I think it would be unfair of your to judge everyone based on your level of driving ability Shaun! Now you've got your car setup considerably better, would you say your tyres go further in terms of handling and driveabilty. Compound is much more important than width for a road car, although wider usually means you can get away with softer tyres for the same wear rate.

215/45 17 R888s are an awesome road tyre for a fair weather "weekend car", but they could get a bit spendy in the long term depending on how far you lean on them. With a 370hp car I've known people to get 18,000 pure road miles out of them.

 

Paul,
Changing the way the suspension was set has made a marked improvement to handling/confidence on the road, even with the current 225's on, granted. I do not think I push the car *that* hard on the road (or perhaps I do, as I can quite easily go beyond the capabilities of the T1-R tyre), but I suspect that running a better compound than T1-R's (I seem to get a feeling from quite a few that these are not the best tyre I could use by a long way) would certainly see another marked improvement. Running something like a 888 on the road, is a whole new ball game from my experience.... although I also appreciate this is not the best comparison marker.

I just could not comprehend how a 215 would be that good at coping with the requirements of 500/500 if driven other than like "Miss Daisy", but then in hindsight, I realise you don't need 500bhp to go quickly on the road. I appreciate that the wider the tyre, the increased tramlining (I am sure I am not alone in experiencing this to a degree even on 225's on a Newage), but I would of thought the added benefit of greater contact patch and the perceived increase in grip, may negate that. I was obviously wrong on that, based on other experiences explained on this thread. I also assumed that a bigger rim, would provide less flex (with lower profile tyre) which would help... again this has been highlighted not to be the case on a Classic without other downsides.

 

My new-age runs on (show/summer) 19" OZs with R888s and it's just astoundingly grippy.

It's almost boring at 400 bhp.... too grippy and planted.

dunx

P.S. Impreza hatch WRX comes with 205's on a 7" rim.... physics be damned !

 

mus, as mentioned by P20SPD, then I reckon you won't go too far wrong with F1 Asymms in winter, R888s in summer/trackdays. I have F1 Asymms in 215/45 R17 and they are way better IMO than my previous Toyo T1-R 215/40 R 17.

RCM offer a "handcut grooves" service on the R888s for extra water dispersal, which is probably wise in our climate.

 

215 45 17 it is then cheers everyone

 

215/40 R17 is the closest 17" tyre size to the Classic's OEM rolling circumfence.

When I mentioned the sizes I wasn't comparing them (I was comparing the compound/tread effectiveness). Just that the F1's didn't come in the desired 215/40 R17 at the time, only the 45 profile!

By all means, whatever tyre you decide on, try to see if you can get it in 215/40 R17 - will keep the speedo as accrate as poss., plus will give a bit more precise handling, without adding too much extra harshness to the ride...

 

40 would be more harsher than 45 as 40 is a lower profile

 

lol yeah that's what I said ^^^ (but more precise handling to boot )..... So I'm assuming you actually WANT the 45's i.e. you'd rather have the more pliant riide, right? (Which, of course, is fair enough )

 

Joz I am running 225/45/17s and the speedo is dot on accurate, verified by gps and handling is spot on

Banny

 

Yeah but banny is yours a New Age, though.

I've worked out the theoretical OEM rolling circumference for the Classic based on the MY97>on 205/50 R16 OEM fit tyre, and it's 1920mm. The closest 17" tyre's R.C. is the 225/40 R17 which is bang on the same at 1921mm!

225/45 R17 gives 1992mm so the tyre travels 2.8" or 4% further for every revolution. Therefore your speedo should underread a tad, compared to actual road speed... or is it the other way around? (I can't think properly! lol)

(Pi was taken as 3.14 for the above calcs).

 

Ive got 215/45/17's on mine

 

Same here.

My MY93 car originally came with 205/55 R15 tyre as OEM fitment for a R.C. of 1904mm. The 215/45 R17 gives 1963mm so again, speedo should underread a bit. Which mine does... compared to my Snooper Evo's GPS roadspeed readout (I think I've got that the right way round?).

Closest 17" tyre would be the 215/40 R17 for 1896mm - 8mm/0.3" or only 0.4% out!

But my Eagle F1 Asymms don't come in 215/40 R17... only 215/45 R17 (well, that certainly was the case when I bought 'em...).

 

you guys are getting way too tech for lol

ok 225 45 17 then is that better lol

 

Might need your arches rolled depending on alloys mate

 

Mus, is yours a MY93/94/95 v.1 or MY95/96 v.2 or a MY97-00 v.3-6? Or New Age?

They had different sized tyres as the OEM fitment (see above for the Classic fitments), so will dictate your chosen 17" tyre size (that is, only if you're bothered in having an as-close-as-possible R.C. as the OEM fitment).

 

Both have classics

 

anger that sounds like a lot of work so thanks for saving me a bit bucks.

john - i drive a ver type r

ill stick to basics keep it simple 215 45 17 lol

thanks

 

Joz this is on the classic and speedo is accurate with that tyre size, even though I expect it to underead. The newage car is getting either 235 or 245/40/18 on its next tyre change.

Banny

 

I've just realised a reason why!

I'm certain by law, that the speedo at an indicated 30mph has to overread by a few percent (plus it tends to overread throughout its whole scale as well). The idea being that you never go over the speed limit - if obviously keeping to the indicated limits - whilst going by speedo's readout.

So becuase the bigger tyres cause it to underread, then this is negated by the OEM overreading speedo, thus bringing it back to being all but bang-on accurate! Probably.

 

Joz that is too much thinking for a Sunday morning, my head hurts just from reading it

Banny

 

I've totally gone off on one in the latter stages in this thread!

 

The speedo is required to work in the range of 0 to +10% IIRC.

dunx

 

Sure.


Also, the rozzers' 'persuit' cars' speedos are required by law to be totally accurate, and they are supposed to be calibrated every morning. (yeah right)... Or is this all naive-thinking, out-of-date urban myth stuff, now that they are obviously fitted with GPS-based persuit tracking systems?

 

I was thinking MOT, rather than enforcement...

I'm old and slow, speed is rarely an issue....



dunx

 

Yeah sure.


I was just adding something related and purely anecdotal.