Had a set of Michelin Sport PS2's installed today. 245/40/18's and 345/30/19's. The rears are about 1 inch shorter than stock and the fronts about 1/2 inch shorter. I wasn't able to test the traction today but will do so this weekend and post results and pics. The tires look like they belong on the car. The wider rears fit nicely into the wheel wells and look good. The stance is lowered and looks more muscular and the ride is still great. All of this is very subtle and would go unnoticed by most admirers of the car. The shorter rears probably also have the same effect as modestly changing the rear gear ratio which will probably offset some of the better 1st gear traction I was looking for.
Installed some new tires (345's) today
- Thread starter Kirby Vieira
- Start date
richardhead
GT Owner
- Sep 19, 2006
- 169
345/30-19 and 275/35-18 Michelin Tires
Kirby...I am running the same 345/35-19 tires, albeit Zero Pressure versions, on 13W-19D rear wheels and 275/35-18 tires on 10W-18D front wheels. The folks I bought the setup from needed to take some negative camber out of the rear wheels, to get the tread to meet the road flat, and slightly modify the camber on the front along with the toe-in on front and rear. They spent quite a bit of time testing and resetting to get the right footprint and handling characteristics. The wheel/tire combination looks absolutely great on the car.
Kirby...I am running the same 345/35-19 tires, albeit Zero Pressure versions, on 13W-19D rear wheels and 275/35-18 tires on 10W-18D front wheels. The folks I bought the setup from needed to take some negative camber out of the rear wheels, to get the tread to meet the road flat, and slightly modify the camber on the front along with the toe-in on front and rear. They spent quite a bit of time testing and resetting to get the right footprint and handling characteristics. The wheel/tire combination looks absolutely great on the car.
H
HHGT
Guest
FLASH
GT Owner/Board of Directors
ViperJoe
GT Owner
B O N Y
MODERATOR & FGT OWNER
Joehand1
Tungsten GT Owner
PHXGT
GT Owner
My X1 was in a local car show today and I didn't get to "test" the PS2's until late today. They had too much Nitrogen pressure and it was more loose in 1st gear than the stock tires. I removed about 2 psi and it was better, but still not as good in 1st as the stock tires. When they are cold tonight, I'll take the rear pressure down to 30, which is what I ran with the stock ones, and test again tomorrow. With that said, the rears are more than 1" shorter than the stock tires which effectively creates a new rear ratio which is really awesome in 2nd and 3rd, and the car sits more than 1 inch lower than stock. The stance of the car is incredible and the ride is better. I'll get pictures tomorrow. I had the oil changed today, and the tech who has a special lift for the GT's, had to improvise to raise the car because of its lowered stance. In a nutshell, I wouldn't go back to stock even if 1st gear ends up being as loose as with the stock tires. This is a very inexpensive way to lower the GT and make it faster.
The tires were purchased at Butler Tire in Marietta, Georgia. He was only able to obtain 3 sets initially. As for the other 2, 1 is being installed on a local GT and the other is being shipped to a California owner. The price to ship the tires including shipping is about $2200. I'll post the store contact info if anyone wants it.
Sorry I don't have good pictures yet. There are some so-so pics from a cell phone which were emailed to me and I will forward if anyone is
interested and emails me at kirbyvieira@bellsouth.net These tires provide a big :biggrin:biggrin
The tires were purchased at Butler Tire in Marietta, Georgia. He was only able to obtain 3 sets initially. As for the other 2, 1 is being installed on a local GT and the other is being shipped to a California owner. The price to ship the tires including shipping is about $2200. I'll post the store contact info if anyone wants it.
Sorry I don't have good pictures yet. There are some so-so pics from a cell phone which were emailed to me and I will forward if anyone is
interested and emails me at kirbyvieira@bellsouth.net These tires provide a big :biggrin:biggrin
californiacuda
GT Owner
- Oct 21, 2005
- 919
Have you put a G meter on the car, before and after to get some accurate info about the tire's ability to generate more traction/friction?
FLASH
GT Owner/Board of Directors
Joehand1
Tungsten GT Owner
Joehand1
Tungsten GT Owner
Steve,
If you just do the rears with the lower profile tire, will that cause the rear to sit an inch lower than the front and thus mess up some unknown delicate relationship in the suspension, or is that just a stupid idea? I need rears too.:confused
If you just do the rears with the lower profile tire, will that cause the rear to sit an inch lower than the front and thus mess up some unknown delicate relationship in the suspension, or is that just a stupid idea? I need rears too.:confused
Fubar
Totally ****** Up
You got 9500 miles out of your rears? I think my grandma is holding driving lessons next week. I can get you in.
S592R
GT Owner
- Dec 3, 2006
- 2,800
I can take that a couple of ways ... but since your armed in your office. :lol
Yeah you can enroll me in Granny Driving U if you want to. But that also included a track weekend. I think Hoosiers are in my future for this car .. for HPDE days.
S