How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE - MotoIQ about:reader?url=https://motoiq.com/how-to-properly-select-and-size-tire... motoiq.com How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE - MotoIQ byBilly Johnson 5-7 minutes How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE Posted on August 24, 2015September 3, 2018 How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE 1 of 6 1/4/2019, 10:19 AM How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE - MotoIQ about:reader?url=https://motoiq.com/how-to-properly-select-and-size-tire... by Billy Johnson The most important part of your car is not the engine, suspension, or brakes. It’s the TIRES!!! This is because your car can only perform as well as the capability of its tires. I’m often asked which tire is best and what size to buy. In this article I discuss my methods for choosing and properly sizing the right tires. I’m not into the “hella-flush” or “stance” scenes so this article is focused towards those who care about the PERFORMANCE of their car, whether on the street or on the track. Pirelli had the best slogan for a tire company: “Power is nothing without control.” This is true for all forms of driving since it does not matter how much power you have if you can’t put it to the ground, it doesn’t matter how much you spend on a big brake kit if they easily lock up the tires, and your $7,000 coilovers can only deliver the performance that your tires are capable of. It really does not matter how great and expensive your car is or how much money you’ve put into modifying it if you cheap out on tires; which is the only component on your car that actually touches the road. 2 of 6 1/4/2019, 10:19 AM How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE - MotoIQ about:reader?url=https://motoiq.com/how-to-properly-select-and-size-tire... I often see really nice cars with a ton of money thrown at it in power upgrades and ‘blingy’ wheels wearing an improperly sized tire or something that is obviously not up to the capabilities of the car. Most people really do not understand the importance of their tires, not only from a performance standpoint but from a safety standpoint as well. This includes the age of the tire. In order to have a better ‘show’, keep costs down, and regulate competition, most racing series use a “spec” tire. For those series that allow for more than one tire manufacturer, tire wars ensue and millions of dollars are spent in developing tires which often determine the success of a team or car. Tires are consumable and expensive, but this should not be a justification for crippling the handling of your sports car, sports sedan, or minivan. Whether you’re trying to break records and win races on the track or simply avoiding an accident on the street, 3 of 6 1/4/2019, 10:19 AM How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE - MotoIQ about:reader?url=https://motoiq.com/how-to-properly-select-and-size-tire... choosing the right tire will often dictate the success of either. There are 3 main steps that I follow when looking for tires: CHOOSE A TIRE CATEGORY, SIZE THE TIRE, and SELECT A TIRE. SIZE & SELECT A WHEEL is my fourth and last step when also looking for new wheels. STEP 1: CHOOSE A TIRE CATEGORY “What is the car being used for?” Buying the right tires for your grocery-getting, baby-hauling daily driver in the northeast or Florida (where it rains most days of the week) is going to be a lot different than buying tires for your weekend toy in Southern California that never sees rain. Determining the importance of dry, wet, snow performance, tire longevity, ride quality, and comfort should be the first step when looking for a tire. Just like everything in life, choosing the best tire is often a compromise since it’s rare to find a tire that is really good in the rain, quiet and lasts a long time that can perform well in the dry and hold up to extensive track use. Usually as you increase the dry capability of a tire, you start to suffer wet performance and comfort in terms of noise and ride quality. However, in recent years a few manufacturers are starting to make tires that are very good in all categories. TireRack.com is a great source of information for everything tire related. They have numerous customer reviews, independent tests, and are a pleasure to do business with. They break down tires into 5 main categories, while I added a 6th. These 5 main categories are further broken down into sub-sections like “Ultra High Performance”, “High Performance”, “Performance”, “Touring”, 4 