THE Tire Thread


What Combo Do You Use?


  • Total voters
    262

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
Never!

It's midnight and I'm in bed surfing the forum when I remembered that Indy said the spinners were installed at the factory with Vaseline. So I lean over and tap my wife on the shoulder and ask her if we have any Vaseline. .
:frown
:facepalm:
:willy

She rolls over slowly, gives me the stink eye and has a look on her face which was a cross between "never in a million years" and "you are out of your mind." Oops.
:rofl :rofl :rofl
:lol :lol

Good one. :thumbsup
 

Kingman

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Aug 11, 2006
4,072
Surf City, USA
Never!

It's midnight and I'm in bed surfing the forum when I remembered that Indy said the spinners were installed at the factory with Vaseline. So I lean over and tap my wife on the shoulder and ask her if we have any Vaseline. She rolls over slowly, gives me the stink eye and has a look on her face which was a cross between "never in a million years" and "you are out of your mind." Oops.

Beautiful!!!
 

DLC

GT Owner
Apr 23, 2006
67
Clinton, NY
True. Also, in my experience the Goodyears tend to run wide. The Bridgestone-approved rim width for the 345/35R19 is 11.5"-13.5" (the stock rims are 11.5" wide). The tire is slightly pinched on the 11.5" rim. One of the welcome consequences of this is that the tire seems to be nearly the same height (diameter) as the full tread OEM Goodyears, rather than .30" or so shorter as the specs would indicate.

View attachment 30474

Sinovac,

I received the BS's yesterday. Thanks for all the help.

I haven't mounted them yet on our stock rims, therefore have not taken all the dimensions. I was running the R6's (315/40/19 & 255/40/18) and these new tires would indicate the fronts are .3" taller and the rears .40 shorter. I have Alex's Penske's installed so it looks like we will have to adjust shock heights to maintain same corner balance. Are you making similar adjustments?

DLC
 

GT35065

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
"It's midnight and I'm in bed surfing the forum when I remembered that Indy said the spinners were installed at the factory with Vaseline. So I lean over and tap my wife on the shoulder and ask her if we have any Vaseline. She rolls over slowly, gives me the stink eye and has a look on her face which was a cross between "never in a million years" and "you are out of your mind." Oops." Good one, Paul. Tell your wife Hello from me.
 

Sinovac

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 18, 2006
5,862
Largo, Florida
Are you making similar adjustments?

DLC

DLC,

I have the stock shocks so no adjustments for me. However, when mounted on the stocks rims, the rear Bridgestones are very close to OEM diameter (see my post above). While the rear tires are pinched on the OEM rims, the opposite is true for the fronts. The 265s are stretched somewhat. I haven't mounted the fronts yet as I was busy making a spinner installation/removal tool, but when I compare the 265s with the Goodyears, I bet they will be closer to OEM diameter and height than the specs suggest. I'll post some pictures tonight. Long story short, I don't think any adjustment to ride height needs to be made solely to accomodate the Bridgestones on OEM rims.

Gotta go. I need to object to a deposition question. :lol

Paul
 

Sinovac

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 18, 2006
5,862
Largo, Florida
Good one, Paul. Tell your wife Hello from me.

I will Rick, as soon as she starts speaking to me again. :lol
 

DLC

GT Owner
Apr 23, 2006
67
Clinton, NY
DLC,

Gotta go. I need to object to a deposition question. :lol

Paul

Good luck with that. :wink Looking forward to seeing the pic's.

DLC
 

Indy GT

Yea, I got one...too
Mark IV Lifetime
Jan 14, 2006
2,545
Greenwood, IN
Never!

It's midnight and I'm in bed surfing the forum when I remembered that Indy said the spinners were installed at the factory with Vaseline. So I lean over and tap my wife on the shoulder and ask her if we have any Vaseline. She rolls over slowly, gives me the stink eye and has a look on her face which was a cross between "never in a million years" and "you are out of your mind." Oops.

Ralphie, I agree, THAT is a classic post!!!
LMAF reading that one....
 

Sinovac

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 18, 2006
5,862
Largo, Florida
Pictures of the 265/40R18 Bridgestones vs. OEM Goodyears (about 40% worn). On the OEM rims, the Bridgestones are nearly the same height as the worn Goodyears.

DSC_8103.jpg

DSC_8102.jpg

DSC_8093.jpg

The Bridgestones on the standard front rims weight 51.4 lbs. The Goodyears on the optional front rims weight 45.2. The Bridgestone front tire weighs 30 lbs. and the Goodyear 26 lbs. The standard rims weight only about 2.2 lbs. more than the optional wheels. So much for the "lightweight" wheel.

DSC_8083.jpg

DSC_8089.jpg
 

Sinovac

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 18, 2006
5,862
Largo, Florida
Good shot of both wheels on the same car. I really like the standard wheels better. They seem to be more appropriate for the car.

