My dad has a set of 20x10.5 and 20x11 HRE wheels and he needs to find a good set of tires. I think he has the 545R model wheel. He used to have some Pirellis on them but they slowly wore out and then one got punctured so he bought some Falkens. The Falken GR Beta FK-451 (front) 255/35ZR-20 and (rear) 285/30ZR-20 95 B.
Aside from the fact that the front tire is taller than the rear one they don't look quite right on the wheels. Most obviously they're too small. The rim sticks out further than the tire. Also, my dad says that they don't stick to the ground as well as the pirellis did -duh. So now he's bummed that he bought them -even though he saved like $700 bucks.
My dad wants to sell his new Falkens and get something that has more grip. I don't think road noise should be a problem for him since he's almost deaf now anyway. My dad loves to drive and his Z is his weekend mistress. So can someone please recommend a good tire for these wheels. Thanks in advance!

I want to post pics but I don't know how -I'm a total newb so the best I can do is post a link to my msn space that has some pics of the Z. Unfortunately msn spaces reduces the image quality so they're not great pics. Sorry

-pics-
http://spaces.msn.com/otera-boy/

 

With respect why doesn't your dad post his own questions?

 

He's not good with computers

 

ive seen people with HRE's (the bimmer guys) slap on Michelin Pilot Sports or Yokohama Advans on.....

why dont your dad try Goodyear Eagle F1's...i think those are the ones rated #1 for performance tires by Car & Driver....

 

Thanks! We took the car to a few tire shops and all of them agree that the front needs to be 285 in width and the rear should be around 305-335 in width. Yokohama Advan Sport has those sizes, Michelin says all sizes in its website (but doesn't list sizes), and Goodyear f1s unfortunately just aren't tall and wide enough. Continental has a couple of tires and so does Pirelli. So far that's all I could find.

 

A 255/35R20 would have a side wall hieght of 89.25mm
A 285/30R20 would have a side wall hieght of 85.5mm
So you are correct the front is bigger than the rear.

As far as a tire, I would go with either the Michelin PS2's or the BFgoodrich KDW2 they make both tires in 285/30R20.

Both are really great in dry and wet conditions, about the same.
BFG's will be less money ($292 vs $372 each)
BFG's have a 300 treadwear rating - where as the Michelin's have a 220
Michelin's will have much better ride comfort
Michelin's will have much better road noise

Man am I glad I have 18" wheels, I can buy two tires for the price of one 20" tire!

 

Goodyear Eagle F1's only come in two sizes for R20's:
245/45 YR20 and 255/45 YR20

Again, am I glad I don't have R20's, you are very limited on tires with that rim for Max Perf Summer Tires.

 

Yeah R20s are very limiting, but even more so than that the width of the rear is too much. finding a 285 width for the front isn't too hard, but trying to find 305-335 width for the rear is damn near impossible. The tire guys said that the wheel can actually handle up to 345 in the back.

I like what I hear about the BFG KDW tires but they just don't make them wide enough. Yeah, tall fat *** wheels are almost more trouble than they're worth. For the rear wheel it will cost no less than $400 a tire. $450 for Continental, $475 or $560 for Pirelli, and I haven't had a chance yet to check on the Yokohamas. Road noise, comfort, and tire wear are not a concern -since the Z is not a daily driver but a weekend car. More concerned with performance, agressive styling, and price.

 

Your wheel may be able to handle a 345 in back, but unless you have a wide body kit, I don't think the Z will (even with the fenders rolled)
Why do you need a 345? Are you making insaine hp?

 

No insane hp planned (carb legal mods only so maybe a S/C next year), especially since R20s are usually all about style and aren't the best wheels for performance. So far the Z is stock and it can peel out with 285 Falkens, but when the Pirellis were on it just went. When the tire shop guys searched for tires that would fit those wheels 345s were the first things that the computer found. He said it was because 345 Pirellis come stock on some Porsches and so there are more of them. Won't go with 345s though. At one of the tire shops the guy who was helping us said that if it was him then he would just save his $, leave the car the way it is, and deal with the fact that it looks odd.

As for rubbing I really have no idea what the Z can handle. It's not lowered, actually it's taller than before. My dad doesn't have to drive it like a low car; actually, the stock suspension is stiff enough that there is absolutely no concern when driving over dips, speed bumps, drive ways, or when parking. But since the newer tires are gonna be a lower profile 25-30 (most likely 25) I don't know how the Z will look. It may have to be lowered 1/2" or an 1" to make it look clean (don't know really).

If it did rub where would it rub, inside the wheel well? There hasn't been any rubbing or problems since he put them on. When the wheels were mounted there was no offset done. They just put them on no problem. Also, to check if the fronts could handle a 285 width we swapped the front wheels with the rear ones and tested it out. No rubbing at all. As for the steering radius, I never had the chance to drive the Z on stock wheels but even with our test setup it still cornered well. Still able to run circles around any mustang.

 

The BFGs get my vote...