I've got the optional 18 inch o.z wheels on my P1 with p-zeros (225/35's). I previously had a Uk 4 door with eibach springs and 17's with Goodyear F1 rubber.
I'm just getting used to the P1's handling, but i'm finding it alot more nervous, and unable to smooth out any bumps like my old scoob did, and it doesnt feel as planted on the road.
I've decided that this could be down to a number of reasons:
1, Lower profile tyres.
2, Crap p-zeros (had them for a while on my old car and didnt like 'em then. Seem to need alot of temperature in them for any grip)
3, The P1's suspension characteristics or stiffer 2 door shell(?)
4, I'm going alot quicker than i was before! ;):D
5, I'm just crap! :(

I dont really want to loose the 18's, but was thinking about getting different tyres and seeing if they improve things. Maybe even with a 40 profile, if they're available for 18's and will fit without scrubbing.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,

Steve

[Edited by Steve Fort - 10/10/2002 2:23:59 PM]

On the PZeros - Porsche are still fitting big ones to new 911s so I don't think that is the root cause. Despite what people say I find them a good road tyre in anything but the wet where I grant you, there are better. Goodyear F1 GSD3's next

Steve

The p-zero is the only tyre from my understanding that you can put on the p1 in that size(225/35/18).All other makes of tyre seem to foul on the rear arches.
You can go smaller(215/35/18)and put any make of tyre on,but this then reduces the amount of protection for the rim.

I've seen on here that other people have run there p1's on falkens and goodyears and had no problems.But to be on the safe side I chose the p-zero(225/35/18)for my p1 just to make sure I didn't have any problems.

As for the p-zero being crap I know alot of people on here don't like them,but I've never had a problem with them myself.I just make sure I don't push the car too hard in the wet.

>>>The p-zero is the only tyre from my understanding that you can put on the p1 in that size(225/35/18).All other makes of tyre seem to foul on the rear arches.

Not true .... I'm driving the P1 rims with Yokohama AVS Sport 225/35/18 and no problem with the rear arches whatsoever.

cheers
Rene

Or me. Falken 451's 225/35/18
These are exellent value for money!

What pressures are you using ?

A decent geometry setup may help if not done already.

My P1 felt glued to the road on 18's, so something sounds wrong....

Russell,

I'm driving 3.0 bar (about 42 psi ???) on 225/35/18"

cheers
Rene

i run 33/34 psi front, 31/32 psi rear on my 18''

mikee

Steve,

a number of things will contribute. Firstly, I am without doubt in what you say that you are travelling faster than you were in your previous car.

I would also suggest the springs. you ran Eibachs before and presumably now you're running the OEM springs. I ran Eibachs for 18 months and found these to be superb on UK roads, I only changed to coilovers as I undertook a lot of track work and found when running slicks I had too much grip than the Eibachs could cope with. However, on a typical British road I cannot travel as fast as I could before.

I have never driven an Impreza on 18's but IMO they are too big. You can 'overtyre' a car and maybe this is what has happened?? I know it's nice to have wheels that fill the arches but I personally would stick with something I know works. I'm sure I read somewhere that the opional 18's had an adverse effect on the P1s handling characteristics.

When everyone swapped their 16s for 17s on the classics they fitted 215/40/17, the P1 came with 205's, I'm sure there was a reason behind this.......it's not all about the maximum grip available from the widest tyre.