Time to get new tires...

[MarkIII4Me]

I bet the mud guards looked pretty ridiculous at that point, huh?

Considering they only cover 2/3 of the tire. Yeah, pretty rediculous. But they still look bad-ass as hell from behind. I've looked everywhere for the pics and can't find them. As a matter of fact, I'm missing all pics from 01/09 - 07/09. Not sure what the hell happenend to them. I'll take some new pics of the tires tonight since I'm going to the garage anyway. I'll post them tomorrow.

 

[giterboosted]

From personal experience on multiple Cars of all power levels I vote for Toyota proxes t1-r and if it's too expensive (as it was for me buying them twice in a row) I went with falken azenis rt615, and loved them both but I still vote for the Toyo in the long run

 

[honestabe]

Toyo T1R's are really good, I have a set on the front of my Supra.

 

[Sam]

I have Nitto NT05's as my rears. They have exceptional wet and dry performance. Go read any review of them.
Tread wear rating: 200

 

[MarkIII4Me]

Snapped some pics last night of my 315/40/17 Michelin Pilots on 9.5" TT rims that I pulled from a wrecked MKIII at the junkyard and mounted for shits and giggles. Sorry for the quality, but it was dark and all I had was my Blackberry.

Surprisingly, they're still a good 1/2" from sticking out past the fender; but they are right up against the shocks and will hit them if you take a dip hard or have a fatty in the back.


You can make out the goughes in this pic from where the rubber made contact on the previous vehicle.

 

[Altezza576]

I have Falken RT615's right now and I will be replacing them with Vredestein Sessanta's I hear good things about the Vreds.

 

[Falken]

yep been shopping around and keep looking for tires... ima buy a set of mugen struts from driftmotion and gonna be drop pretty soon... are the mugen set good?

 

[te72]

Upon seeing those pictures, I think my new summer tires are gonna be a set of 315/35/17's... and a 10mm spacer. Question though, how much "mush" is there on those? I like a good stiff tire for handling reasons, would a wider wheel be a necessity, or do they fit on the 9.5" pretty good? I've got a set of Mk4TT rims in storage at the moment...

 

[OneJSupra]

Dunlop Direzza Star Spec's are all the rage in the BMW community. They're a fantastic tire for what they cost, keeping up with many higher priced tires in auto-x, while performing great on the street, especially in the rain, but have serious dry grip as well.

I had these when I was rolling on 17" and they stick like glue in the rain. I'm getting them again for my next set no doubt.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

Upon seeing those pictures, I think my new summer tires are gonna be a set of 315/35/17's... and a 10mm spacer. Question though, how much "mush" is there on those? I like a good stiff tire for handling reasons, would a wider wheel be a necessity, or do they fit on the 9.5" pretty good? I've got a set of Mk4TT rims in storage at the moment...

Shouldn't be much mush at all. It's surprising how little "bulge" there is running 315's on an 9.5" rim. However, the tires will most likely be making contact with the fender if you run those 10mm spacers. 8mm may be the way to go, though they may not be wide enough for tires to clear the shocks. It's a tough call.
Also, I'm not familiar with your current suspension setup, but there will be significant fender gap if you run 315/35's; look at the gap my Supe has with 315/40's. However, it will help with clearing the shocks.

I would love my new tires to be 315's, but I'll have to see just how bad I'm bottoming out on these before I put in that kind of investment.

Here's some better pics I snapped yesterday:

 

[te72]

Shouldn't be much mush at all. It's surprising how little "bulge" there is running 315's on an 9.5" rim. However, the tires will most likely be making contact with the fender if you run those 10mm spacers. 8mm may be the way to go, though they may not be wide enough for tires to clear the shocks. It's a tough call.
Also, I'm not familiar with your current suspension setup, but there will be significant fender gap if you run 315/35's; look at the gap my Supe has with 315/40's. However, it will help with clearing the shocks.

I would love my new tires to be 315's, but I'll have to see just how bad I'm bottoming out on these before I put in that kind of investment.

That's good to know man. I have Nitto 555r's on my rear right now, they're a bit mushy, but they are a drag radial, I imagine that has a bit to do with that. Thanks for the tip on the spacer, I'll definitely try my best to keep it from rubbing anything, I may even see if I can't roll the fender a bit, maybe pull it, I dunno.

As far as my suspension goes, I have Megan Racing Track coilovers, so height and stiffness are adjustable. I was thinking of making it taller than stock 4x4 stance just to screw around for a day before I set it all to where I want it again.

Oh, and as for tires being expensive, I've found that the Nitto 555 is a reasonably affordable tire. $118 from discounttiredirect.com for a 275/40/17. The Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 I liked on my Miata was $250 for the same 275/40/17...

 

[Falken]

damn not bad for the pricing... my alignment is all messed up, i dont want to buy new tires for it yet till i know i got it fixed, my rear driver tire is all messed up... it keeps wasting and keeps pullin to the right

 

[Nick M]

Since the old thread is back, the rear for the JZA80 came with 9.5 inch rear, which is enough for 275 In terms of proper mounting and keeping the sidewall vertical.

 

[shaeff]

Me too. I've got them on the front already, and my Falcons on the rear are *done*. I didn't realize they only went to 255 until a month after I mounted the fronts.

I'm hoping they'll expand the offering by springtime when I pull off the snowies.

They do run wide though. The 255/40/17 Dunlop Star Specs have 10" of contact patch. I just put a set of 255 squared on my M3. They're amazing. Glue. They don't get nearly as greasy as my old Azenis rt-615's got on the Supra. Those got greasy after a bit of hard driving. The SS's just stick.

I had these when I was rolling on 17" and they stick like glue in the rain. I'm getting them again for my next set no doubt.

Right on. They really are a great tire!

On a related side note, Nick brings up a point I was hoping would be mentioned sooner in this thread. Stuffing 315's on MKIV TT rears isn't really netting you any extra contact patch unless the brand you're using runs narrow. On a 9" wide rim, 255/40 is the perfect size. On a 9.5" rim, anything larger than 275's really. You will likely be wasting money, as if the tire sidewall is not square with the wheel, you're not getting any extra contact patch.

 

[te72]

Makes enough sense I suppose... Too bad finding wheels with good offsets to run wide front tires is difficult if they look good too.

Might be picking up a set of 17x8.5's for the front soon, any reason not to transfer over the current 275's? I imagine there might be a bit of sidewall bulge, but is that going to hurt anything overall, such as steering feedback? I need to pick up 2 new tires (current rear 275's are about shot...), wondering if it wouldn't be better to go with 255's up front and move the current fronts to the back.