DSC_8073.jpg

DSC_8122.jpg

You know you have a serious torque wrench when it is nearly as tall as your car.

DSC_7914.jpg
 
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Sinovac

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 18, 2006
5,862
Largo, Florida
Victory over the cursed spinners. My temporary socket works so well I have abandoned the idea of a CNC milled socket. Note the proprietary design. Please don't infringe on my intellectual property rights. :lol

DSC_8076.jpg

DSC_8078.jpg
 
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PL510*Jeff

Well-known member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Nov 3, 2005
4,900
Renton, Washington
Victory over the cursed spinners. My temporary socket works so well I have abandoned the idea of a CNC milled socket. Note the proprietary design. Please don't infringe on my intellectual property rights. :lol

View attachment 30496

View attachment 30497

The custom graphics are very special.

I use the handles (soft coated) of my vise grips.
 

HOOKED ON GT

GT Owner
Oct 26, 2006
468
Orlando & Australia
Hows the feel with the 265's on there V's the OEM 245's.
I hear the car is a bit more darty with the extra rubber, but sure grip as improved?.
No rubbing issues any place?

Stuart
 

HOOKED ON GT

GT Owner
Oct 26, 2006
468
Orlando & Australia
Ive got a voucher to use at a Firestone store, and just wanted to get the correct order in.

So this the right order?
265/40ZR/18 (N1 Porsche) 186>mph
and the matching tread pattern 345/35R/19 Scuderia 186>mph

Thumbs up?
Stuart
 

DLC

GT Owner
Apr 23, 2006
67
Clinton, NY
Ive got a voucher to use at a Firestone store, and just wanted to get the correct order in.

So this the right order?
265/40ZR/18 (N1 Porsche) 186>mph
and the matching tread pattern 345/35R/19 Scuderia 186>mph

Thumbs up?
Stuart


Yes. You have all the right data.

DLC
 

Sinovac

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 18, 2006
5,862
Largo, Florida
Hows the feel with the 265's on there V's the OEM 245's.
I hear the car is a bit more darty with the extra rubber, but sure grip as improved?.
No rubbing issues any place?

Stuart

Stuart,

I have about 200 miles on the new Bridgestones. The larger fronts do tramline a bit, which is to be expected as they are wider, but nothing objectionable. Grip is substantially improved. No rubbing issues at all. Also, the car sits perfectly level even though the specs for the Bridgestones would indicate a slight nose-up stance. When mounted on the oem wheels, the Bridgestones are nearly an identical match match to the oem sidewall height. I see zero drawbacks so far with the Bridgestones.
 

bret a ewing

GT Owner
Nov 29, 2006
301
Sinovac,

You probably wont notice the -.4" difference in height with the rear 'stones, the fronts are +.02".
 

DLC

GT Owner
Apr 23, 2006
67
Clinton, NY
Stuart,

I have about 200 miles on the new Bridgestones. The larger fronts do tramline a bit, which is to be expected as they are wider, but nothing objectionable. Grip is substantially improved. No rubbing issues at all. Also, the car sits perfectly level even though the specs for the Bridgestones would indicate a slight nose-up stance. When mounted on the oem wheels, the Bridgestones are nearly an identical match match to the oem sidewall height. I see zero drawbacks so far with the Bridgestones.

I switched from Hoosier R6's (315/40/19 Rear, 255/40/18 Front) to the Stones and the dimensions were very minor. When I put the car on scales the corner weight's were almost identical. The Hoosiers were extremely darty on the street so these tires shouldn't be worse then those.

DLC
 

Sinovac

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 18, 2006
5,862
Largo, Florida
Sinovac,

You probably wont notice the -.4" difference in height with the rear 'stones, the fronts are +.02".

Bret,

The specs indicate the differences in height you mentioned, but when installed on the OEM rims and compared with the Goodyears with a straight edge, they are virtually identical as shown in the previously posted pictures. The published diameter/height dimensions for the Bridgestones are with the tires mounted on an optimum-width rim. The tire "grows" or "shrinks" in diameter somewhat as the tire is mounted on a more narrow or wider rim, respectively. You can see this when you compare my pictures of the mounted Bridgestones vs. Goodyears to pictures comparing the two unmounted tires. For example, the rear Bridgestones appear much wider when not mounted on the OEM rim.

To add another dimension to this, the other Porsche designated front tires (N0 for example) seem to have the same tread pattern as the rears. I don't think we need the N1s to match the rears. The internet machine told me that the only difference with the N1s is 2 extra cords.
 
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Sinovac

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 18, 2006
5,862
Largo, Florida
I switched from Hoosier R6's (315/40/19 Rear, 255/40/18 Front) to the Stones and the dimensions were very minor. When I put the car on scales the corner weight's were almost identical. The Hoosiers were extremely darty on the street so these tires shouldn't be worse then those.

DLC

I've had my car up to 160 already with the Bridgestones and it was rock stable. I think you will like them.