e46 'ring tyres?

[CTO3]

hi folks

have a standard e46 m3 coupe which went on its first 'ring trip last week. performed really well apart from the tyres. its got 19inch vredstein giugario sessantas at the minute which seem ok in the wet but not much grip and lots of sidewall flex on cornering (was running 42psi front, 39 rears). for future trips was thinking of getting some 18inch alloys + putting toyo 888's on. anyone done this? any possible probs if i do so? is it ok to just change wheels from 19 to 18 inch without altering anything else?

thanks

conleth

[dan101smith]

You'll be fine swapping to 18s, but if you go for the 888s you want to hope there's no rain!

[CTO3]

cheers dan

the plan was to keep the vredsteins on to drive down on, put 18's in the back with the rear seats folded down so if dry change to 888's, if wet run the vredsteins. they def can be a bit 'interesting' in the wet - run them on the noble which stays in the garage if looking wet

thanks

conleth

[rassi]

Why not get a tyre that performs in all conditions, such as Michelin PS2 or Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric?

[mmm-five]

rassi said:

Why not get a tyre that performs in all conditions, such as Michelin PS2 or Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric?

Mainly because any road tyre is going to be a compromise.

A dry track tyre (R888, A0048r, Pilot Sport Cup, P-Zero Corsa, etc) will be much better in the dry but useless in rain, whereas a proper rain tyre like the Uniroyal Rainsport will be great in the wet but won't be much fun (i.e. slow) in the dry.

The PS2 is good on the road in the wet as is the F1 - however neither will give you the grip of a track tyre in the dry. If you've got the space to take two sets then I'd go that route - 18's will be fine (and probably even provide a bit more feedback).

[rassi]

mmm-five said:

rassi said:

Why not get a tyre that performs in all conditions, such as Michelin PS2 or Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric?

Mainly because any road tyre is going to be a compromise.

A dry track tyre (R888, A0048r, Pilot Sport Cup, P-Zero Corsa, etc) will be much better in the dry but useless in rain, whereas a proper rain tyre like the Uniroyal Rainsport will be great in the wet but won't be much fun (i.e. slow) in the dry.

The PS2 is good on the road in the wet as is the F1 - however neither will give you the grip of a track tyre in the dry. If you've got the space to take two sets then I'd go that route - 18's will be fine (and probably even provide a bit more feedback).

I agree with that, only the OP said he had taken his car to the Ring for the first time, so from that I concluded that he might not go very often to a track event, in which case a tyre that could deal with everything (but yes, that is of course a compromise) would be more rational.

For dedicated track tyres, your opinion is very valid.

[CTO3]

cool

cheers fellas

are the sizes for 18's the same cross section + profile - 225/40 and 255/35 as per 19's?
is the classifieds best place to look for some 18's, has anyone got a set they're getting rid of?


conleth

Edited by CTO3 on Friday 5th September 12:38

[braddersm3]

surely the chances of a dry track are so slim now,i would advise letting a few psi out of your road tyres and getting to learn the place first.Just an opinion!

[CTO3]

was my first trip to the 'ring in the m3, thought i'd try it for comfort on the way down. also an good car to learn the track in. done about 35-40 laps now so starting to make alot more sense. had to put psi up in road tyres not down to get any sort of decent performance out of them. thats why i was after advice on running a more track orientated tyre on the m3

thanks again

conleth

Edited by CTO3 on Wednesday 24th September 14:24

[GTWayne]

I have a Z4MC that comes standard with 18" rims, I changed to 19" CSL's ( YAWN, I know, but what else is there? ) but have gone back to 18" rims but not for the same reason as you are thinking. Without boring you with the details, I was not able to notice any major difference but to be fair, it was not only the wheels that I changed.
Having used them now I am inclined to stick with them and in your case would say that for the Nordschleife at least, you can not go wrong. There is a wider choice of tyre available in this size rim and they are of course less expensive
Although when I changed from 19" to 18" the aspect ratio of the tyre increased by 5%, there was no noticeable difference in more side wall flex but that may have been due to the Yokohama AO48's having a stiffer carcass than some other 35/40 section tyres? The 19" wheels that I had previously used had PSII's fitted so along with the lower profile they were also fairly stiff so to not notice any appreciable flex in the AO48's was a fair assessment I feel.
By the way, I tried these two different set ups at Goodwood with only a three week break in between but as I said above, these were not the only changes made.