DelSolMarine

I have used 205 50 15 Falken Azenis which gave me good enough tread life for what I wanted but the traction was not to par with my 400whp daily turbo car. i would have atleast liked to get traction in 3rd gear..... I just got the 225 50 15 BFG Drag Radials and they completely met my traction needs however they were totally gone within about 3000 miles and 2 sessions on the dyno.... I am looking at the Toyo R888's but have not found any threads with much insight... What are people running that is smaller than a 235 60 15. I am using 15x7 wheels.

nsxtasy

First of all, you're confusing tire sizes with tire models. The main factor in traction is the tire model, not the tire size. So get the proper tire size (the one that is best for your car), and get whatever tire model best meets your needs.

The drag radials are a very sticky tire designed for the ultimate in acceleration. They also feature reinforced sidewalls that can withstand the deformation that occurs when low air pressures are used at the dragstrip to increase the size of the contact patch (the area of the tire that comes into contact with the pavement). Yes, they are expensive, and yes, they wear out quickly; but you have to make a trade-off among price, treadlife, and traction.

The R888 is designed for road course use, and I don't recommend it for street use. It won't last very long (about as long as those drag radials), it's expensive, and it doesn't grip well until it has a chance to get warm (after a lap on a road course). It won't give you much grip on the street because you won't get it warm enough. And it's designed for cornering grip, not straight-line acceleration.

If you want the traction you experienced with the drag radials, keep getting drag radials. If you want a lower cost tire that will last longer and you don't mind a bit less grip on acceleration than the drag radials, the stickiest street tires you can get are these "extreme performance summer tires", which are a bit stickier than the older Falken Azenis (on acceleration they won't grip like drag radials though):

Bridgestone Potenza RE-11
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
Falken Azenis RT-615K
Kumho Ecsta XS
Toyo Proxes R1R
Yokohama Advan Neova AD08

All of these are available in 205/50-15, and some in 195/50-15 and 195/55-15.

DelSolMarine

Has anyone run anything daily on a 15x10 wheel? I am seeing threads of 285 40 15 street tires on like lambos and such.

yea i know... call me crazy

nsxtasy

You're crazy.

And you didn't read what I posted. The width of the tires doesn't matter a whole lot. If you want to maximize traction, concentrate on the tire make/model, not the width.

choadsi

BFG drag done at 3000 miles wow. Guess i won't be getting that setup on 225. Good info on the 205 size and make/model I will looking that route. Got any advice on with brand is best. I am just trying to get 550 to stick as best it can.

DelSolMarine

so if i get a tire in 195 50 15 and a tire in 205 50 15 and they are the same make and model there is no difference. I understand your point however its doesnt completely make sense. Guys with 600 horsepower corvettes running 315 tires on the back of there car do not run 195s expecting the same results as the 315's even if they are the same make and model tire. I dont know but it makes sense to me... More tire= more traction.

If there is a 285 40 15 BFG compared to a 225 50 15 BFG you cant tell me that the 285 is going to give equal traction to the 225.

If I had a honda civic making 500whp, made fender clearance and put 285 40 15 tires under the car that were comparable tread quality to that of say a falken azenis I strongly believe I would get ridiculous traction while maintaining somewhat better longevity than a BFG drag radial.

I understand this is not practical but it would work...I am trying to see if anyone has done this or found a tire similar to results like this.

alphalanos

Hes talking about just going wider and not going to a softer compound. For example an all season tire in 225 vs a summer tires in 205. Yes if youre using the same tire, say a Dunlop star spec on 205 vs a 225, the 225 should provide more grip. But you were using drag radials so any other tire will be a step down. For more street grip I would try to fit the widest summer tire you can, any of those nsxtasy listed.

nsxtasy

You don't have "more tire" from a wider tire. The size of the contact patch - the area of the tire that comes into contact with the pavement - depends only on the pressure in the tires and the weight of the tires. If your car weighs 2640 pounds and you inflate the tires to 33 pounds per square inch, you are going to have 2640/33 = 80 square inches of tire on the ground, regardless of whether your tires are 195 treadwidth or 315 treadwidth.

There are slight advantages to wider tires in cornering, but not in acceleration, which is your main concern.

But the difference will not be noticeable. It's like saying that a car should accelerate faster when you reduce its weight by removing the maps from the glove compartment. Yes, theoretically it will, but the difference will be insignificant.

It's funny when people resort to unrealistic comparisons like 315 width against 195 width. That's when you know they don't know what they're talking about, LOL!

acura_b18c1

Nsxtasy , out of those tires listed, which one will last the longest for a daily driver ? can any of them provide a good all around performance ( such as long-lasting, dry grip, and wet grip ) like the Yoko S-drives ?

nsxtasy

All of those "extreme performance" tires give great performance, but none of them last all that long. The best you can expect is about 15K miles, maybe a little more if you don't drive them hard.

The Yokohama S.drive is indeed more of an "all around daily driving" type tire, and ought to last about twice as long (figure 25-40K miles), but won't provide as much grip as the extreme performance tires.

Different tires for different purposes. For a high-horsepower application, an extreme performance tire is needed to deliver all those horsepower to the pavement. For daily driving, many folks are willing to sacrifice the ultimate performance for a longer-lasting, less expensive tire.

DelSolMarine

so why did that porsche come with a 345 35 15 tire instead of a better quality 195 50 15 tire. sorry im just trying to use common sense... so why do cars that use 9 inch wide slicks that make 600whp run slower times than cars with 10 inch wide slicks making 600whp. more tire to the payment more traction...

nsxtasy

Porsches don't come with 345/35-15 tires. In fact, there's no such thing as 345/35-15 tires.

They don't. I mean, they can be faster or slower; the treadwidth doesn't matter, but the driver and the car does.

Anything else you'd like to get wrong?

Clearly, you already have your ideas about what you want to do, based on everything except facts, and you don't really want to hear any advice, you just want to argue. So there's no point to continuing this discussion.