great info..thank you. looks like i'm stuck with very limited options as i run 19" wheels... i guess the michelins will be my best bet...

 

Sentry, the only caveat I'm going to throw at you about using DOT-R tires is that all of them are pretty crappy in the wet compared to a regular street tire. If I lived in the dry southwest like you I'd be more inclined to run these, but anybody who drives their car on a wet road condition will have more hydroplaning issues with these kind of tires, especially if they hit standing water.

There's no question they grip more in the dry. But the rubber compound and tread pattern comes at the expensive of water evacuation for wet grip and tire life.

BTW, I think your tires were discontinued for the Corsa System. Its a combo of directional tires in the front and asymmetrical on the rear.

 

yeah that's all true about them having worse wet traction. As long as there isn't much water, they can be ok. But yeah I wouldn't mess around with a high hp car in the wet anyway

yeah the corsa system is out, but doesn't have the same sizes available

...I've actually considered running kumho V710's on the street - only when dry of course (Z isn't my daily driver). They'll last only about 3000 miles at best with normal driving, but they don't cost as much either. You can often find people selling them with 5 laps worth of use for really cheap. Then I'd have full traction in 1st gear. The guys who are into lighting up the tires would chalk that up to not having enough power, but whatever. 0-60 in less than 4 seconds would be possible and that's plenty of power when you consider it'd all be put to real use

 

Great job Sharif... I do like the idea of a gear based boost controler...would help out a lot of folks with heavy feet.
As for tires. I have the PS2's and while I think they are pretty good, I LOVE my DR's even if they are dangerous. LOL... So I think I will be replacing my 19's with another set of 18's and them put either a 295 or larger NT01's on for normal driving.

 

Yeah, tires are very important if you want that good ride out of a F/I Z... for my 463 whp I put 295/30 19" Potenza RE050A and let me tell you the car hook up perfect, I believe they can handle 500 whp for street use. tires are 140 treadwear and trust me they stick very well... and they aren't expensive:


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=0

 

you can hook 1st gear with 295 RE050A's with 463whp on a greddy TT???

 

OT but-I cant decide on doing 295/30 or 295/35 for my next tires. I think the 35 series sidewall will be too big (although Sentry yours look good) and the 295/30 looks good but on a tire calc it seems small (diameter) compared to my current 285/35 19....

 

Well 1st gear is a little tricky, but 2nd and up for sure

 

that's still pretty good.

First gear is just too damn short compared to the rest of the gears.

 

Yeah I dunno which would be better. Kinda depends. I don't think there's any real danger of a large diameter tire rubbing on anything really except possibly the fender if the wheel offset is aggressive

If the widths are the same, a bigger diameter tire will put slightly more contact patch on the ground for more traction, but at the cost of slightly slower accelleration. In your case with the power you have, that'd mainly come into play in the higher gears since you have more than enough power to overwelm the tires in 1st and 2nd etc (without your MT ET's)


the other thing to consider possibly is how far different the diameter is in the rear vs front compared to the stock diameter. It can throw your ABS off a little and obviously VDC/TCS if they happen to be turned on

Personally, I like the look of having some rubber in the rear filling up the wheel arch. It looks more classic to my eyes than being mostly all wheel back there with a smaller strip of rubber around the wheel. I know in my case, I'd opt for a 305/35/18 before going to a 315/30/18 partly because of the look from the side, but also because the 35 will have more forward traction than the 30, though 315 being a cm wider would probably negate that anyway. I like the rear tires to be noticably bigger looking as much as possible than the fronts

 

I still cant decide on a tire that is safe for dry and wet roads. I dont want to drive around with a high hp car on wet road, but eventually its gonna happen the way summer storms pop up.

 

295/35 is to high fo a 19" wheel... trust me the perfect fit is 295/30 with 10.5 wheel on the rear

 

I went round in circles for years, trying to lock into the best tire. Just like turbo kits...there is no best tire for everything.

You have to be honest with yourself, and determine if you want a tire that sticks in a straight line, OR turns really really nicely. It is nearly impossible to find a tire 100% STREET tire that does both at a high level.

IMHO, one of the best cornering tires for the street is the Michelin PS2. Very stiff sidewalls, means it turns in with razor sharp precision, and gives amazing grip in the corners. In exchange for this, you have to live with par straight line traction, as the those sidewalls, dont offer much weight transfer, and the inner tread is designed for water channeling...not grip.

When its time for some real speeds at the track, I swap for my 18'inch TE37's, and either Hoosiers, or NT-01's. I have no issues with grip as long as i keep the power at 525whp or less.

Best of luck in your search! Just thought I would share my opinion.

 

Have you ever thought of using a 305/30 tire on your setup?

 

That is the tire i am running in the back. Looks great, IMHO. I agree the 35's look a little tall, as I used to have a 295/35 in the rear.

 

Did you have to roll your fenders for the 305/30/19? Or do you have a conservative offset? I'm running 275/35/19 right now on my G35, but will probably switch to something larger when my tires are up for replacement because I should be needing the wider rear footprint by then.

 

Yea, I'm curious Sharif. Did you shave the fenders? Lift the back up more with your coilover system? And what about your camber, SPC type arms? how much +/- camber outback? This would be very useful info as I'm researching this type of setup.

 

I use a 295/30/19 on a 10" wheel. I agree it is the best size tire for a FI Z. I am running the ADVAN Sport tires. it's the best tire I have used to date. I had the PS2 previously. They weren't as sticky as the ADVANS, but they did have very stiff sidewalls.

JET

 

what if anything has been done to the block (just wondering cause i have seen 420whp at 8psi)

 

this is strange to me because lots of people complain that the PS2's sidewall isn't that stiff. For instance EVO guys, when they go from their stock tires to PS2's, they complain that the steering feel becomes a little more vague because the sidewall distorts more