What width tires do to handling/performance?

[Guest jjohart]

Hi, I've got an 83 280ZXT and I was considering a set of staggered wheels (9 in front/10 rear) which I would sure as hell need flares for! Apart from that, would my car's acceleration be slowed down by increased rotational mass? Would the car require increased steering effort (excessive)? I would assume there would be more road noise in the car.

What about handling changes with ultra high performance tires? I assume the wider rears will make the car more of an oversteerer. Would the car ride a lot harder? Would it tend to follow crowned roads/uneven pavement?

Thanks

John

[Brad-ManQ45]

Wider tires on the rear would make it more of an understeerer.

 

I have an '83 ZXT T3/T4 3" exhaust, and I run 205/55/16 and 225/50/16 tires on it with biger bars, eibach and illuminas.

 

I like the way it rides and handles - certainly capable of more than I would use on the street!

 

If you are going to autocross or race, fine, but for a daily driver, I wouldn't go that big and expensive.

 

On my V* Z ('75), I'm gonna go max around 235 width...

[V8ZRACER260Z]

Well many questions to answer.

1. Would my car's acceleration be slowed down by increased rotational mass?

A This depends on the current weight of your rims & tires. It is possible to run a wider tire that weighs the same as your current setup. How ever the wider tires would allow furthe Hp increases to offset any losses.

2. Would the car require increased steering effort (excessive)?

A This would not be noticble as your car is equiped with power steering.

3. I would assume there would be more road noise in the car.

A depends on the tread pattern of the tire but more than likely the answer will be yes there will be more road noise.

4. What about handling changes with ultra high performance tires?

A This is why we put wider tires on our cars asside fron the looks of course. The wider tire increases the contact patch of the tire. This in turn will allow better cornering, braking & acceleration depending on your suspension set up. Just going to wider tires will not improve any of these areas dramatically, but you will notice a difference.

5. I assume the wider rears will make the car more of an oversteerer.

A Quite the opposite. The wider tires in the rear will provide more traction and therefore increase your cars Understeering. Oversteering is when the front sticks more than the rear. Understeering is more desireable on a street only car as if you "loose it" you are more likely to hit something head on. The opposite would be a loose car in which the back end would break loose sending you into a spin and your quess on which end will hit first.

6. Would the car ride a lot harder?

A This depends on the profile of the tire and the brand you choose. More than likely you will experience a slightly stiffer ride.

7. Would it tend to follow crowned roads/uneven pavement?

A This will depend on how wide of a tire you run. Generally speaking a wder tire will follow imperfections in the road more.

 

Hope this helps you out. Rick

[Roggaman]

Hi, I've got an 83 280ZXT and I was considering a set of staggered wheels (9 in front/10 rear) which I would sure as hell need flares for!

 

Depends on what tires you're using.

I run 265/50-14 in the rear and only had to adjust the inner lip a little.

 

There shouldn't be any problems with say 225 up front and 265 in the rear if u keep the overall diam slightly smaller than stock.

 

What about handling changes with ultra high performance tires? I assume the wider rears will make the car more of an oversteerer. Would the car ride a lot harder? Would it tend to follow crowned roads/uneven pavement?

 

Depends on how well you set up the car.

With my 215 up front and 265 in the rear, my car should understeer, but I've changed the settings (wider front track, more camber up front for ex.) so the car is very neutral, even slightly closer to oversteered, and behave very well on the road and on track.