Which is the best tyre size to use on stock wheels 195/50 or 205/50 or should I keep the stock size i.e 195/55?? I want better cornering and don't care about rain cause I dont use my ITR in the rain! I want good grip in dry! What about a track tire like Falken AZENIS??

 

What's with the "mad" face?

205/50 gets my vote...

 

I just got done putting the Azenis' on my stock rims and they feel really sloppy, but I'm told that this will go away somewhat after break in. But others say that it will still feel sloppy because the tire is too big. I don't know we'll see how they feel after a few hundred more miles. See my thread for more info.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=224895

 

Try the 195/50R15 RE-040 or stock RE-010.
The RE-040 is stock 2002 CTR tire! Very good on dry, not so good on wet and they wear fast..

 

195 will be more crisp, but a 205 with a stiff sidewall (azenis) will be pretty god IMO, I have 205's now and I'll be sticking with 205, slightly more slop perhaps, but it's worth it to me for a bigger contact patch.

Edit #2: I'm not sure about the contact patch.


[Modified by SoCal ITR, 8:05 AM 7/10/2002]

 

NSXTCJR will come here and tell you the contact area won't be any bigger, but I won't do that.....


[Modified by DutchITR1689, 5:49 PM 7/10/2002]

 

Yea, now that I think abot that thread in road racing/auto X was it? The patch will be the same unless you lower the tire pressure. It will just be wider side to sde and more narrow front to back.

Edit: I don't think the contact would be bigger, but perhaps with a stiffer sidewall, you can run a lower pressure and via that, get a larger contact patch.


[Modified by SoCal ITR, 8:05 AM 7/10/2002]

 

I was happy with 205/50. Might need a bit more air pressure than 195/55.

 

I've got you guys well trained.

These sizes are all pretty close and they don't matter a HUGE amount, except for fitting on your rims.

The only reason anyone was using 195/50 was because there were superlow sale prices on the Bridgestone S-03 in that size at the Tire Rack (was $76, up to $88 last time I checked).

The Azenis only come in 205/50 (nothing smaller for a 15" rim) and they are wider than most other 205/50 tires, so they're almost too wide for the stock rim. They have excellent dry traction, not so good if it rains. BTW, they're street tires, not track tires (R compound tires).

If you want great grip in dry and don't care about rain, and if you have wider wheels than stock, get the Azenis.

If you want great grip in dry and don't care about rain, and if you have stock wheels and you REALLY don't care about how long the tires last and you really want to try track tires, try the Yokohama A032R in 205/50. They fit the stock rims better than the Azenis.

If you want very good (not a track tire, but still very good) grip in dry, for stock wheels, and you want your tires to last at least a little while, try the Bridgestone S-03 in 205/50 or the stock Bridgestone RE010 in 195/55.

More info in Fugazi's thread.

 

I would say 205/50/15 Bridgestone S-03 (cause I just bought 2 of those).

I think 195/50/15 are too small...
The 205/50/15 Falken AZENIS will not pass the technical control cause they are VR speed rated.

 

The strange thing is that the US gets the RE-010 with V rating!!!!

 

I just want to point out that wider tire doesn't mean more contact patch. Assuming same tire pressure and same car weight, it just means that the contact patch "shape" is different...but the area is the same. I think the sloppiness is directly related to this change in contact patch shape. I have azenis and feels sloppy and the beginning...but as the tire breaks in, it gets better.

 

I agree on the contact patch, but not on why it is sloppy. I've been going back and forth with someone on contact patch.....

 

Read this: http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~lists/archiv.../msg00081.html

 

So basically, does this mean that you are getting the same amount of tire on the ground using a 205/50, as you would a 195/55?

 

Not IMO. The air gives rigidity to the tires, and the tires support the load. The air doesn't support the load itself.

Example: "By hydraulic theory, the area of the contact patch on my Land Cruiser
(1100 lbs on each fron tire, tires aired down to 8 psi for off-road
conditions) would have to be 138 square inches. Since I run tires that
are 9.5" wide, the contact patch would have to be 14.5" long!
Considering that this is very close to half the diameter of the tire, I
think I would have noticed it by now. "


[Modified by DutchITR1689, 7:14 PM 7/10/2002]

 

I believe so, yes. Assuming the sidewalls are of th esame stiffness, the car weighs the same and has the same amount of air-pressure.

 

The size of the contact patch stays the same AS LONG AS THE INFLATION OF THE TIRES IS SUPPORTING THE LOAD OF THE CAR. This is true at normal inflation pressures. When you drop the pressure to levels like 8 psi, the sidewall starts to support the weight of the car and the principle is no longer valid.

 

Yup. The SIZE of the contact patch stays the same. The SHAPE changes, but only slightly; remember, you're only talking about small differences of roughly 5 percent in tread width.

 

Now that we got that straight. How come there are hardly any good 195/55/15 tires to chose from? I don't want to pay $145 each for RE010's. Besides those, the choices are weak. There are however, lots of choices for 205/50's. Maybe S-o3's or 730's. I just want a tire that is as good or better than the RE010's, without sacrificing traction or control. Oh the humanity.....

 

So what? Can your R go over 149 mph?

 

I thought that in some countries the R comes with Z rated tires, perhaps, and that by their DMV you cannot go backwards, so if a car comes with a Z rated tire, it can only have that or better.

 

In theory a tire w/ a higher speed rating than another tire should perform better at all speeds than the other tire. I mean really, if it is made to withstand the heat and abuse from 149+mph, don't you think it will be better than some S or H-rated passenger car tire (comparing same sizes)?

And yes, an R can top 149mph (according to stock instruments, who knows what it really is).

 

Not necessarily - not at anything other than handling the heat produced at those speeds.

I'm not so sure... Gotta find those magazine tests.

 

Then tell me when that is the case. At how many psi? Is it an abrubt change of formula below a certain PSI and above a certain PSI? Or is it more gradual? Is that boundary the same for all kind of tires? How about the thread? Is there a difference between new tire and worn out tire (like slicks)?

I repeat: The air gives rigidity to the tires, and the tires support the load. The air doesn't support the load itself.

The formula P=F/A (pressure = force/area) is just the definition of pressure (part of the Hydraulic theory). It can only be applied accurately when it's only air/gas that is present. As soon as something else is present like a tire the formula will become inaccurate. The more the tire plays a role (it is the case when the tire is stiffer) the more inaccurate the basic formula P=F/A will become.....