Unicron

A member asked me about my tire setup on my e-mail, and I responded so much...I thought someone else here could make use of the information (opinion) also.

I currently have a 18x7.5 (+48mm), and 18x8.5 (+50mm) wheel setup. The tires I am running are the Yokohama Parada 215/40/18 and the Toyo Proxes T1-S 245/35/18

http://www.toyo.com/tires/tire_lines/high_...h_perf/t1s.html
http://www.yokohamatire.com/04b2k.html

First of all I picked these two tires brands because there is no manufacturer I know of that makes both 215/40/18 and 245/35/18. There are a bunch of manufacturers that make 225/40/18 and 255/35/18, but those are a bit larger than the stock diameter, and the 255's would probably rub the fender of my car because it is lowered.

Well...I'm going to compare the Parada and T1-S setup to stock.

1st...I like the stock setup, except for two things. The rear S02 doesn't last squat with my driving (or frequent launching, I should say)...and the grooves for water channeling are minimal. So...in a couple months with the S02's...I will be having hydroplaning problems. The T1-S and the Parada are longer lasting tires and have huge water channels, which decreases the contact patch for performance...but hey, these are my daily/allseason tire setup.

2nd...the rear stock setup has more grip than the T1-S setup. The stock rears are wider than the 245/35/18's. I measured the road contact surface to be greater than 8 inches on the S02's and less than 8 inches on the T1-S. The S02's have a pretty good holding on the road, but they don't give much audible warning that they are about to break road holding...and when they do break...hold on to your hat...because it seems like you are no longer in control. The T1-S starts chirping when road holding is about to break, and when it does...I find them a bit easier to control. But...that is also because I am traveling at a lower speed when breaking road holding with the T1-S as compared to the S02's. My friend says that the S02's almost behave like R Compounds...they give no warning to when they are going to break road holding (that's why he autocrosses on street tires). When I launch with the S02's...I can launch with 7000 easy with a hard pull...with the T1-S...I can't launch any higher than 6.5 K without causing too much spinout. I have to gtech my launches with both wheel setups to see if and how much time I am loosing with the 18's.

Overall...I like driving on the T1-S for daily commute. The tread even seems to hold up pretty good for my weekend pop the clutch at 6.25K RPM's. I feel that the Paradas have less grip than the T1-S (not regarding size difference...215 vs 245). But I like that, because it is easier to achieve a 4 wheel slide.



[Edited by Unicron on 03-21-2001 at 09:57 AM]