of 6 1/4/2019, 10:19 AM How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE - MotoIQ about:reader?url=https://motoiq.com/how-to-properly-select-and-size-tire... etc… I won’t go into detail since I usually pick tires from the top sub-section of every category. I have arbitrarily listed some examples for each category below: 1.Winter/Snow: Bridgestone Blizzak, Michelin Alpin, Continental ContiWinterContact, Pirelli Winter Snowcontol 2.All-Season: Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3, Continental ExtremeContact DWS, P Zero All-Season 3.Summer: Michelin Pilot Super Sport & PS4S, Yokohama AD08R, Hankook R-S3, Dunlop ZII StarSpec, BFG Rival, Bridgestone RE-11, Pirelli P Zero Corsa System, Continental 5 & DW & DW SPORT 4.Streetable Track & Competition: Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, Pirelli Trofeo R, Hankook Ventus TD, Continental ContiForceContact, Nitto NT01, Toyo R888, Yokohama A048 5. D.O.T. –Approved Slick: Hoosier R7 & A7, BF Goodrich R1, Hankook Ventus Z214 6.Racing Slick: Yokohama A005, Michelin, Hoosier, Pirelli *Notice there is no “R-Compound” (“R” = Race Compound) tire definition in the above categories. “R-comp” is not really well defined other than the vague description of “race-derived rubber” and as a middle ground between street tires and racing slicks. This nomenclature is used for everything from the treaded NT01 and R888 to the slick A7, R7, and Ventus Z214. I prefer Tire Rack’s 5 of 6 1/4/2019, 10:19 AM How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE - MotoIQ about:reader?url=https://motoiq.com/how-to-properly-select-and-size-tire... separation of the treaded “R-comps” into the Streetable Track & Competition category while placing tires with only circumferential grooves (like the Hoosier R7 & BFG R1) into the “D.O.T.-approved Slick” category. Here’s a Top Tip: “Tires are the most important. A narrower, but better (compound, construction, tread design, etc…) tire will, to a point, generally outperform a wider, inferior tire”. Related Topics tires Wheels and Tires tire sizing 6 of 6 1/4/2019, 10:19 AM How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE - Page... about:reader?url=https://motoiq.com/how-to-properly-select-and-size-tire... motoiq.com How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE - Page 2 of 4 - MotoIQ byBilly Johnson 6-8 minutes How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE Posted on August 24, 2015September 3, 2018 STEP 2: SIZE THE TIRE When sizing a tire, there are a few important things to know: 1. TIRE WIDTHS ARE USELESS. I’m referring to the first number in the tire size code such as the “275” in a 275/35-18 tire. This may sound crazy because other than the diameter of the wheel, this is usually the most important aspect of the tire for many people. But hear me out: Have you ever tried a different brand of tire just to realize it does not fit the same as the ones you took off, or not even fit under your fenders at all? The reason for this is the tolerances tire manufactures have to follow when making a given tire size is substantial. Brand X’s 275 can be as wide as Brand Y’s 305! To make matters worse, there is no industry standard to establish how to measure tire tread widths. 1 of 7 1/4/2019, 10:19 AM How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE - Page... about:reader?url=https://motoiq.com/how-to-properly-select-and-size-tire... Above are the “Specs” sheet for the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire from TireRack.com. Here we see the 255/35-19 Michelin Pilot Super Sport above is produced in two different widths (one bespoke version for BMW), while the 275/35-18 is offered in three different widths (one bespoke for BMW) and the 315/35-20 is offered in two different bespoke Ferrari-specific widths. I added the ideal wheel width range on the far right for each tire’s specific tread width (highlighted in yellow). The red arrow indicates the widest version of each tire size. Often tire manufacturers will have multiple offerings or bespoke versions of the same size tire (as written on the sidewall). Due to the wide variance in tire construction, an auto manufacturer can specify not only the tread compound, design, and many aspects of the composition of the tire, but the width as well for the specific needs of a certain car. This further illustrates how the written number isn’t all that usefull. Most people are too focused on the number on their sidewall rather 2 of 7 1/4/2019, 10:19 AM How to PROPERLY select and size TIRES for PERFORMANCE - Page..