they said:

Shane,
The OE front size (255/40R19) has a design overall diameter of 27.0, while the rear size (285/35R19) has a design OD of 26.9 - this is a balanced approach to sizing. The 265/35R19 front tire you are considering has a design OD of 26.3 - approximately 2.6% smaller in OD than the original front size. This difference may significantly change the handling balance of the car.
Unfortunately, the Potenza RE-11 is the recommended tire for track use and we do not have the appropriate sizes for you. The next-best option is the Potenza S04 Pole Position, but I would not recommend it for racing/extensive track use unless it was buffed to a lower tread depth. A full tread depth tire on a powerful and relatively heavy car will likely result in rubber chunking in the shoulder area.

Mark Kuykendall
Engineering Manager
High Performance and Winter Tires
Bridgestone Americas, Inc.

I guess i am just going to go with the S-04 potenza pole positions or maybe the contintnal extremecontact dw

 

[roketman]

Interesting response from the tire rep.I admire his honesty.
I use Hoosiers on my car and absolutely love them .I use them on the street and the track.

 

[ShaneM]

Well i went ahead and ordered the S-04's yesterday. they should be in next week and I'll get them mounted up. It will be a while before i can hit the track and see how well they work.