How to: fit 255 wide tires and still slam

[cruizin01]

Are you talking about 255/35, which is almost exactly as tall as 225/40?

Do you have pics of your setup? I have Michelic PSSs in 225/40/18 now and the setup looks somewhat stretched, it certainly looks like I could easily add a centimetre or more of contact patch on both sides of the tire.


I would have bought the PSS in 235/40/18 but that size is not available in Europe. 255/35/18 would be awesome, provided that it fits..

255/35r18 Michelin PS2's so yes. That tire is probably measured when mounted on a 9" rim. It will definitely be taller than a 225/40 mounted on a 8" rim.

You can't see to much from this picture as the tires were new, but I've noticed that as the tires wear I'm not using at least a 1/2" of the outer tread wear area. I will say this setup is for the street only. I have a dedicated set of smaller 245/40r17 hankook rs3's that in my opinion fit better and work better at the track.

At my work we just mounted a set of 255/35r18 on some 8.5's. The super sports seem to be a naturally pretty wide tire. At least in this size. They bubbled out and looked very similar to my current setup. I really feel you'll have a lot of wasted tread at least on a street car.

 

[blkmaggtsp74]

I'd say 245/35-18" at the most with stock front camber.

 

[telaio]

I'd say 245/35-18" at the most with stock front camber.

Are you lowered? I'm at Euro stock height, which is not that low..

 

[telaio]

You can't see much from this picture but I've noticed that as the tires wear I'm not using at least the 1/2" of the outer tread wear area.

Interesting, thanks! I've noticed with my PSS (225/40 on 8'' rim) that also they don't seems to use the whole width in normal driving. On track the situation changes, I don't know how much tire pressures got to do with it.

At my work we just mounted a set of 255/35r18 on some 8.5's. The super sports seem to be a naturally pretty wide tire. At least in this size. They bubbled out and looked very similar to my current setup. I really feel you'll have a lot of wasted tread at least on a street car.

I have a feeling that PS2 has a wider tread wear area than the PSS for the same size, but I could be mistaken.

 

[blkmaggtsp74]

Lowered on bilstein b8+ h&r so just a little bit. 18x8 et37 in the front with 225/40 and that works perfect with some slight rub sometimes during spirited cornering.

 

[Autobahn]

I've been running 245/35/18 Hankook Z214 (R comp) on a 8" wheel with a tread width of 9.1", still have a ton of room at -2.5º Camber. The 35 series where a little soft for the heavy R32 so I'm bumping to 245/40/18 (rated at 200lbs more). The height is still workable for me at 25.6", the 35 series was 24.7".

I need a wider wheel to do anything more than 245.

Jump on tirerack and you can check tread widths and height of the tires you're considering.

 

[cruizin01]

Interesting, thanks! I've noticed with my PSS (225/40 on 8'' rim) that also they don't seems to use the whole width in normal driving. On track the situation changes, I don't know how much tire pressures got to do with it.


I have a feeling that PS2 has a wider tread wear area than the PSS for the same size, but I could be mistaken.

I believe the super sports are just as wide if not slightly wider.

I've been running 245/35/18 Hankook Z214 (R comp) on a 8" wheel with a tread width of 9.1", still have a ton of room at -2.5º Camber. The 35 series where a little soft for the heavy R32 so I'm bumping to 245/40/18 (rated at 200lbs more). The height is still workable for me at 25.6", the 35 series was 24.7".

I need a wider wheel to do anything more than 245.

Jump on tirerack and you can check tread widths and height of the tires you're considering.

it's very difficult to know exactly how wide a tire really is. even when looking at published specs.

For example.

A 255/35r18 PS2 ZP is substantially wider the standard PS2. The specs are the same but the ZP has an inner tread area that is almost 1/2" wider. Why? I have no idea but it is.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[telaio]

absolutely

Have you noticed any weird wear-patterns on the tires? I think PS2 and PSS are very round-shouldered in any case so that might be the reason more than too narrow a rim.

 

[StefanV]

I'm pasting the message I posted in the Dan's build thread maybe I'll get lucky here:

I'm resurrecting an ancient thread because it seem that this is the only place where 255/35 R18 have been fitted and raced without issues.
I ordered some 255/35 R18 for my mk5 GTI Edition 30 that I plan to track this weekend. The wheels are 18x8.5 ET 46. I have some KW ST coilovers all around. In the front I have TT aluminium arms that allow me a bit of camber (now I'm at -2) in the back stock arms (-1 camber). I left the shop almost crying with the same tires I arrived. In the back there was no way I can run so wide. Literally the rear fender was sitting on the tire. Now my question is: with alignment changes, adding negative camber, will I be able to race them without rubbing? If so how much camber are we talking about.. front and rear?