Help picking out tires - Lateral-g Forums

aktmracer · #1 12-12-2010, 10:21 PM

My wheels arrived on Friday so now I need some help with tire selection. I tried a search but most of the posts I found related more to tire size rather than brand/model. I'm looking for a good street tire that will handle and hook up. A nice looking tread pattern would be nice too. It's mostly for street driving but would like to hit an occasional auto-x. My sizes are;
Front 245/35-19
Rear 305/35-20

Thanks

The WidowMaker · #2 12-12-2010, 10:26 PM

not sure of many in the 305 other than the nitto 555r. its a 100 treadwear if you are concerned about the 200 limit of some of the autocrosses.

i went with the 315/35/20 nt05 which is a 200.

there are TONS of choices for your fronts. you need to just search for the rears.

ModernMuseum · #3 12-13-2010, 07:32 AM

I went with the Kuhmo Ecsta XS's and got them from TireRack. I did a lot of searching to find a middle-grade (cost) tire. I found these to be a good compromise between the cheaper tires and the Michelin's.

I ordered them in 315's. You may have more choices at 315 versus 305's.

DriverzInc · #4 12-13-2010, 11:17 AM

Like Tim mentioned, the 305 size is not a popular size for manufacturers, and Nitto only has it in their 555R drag/street radial, which is fine, but for steet/autoX app, you should think about maybe a different size. Nitto makes the NT05 in 315/35/20, if you can fit it, otherwise, there other options in the 285-295 range. I really like the Nitto NT05 tire, and wish they made more sizes in 20" and 18". Lots of choices in 19" if you can believe it or not. But, its the perfect tire for street and autox and it right at 200 UTQG for the GoodGuys events.

snakedr · #5 12-13-2010, 05:23 PM

Looks like Michelin PS2 or Pirelli P Zero are about the only choices in those sizes...

aktmracer · #6 12-14-2010, 08:00 AM

Hey guys, thank you for the info. It helps a lot. I used the 305/35 as a test fit and it worked pretty good, but that pair lacked the wear rating. Plus they were my buddies and I can't run the same tires as him. Lol. I guess I'll try to get my hands on a cheap/used pair of 315's to see how good they will stuff in there. At least now I know some options.

ModernMuseum · #7 12-14-2010, 08:42 AM

I think the Nitto's will wear the most, the Kuhmo's in the middle and the Michelin's will wear the least. I'm not sure about the Pirelli's. You may want to use tirerack's reviews as a gauge for tire wear.

snakedr · #8 12-14-2010, 10:02 AM

I have the Pirellis on my AMG C55, you are looking at 12K or less for wear.

DEIGuy38 · #9 12-14-2010, 10:24 PM

I went with Kuhmo Ecsta XSs, haven't run them yet but my brother in law likes them. Pretty sticky and has a good tread pattern. Frank at Prodigy recommended them and I think Mary Pozzi was running them before switching to Falken Azenis RT-615K.

Blake Foster · #10 12-14-2010, 10:51 PM

i had the Nt05 on my Nova and using them for auto x and road racing they were good, got a wopping 1000 miles out of them. switched to the Falken Azena and they felt good on the one track day we did with them. if your looking for affordable try the General Grabber UHP they have quite a few sizes, we had them on our pt cruiser and got 4 years of summer driving on them, ps2 are soo expensive if your going to rip them up. i have always found pirelli's to be really hard?? my.02