17" or 18" tires next?

[Red-2009-GTI]

My 2009 GTI has worn out the 225/40R18 Bridgestone RE760 tires. They were pretty good for grip and decent in rain (not that the car sees much rain here in Phoenix area). I have them on a set of Miro 18x8 wheels of the BBS LM style. They are dangerously bald now so time to replace them.

BUT I have another set of wheels, Enkie GTC-01, that are 17x8 and nice an light. These wheels have the first set of good tires I bought, the now no longer made Dunlop Direzza in 225/45R17 these tire are also shot.

So I can go with either 17's or 18's in a new set of tires. I am thinking the Michelin Super Sport tires and 17's are a good bit less costly in this tire. My car has the Koni coilovers, thicker anti-sway bars and a KO4 turbo upgrade. I drive it to work and have fun, little else.

What do you guys think? 17" or 18" tires??

 

[Slave IV]

As long as they fit over your brakes...the smaller they are, usually means lighter and stronger = better
So 17"

 

[Red-2009-GTI]

Yes the 17" Enkie wheels fit over the Brembo GT brake upgrade no problem. Odd thing is the 18" Miro wheels required a 6mm spacer to fit over these brakes, it was not the diameter but rather the shape of the wheel. But I put on about 25K miles with those spacers and no problem at all.

Thanks for the input Slave IV.

 

[Slave IV]

Do the wheels have different offset? that could make a big difference as well.

What Brembo GT kit do you have and what size rotors? I'm curious because I'll be getting one someday for one of my cars and it would be great if 17's fit but I always figured I would need 18's. The one I want would be 6 piston w/ 355mm rotors.

 

[Red-2009-GTI]

I put the Brembo GT BBK on a few years ago, all I remember is it was the smaller of the two kits that were available at that time. It is still a bit larger diameter rotor, but because it is a 2-piece rotor and (pretty sure) 4 pot calipers they save me a good amount of weight over the factory GTI front brakes. This was a great upgrade with no downside for me (except perhaps the $$ outlay). Even with the K04 and plenty of other mods this Brembo kit is plenty in my opinion.

As to fit even the factory 17" GTI wheels (look like huffs but 17") clear the Brembo kit, as do my Enkie GTC-01 17" wheels. Both with no spacers.

The 18" Miro (LM replicas) will only cles the bremobo calipers with a 6mm space in front. IT IS the design of the wheel, not the offset in this case. The Miro has a lip for the LM look and this means the wheel goes back where the others stay closer to the face of the wheel. All of my wheels are 8" wide and 45mm offset.

 

[Slave IV]

Cool, thanks!

 

[navyslideby]

I also recently needed tires for my "Daily Wheels" and i said fuck it. I have spent the $800+ on the Michellin Pilot Super Sports and there were a few issues.
1. They are EXPENSIVE AS FUCK!!!!
2. They SUCK at the drag strip
3. They arent the quietest or the smoothest tires in the world (225/45/18)
4. I Light them up all the way through 2nd and sometimes all the way through 3rd as well on the street.

So money is short and i said Fuck it and bought me some Primewell Valera Sport AS Tires from Firestone for $400 mounted and balanced....
And you know what? They are quieter, they ride smoother, they have a 480 Treadwear as opposed to 300, and they spin through 1st, 2nd, and sometimes 3rd.... Sound familiar?

Now im not gonna say they are better tires, because Michellin Pilot Super Sports have a purpose, which is mostly a streetable "track/autox" tire. And im sure they would be better in that place setting. If you do a lot of Track/Autox and for some reason dont have tires specifically setup for said events, then buy the Michellins. But if this is a daily driver tire, dont bother. I've had cheap ass tires in the past and guess what, They are round, black, and they roll just like every other tire including the Michellins....

 

[Slave IV]

LOL, Michelin PSS are the best all around street tires I've ever used...huge difference.
I just switched to my Summer wheels with some old corded PSS' on them and immediately noticed better feel, grip, handling, comfort, etc compared to the smaller wheel/more rubber GY F1 A/S setup I was running for winter.
Part of your problem may be dragging a fwd car, haha...

 

[navyslideby]

LOL, Michelin PSS are the best all around street tires I've ever used...huge difference.
I just switched to my Summer wheels with some old corded PSS' on them and immediately noticed better feel, grip, handling, comfort, etc compared to the smaller wheel/more rubber GY F1 A/S setup I was running for winter.
Part of your problem may be dragging a fwd car, haha...

So which group are you apart of....
The "Lets slam our cars so low that we cant even change lanes without bashing our subframe on the reflectors" group?

The, "This car was made for Autox and thats all i ever wanna do!" group?

Or the, "We should just keep our car stock and enjoy it the way it was made" group.

Guess what bud!!! We all enjoy doing different things with our cars. Sure, drag racing a FWD car isn't the EASIEST way to get fast times. But if everyone Always took the easiest way to get fast 1/4 times, nobody would own a 4cyl and everyone would be 1 dimensional. We all enjoy pushing boundaries in our own ways. I personally dont enjoy quivering at the site of speed bumps, i just drive right over them. I think there are some Beautiful GTI's that are slammed like that, and i appreciate them for what they are, but thats simply not my cup of tea... I personally dont think my car was the way i wanted it from the factory, so i made the changes I wanted to make.... And i know that everything i do or did to my car doesnt suit your fancy, but thats the point!!!! This is my car and I made it my way. I was just pointing out to this fella that if he wasn't planning on spending a lot of time on the track, he isn't going to notice nor is he going to get his money's worth with the difference in price with these tires. Now obviously if you go from WINTER tires to SUMMER Performance tires you will notice a difference. But my Primewells are Firestones "Ultra High Performance" Tires. There isn't much of a difference in regular street driving!

And BTW, damn near every person on this forum that has pushed the limits with these cars and helped develop most of the "performance scene" that our car has, Drag race their cars..... :thumbsup:

 

[Slave IV]

Uh, all I was saying is that Michelin PSS' are the best all around street tires I've used and gave an explanation of why you'd be lighting your tires up...Not sure what you read to induce your rant but have fun!

 

[navyslideby]

Uh, all I was saying is that Michelin PSS' are the best all around street tires I've used and gave an explanation of why you'd be lighting your tires up...Not sure what you read to induce your rant but have fun!

The explanation of why i light my tires up is that i have 402whp....