The brembo's stick out too much not to run spacers...the rear fitment requires a high numerical offset to fit with OEM quarter panels.

Best to run a 18x9.5 +38 and use a large spacer. That way you can rotate the tires.... don't be afraid of spacers.

 

Nevermind

 

If they are overheating or greasing up 275's or 285's with stock power, then no it is not a waste.

You have to think about it logically. More tire = More weight. If you do not outdrive 255's or 275's, then why the hell would you add more rotating mass to your car just for looks? People are always trying to find the lightest wheel, but most people don't stop and realize that THE TIRE is the rotating item that is farthest away from the center of the hub. That means more weight in the tire is worse than having that same extra weight in the wheel.

All I am trying to get across is to not go through the trouble of fitting 295's if you are just as fast on 275's. The weight of the tire will make your car heavier and slower all other things being equal if you can't use the extra grip.

 

For our heavy cars the wider tire is faster as long as the setup works with the extra grip. Going bigger can effect balance so usually a big tire change will require more setup change as has been the case for me in the past. Also, something to consider is tire life. Load per section width has a big effect on how many runs youll get or how long on track you can go without overheating or wearing out the tire.

As far as weight, wider up to a point will offset the extra weight. That point is much higher than a 245 for us. 285s will still cook on a hot day and we have to spray every run and usually the fronts twice between each run to keep things cool. Usually there is only one tire if you want to be competitive, so nothing you can do about that. Wheels you have options and a 3lb lighter wheel is noticeable.

Have you tried the whole gamut of tire widths or are you just trying to justify running smaller tires?

 

I think the latter Dallas. I nuked a set of 265 RE-01s... then i got some 285 Hoosier R6's... pushed those REAL hard and overheated them. So if you drive the car hard enough you can put more than enough heat in them. I've only ever gotten ridiculously faster with a wider tire.

 

I'm certainly not fast enough to need 295's yet. I'm still very green to tracking. About 15 DE's or so.

I'm just trying to make the point that bigger is not always better for every single person, especially the guys running these tires on the street. They are more expensive with no performance benefit on the street.

Assuming the person is tracking the car, then yes I can see the appeal of fitting a larger tire if they have already outdriven narrower tires. I will be trying 275's after I wear out my 255 Z1's, but for the street I am still using 235's-255's.

I just don't see the point of people running 295's on the street. Just one man's opinion.

And differing opinions on a tech thread is a good thing. We can discuss the pros and cons versus noobs thinking they are cool by putting on a wide but ****ty compound tire.

For example: Would you rather run a 255 star spec, or a 275 Nitto NT555. Wider is not always better. Compound has a lot to do with it. And if you look back through the pages of this thread, you will see that some people are choosing to run wide ****ty tires. 275 DZ101's? 265 Potenza 960? That to me is quite apparent that someone didn't care too much how the tire performs and cares more about it being wide.

Don't hate me for sharing my opinion. I just want to make sure everyone is informed is all.

 

So much to read and learn Awesome work dudes!

 

Or... run a 295 R888 on the street so you can merge onto the freeway at speed coming out of the cloverleaf.

I can dead hook 2nd gear with 600+whp with 295's on the street. <-- that's one of the best reasons to have wide tires. Going from a 245 to a 265 is a huge improvement in grip...especially with 500+whp.

 

Hahaha hey but I can guarantee you most people don't have 500whp. I mean I wouldn't even put DZ101's on my moms car, much less my evo.

For my other car I did make the mistake of being lazy and trying to drive to the tire shop with old Hoosier R6's to get RS3's put on. That was scary. Any crack or groove in the road and the car would pull very aggressively and dart around.

Note to self: Never drive on the street with Rcomps.

 

JDMevoBOOST, Im not arguing that on the street a 275+ tire just isnt needed in the majority of cases. But this thread originally was for the guys on track who need more rubber. So here's my take from more than a decade of awd madness.

Street - 235 for me. I actually dont want the craziest absolute grip cause when I want to play around with kicking the car sideways smaller tires let me do it a lower speeds. Fastest on the street means nothing, fun on the street means everything.

Race - Go as big as you can (within reason, durrr). Look at race miatas, 200lbs running 275s. Or SSM corvettes running 335s weight the same or less than our evo's. Bigger makes also makes massive difference on how long a tire will last before shredding itself to pieces. I cant cord a set of 275 kumho V710s; Ive run two sets up to 3 seasons long which then was probably in the 250+ run range. I can cord a set of 245 kumho's in 120 events.

For street (yeah, again...) I pick the tire for the conditions the car is most in. I live in Oregon, it rains 8 months out of the year. I drive on rain tires.

 

can't you say the same thing about ppl having "438 WHP & 377 WTQ BBK FULL on E85" and never take the car out of 4th gear at the track because they're scared? or about putting on an alcons bbk when they're not even going fast enough to discolor the stock brembos

 

^

 

If he dropped all that coin on alcons then he might just stop posting in this thread because of contradicting himself. lol.

 

Hey I learned to use 5th Marios LOL. I didn't use 5th on the first track day in the evo which is true because I was being cautious about learning the car's behavior, but I was still passing everyone. And as I said earlier on this thread, I am still very slow. I never said I was a race car driver. I just said it was retarded to put 275 all seasons on the car.

As for the Alcons I got em for a good deal and I truly didn't like the stock brakes. I did not feel confident with the feeling of the stock brakes. I tried different fluids, tried different pads, tried the shims, so it's not like I just gave up without trying different things before buying the Alcons. The car just didn't feel like it was slowing down. They turned dark red after the 3rd track day btw

Anyway, I know you don't run 275 All seasons on the street right? That's the point im making. Look back through the thread. I'm not saying wide tires are the devil, I'm saying having a wide non-performance tire doesn't serve any purpose and that I felt some folks in here were using a wide ****ty tire strictly for aesthetics.

 

Since you stated 295's.... specifically. I think you're talking to me as well as Marshall and Dallas. I don't think Hoosiers or R888's are considered all seasons.