Is this just my imagination>>>>
05-24-2015, 01:08 PM
#1
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Is this just my imagination>>>>
I recently changed my tires and rims on my AP1. I went to 17 inch wheels and tires. The tires are all season 17" Falken ZE 950's 215/45 Front 245/40 Rear At 70 the car feels less stable than it did, like it wants to drift. On curves, whether its a back road or interstate when I approach 65 it feels like it wants to drift, like its starting to float. I do not remember this being the case on the AS 16 Bridgestone Portenza's that came on the car. The tire and wheel dealer said no problem moving to 17". Several friends and forum members reiterated that. Was there some suspension dynamic that I needed to address or am I chasing poltergeist? Thanks much Stan
05-24-2015, 02:04 PM
#2
What tires did you have on the 16 inch rims - Potenza what ? Going from 16 to 17 inch rims shouldn't affect anything but going from a high performance tire to a mediocre tire can definitely feel worse.
I used to think that decent all-seasons were ok for daily driving, despite many people saying that you should really run high performance tires with treadwear 200 or less. I just took a trip to the Dragon with a mid-level performance tire on the front rims and my car felt terrible - not a drifting condition but pushing really bad in corners, really bad understeer and floaty as the front had no traction. This week I slapped on a set of Bridgeston RE-11a's and it is a night and day difference, my car now is willing to rotate through the corner like it was meant to be. I wish I had these tires last month at the Dragon. I think the issue with your car could be tire related.
On a side note I would double check your toe alignment settings for good measure, and ouble check your tire pressures too. Wheel size should not be an issue.
I used to think that decent all-seasons were ok for daily driving, despite many people saying that you should really run high performance tires with treadwear 200 or less. I just took a trip to the Dragon with a mid-level performance tire on the front rims and my car felt terrible - not a drifting condition but pushing really bad in corners, really bad understeer and floaty as the front had no traction. This week I slapped on a set of Bridgeston RE-11a's and it is a night and day difference, my car now is willing to rotate through the corner like it was meant to be. I wish I had these tires last month at the Dragon. I think the issue with your car could be tire related.
On a side note I would double check your toe alignment settings for good measure, and ouble check your tire pressures too. Wheel size should not be an issue.
05-24-2015, 03:30 PM
#3
When you put new tires on a car, there is a layer of oil on the tire, for the first 500 miles or so, tire manufacturers advise not to go 70mph for this very reason. After about two full tanks of gas the tires will grip a bit more as the top layer is worn off.
05-24-2015, 03:38 PM
#4
What tires did you have on the 16 inch rims - Potenza what ? Going from 16 to 17 inch rims shouldn't affect anything but going from a high performance tire to a mediocre tire can definitely feel worse.
I always thought decent all-seasons were fine on our car for daily driving, despite many people saying that you should really run high performance tires with treadwear 200 or less. I just took a trip to the Dragon with a mid-level performance tire on the front rims and my car felt terrible - not a drifting condition but pushing really bad in corners, really bad understeer and floaty as the front had no traction. This week I slapped on a set of Bridgeston RE-11a's and it is a night and day difference, my car now wants to rotate through the corner like it was meant to be. I wish I had these tires last month at the Dragon. I think the issue with your car could be tire related.
I would double check your toe alignment settings for good measure, but I think your tires are the weak point. Double check your tire pressures too. Wheel size should not be an issue.
I always thought decent all-seasons were fine on our car for daily driving, despite many people saying that you should really run high performance tires with treadwear 200 or less. I just took a trip to the Dragon with a mid-level performance tire on the front rims and my car felt terrible - not a drifting condition but pushing really bad in corners, really bad understeer and floaty as the front had no traction. This week I slapped on a set of Bridgeston RE-11a's and it is a night and day difference, my car now wants to rotate through the corner like it was meant to be. I wish I had these tires last month at the Dragon. I think the issue with your car could be tire related.
I would double check your toe alignment settings for good measure, but I think your tires are the weak point. Double check your tire pressures too. Wheel size should not be an issue.
Max performance summer tires =
Continental conti-sport 3
Bridgestone S-04 pole position(oem tire)
Hankook V12 Ventus
Sumitomo HTR 3
Michellin Pilot sport
Pirelli P-zero
All tires with a 250 - 320 tread wear rating
Extreme performance tires =
Hankook RS3
Federal RSR
Bridgestone RE-07 RE-11
Goodyear G-force Rivals
Dunlop ZZ2 Speedstars
Advan Neova AV-08
All tires with around a 200 tread wear rating
Anything harder than Max summer and you basically just killed the handling of the car.
05-24-2015, 08:58 PM
#5
17 are better than 16. Did you have the rim/tire package checked for balance? Does the car drive straight? Wobble? Weird noise? If rims/tires are round and balanced and alignment is good, it's the tire difference. Play with air pressure to see what feels optimal and keep driving/scrubbing them.
05-26-2015, 09:43 AM
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Guys, Thanks very much for your input. Wheels were balanced when I upgraded. I will check he tread ware rating The Bridgestone Portenza G009 with a tread ware of 480 and they were getting near the end of their life. The Falkens are rated at 500. A very hard tire. More than likely I am looking at a tire issue. Stan
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05-27-2015, 01:57 PM
#8
I recently changed my tires and rims on my AP1. I went to 17 inch wheels and tires. The tires are all season 17" Falken ZE 950's 215/45 Front 245/40 Rear At 70 the car feels less stable than it did, like it wants to drift. On curves, whether its a back road or interstate when I approach 65 it feels like it wants to drift, like its starting to float. I do not remember this being the case on the AS 16 Bridgestone Portenza's that came on the car. The tire and wheel dealer said no problem moving to 17". Several friends and forum members reiterated that. Was there some suspension dynamic that I needed to address or am I chasing poltergeist? Thanks much Stan
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