Any thoughts on mismatched tire brand between front and rear of the car? Here's the situation...
I have 949 racing 9"/10" - 17" wheels. Currently mounted on them I have 225/45 and 265/40 Star Specs gen 1. The fronts are finally toast, the rears are ~1/2 life left. I need to replace the fronts, the rears are going to wait. I'm planning for 245/45 in front and eventually 275/40 in the rear to retain the stock stagger, plus this setup has the same tire diameter (25.7"). Here's the rub, there are very few tires out there that come in both sizes in 200 (extreme) tread wear ratings. Tire rack only has Toyo Proxes R1R. Discount Tire Direct has the Falken Azenis. (Any reviews on these tires?)

So here's the options:
1. Buy a star spec 245/45 to match the rear tire now. When the rear tire needs replacement, buy a 275/40 of an alternate brand (or hope that star specs come in 275 in a year)
2. Buy a Toyo/Falken 245/45 now, assuming they will still be available in 275/45 in a year.
3. Buy any good brand 245/45 for the front now since rears are old gen 1 star specs anyway, and have a mismatched rear in the future.

Opinions are appreciated!!

I will pre-answer some inevitable questions
-no, I'm not going to a square setup
-yes, I will consider a 255 tire up front if there is some value
-the car is stock ride height on stock suspension with Eibach anti roll bars

 

http://www.onlinetires.com/user/vehi...ds/page_1.html Check those out man.

 

I think a 255 square setup, lowered ride height, aftermarket suspension, and OEM anti roll bars would work really well for you.

200TW tires don't last all that long anyways. I would go with the 245/275 Falken setup that you want now.

 

I see what you did there

I don't have the cash flow for the rear tires right now, plus there's plenty of life left in them.

 

I hope your sizes are just all typos because you should't be running a 245/45/17. The correct size is 245/40/17. In fact if your current setup is 265/45 that is also the wrong size it should be a 40 side wall for all these sizes.

 

you are correct about the 265/40, I fixed my first post.
245/45 is correct, it matches the sidewall height of the 275/40, 4.33". 245/40 is the OE rear, 3.86" sidewall. To use that in the front, I'd match it with a 275/35 in the rear with 3.79" sidewall, but it is a size that does not exist.

 

Id rather run a 255/40 then a narrower/taller 245/45 on the front. If your stuck on the 275/40 for the rear, I think the 255 would be better overall grip and handling for the front. Its alright to go a little shorter tire up front.

275/40 is a rather tall donut though. You have to ask yourself if the added 20mm of width over a 255 is going to benefit you more then the taller gearing change, added sidewall deflection/handing and tire weight compromise, to still be in your favor as a grip performance upgrade.

With a 9/10 rim width stagger, the optimum tire widths for the best handing and grip from those tires would be better suited for a 245/40-255/40 mate. Even a 235/40 up front on a 9". The few 265/40 I have seen don’t offer any actual tread width over most 255/40, they just end up being taller, which is compromising.

Food for thought.

 

I use to run 255/40/17 in the front and 275/40/17 on the back nitto nt05 and I loved them. The increased gearing from a 275/40 is like going to a 3.9 rear final drive and it really does help a lot when your over 400whp. There is a very noticeable grip advantage between a 255/40 and a 275/40.

A nt05 275/40/17 is only 25.5 inches in diameter. There are plenty of s2000 guys that run almost a 26 inch tire. Like people running 275/35/18 or 255/50/16.

 

A typical 275/40 is 25.7". Nitto breaks the mold on that, which is nice actually. But as strait line as the primary motive/benefit, i agree with you, and certainly with being boosted, a 275/40 will have more benefit. I didn't catch if the OP was after strait line as the primary consideration, i assumed not, but rather a N/A set up with handling and gearing considered. Overall more balanced performance. Now if he said 295/35/17 then id be all for it

 

I ran a 255 on the 10" wheel in the past, the tire was stretched and the ride was very harsh. I stepped up to a 265 in the rear and the ride smoothed out. I would prefer a 265 in the rear and a 235 in front, but there's no tires in that size. The new generation of Star Specs has a much more limited range of sizes for 17" wheels than the 1st gen.

The car is NA. I do take it autoX and HPDE when the time and budget permit. These days, it's not too often with baby, baby on the way, and just bought a new house last week.

A slightly taller rear tire may actually help on the track to keep me in 2nd and 3rd gears a little longer for some turns and avoiding 5th on longish straights. It definitely would have helped on Pocono north course. Hmmm