Has anyone gone with narrower-than-stock tires?

[JRitt]

One thing I hate on street cars is having them 'over-tired'. By that I mean, having so much rubber on the road that it's impossible to slide the car or get it to break loose at sane speeds. For example, on my NA Miata I run 185 width all-season tires with something like a 400-500 treadwear rating. The car will literally slide at any speed, and it is an absolute blast on back roads. I've also never been a fan of large front-to-rear tire staggers. For example, on my C5 Z06 I always preferred 305 tires all the way around, rather than staggered tire widths the car came with stock.

When I bought my NSX late last year it came equipped with 215/265 tires (a very common stagger). I'm in the process of switching back to OEM wheels ('94-'01), and I'm considering 205/225 tires rather than the 215/245 stagger that came from the factory during that era. The overall calculated rolling diameters are very close to stock (see pics below), and the widths are the same as what came on the '91-'93 cars. They'll just be 16/17" rather than 15/16". It looks like I can get some Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 or Continental Extremecontact Sport in those sizes. The rear sidewall is going to grow a tiny bit, but otherwise I don't foresee any issues.

Has anyone run a setup like this? Seeing as most people today try to stuff the widest tire possible onto their car for aesthetic reasons, I'm guessing not. Out of curiosity, I figured I'd ask if there are any other 'pizza cutter' fans out there who have tried this before. Thanks!

 

[Mac Attack]

[MENTION=22790]JRitt[/MENTION]

This was a fun thread:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/162037-Low-grip-tires-a-better-way-to-improve?

 

[JRitt]

Thanks for the link!

Just to be clear, I'm not driving like a maniac on the street. In most cases I'm just buzzing along on country roads. I have a track car for driving at the limit in a controlled environment. I'm just looking for a bit less plow and making the car a little more lively on the street at slower speeds.

 

[Mac Attack]

I understand. You probably know this, but the 205/225 combo is used on the OEM '91-'93 wheels. While the 15"/16" wheels may not have been a design favorite for most, the ride and handling was great for the street.

I greatly preferred the 15"/16" 205/225 wheels and tires to the current 17" '02+ wheels and 215/255 tires I have now for the street. That's why I ran the smaller 15/16" wheels for about 15 years.

If you can live with the looks, I recommend trying a set of the OEM 15/16" wheels. You can pick up a set of wheels for a few hundred, and there's a BUNCH of tire options to choose from. Because of the smaller size, the tires are cheap too.

 

[JRitt]

Thanks for the input Mac. My car is a '91, and I actually have the OEM 15/16 setup on the way to me now. That said, I'm really not crazy about the look of the fat fives. In this case, I let vanity get the best of me, as I typically like running the smallest, lightest wheel setup available. Instead, I opted for an OEM look, but bought a set of OEM 16/17. I figured those with the narrower rubber would give me a look I like better, with something closer to the performance and feel of the original setup. Thanks again.

 

[Mac Attack]

[MENTION=22790]JRitt[/MENTION]
Sounds like a good idea and I hope you post back your thoughts on how it turned out. Of all my years here I don't recall anyone else trying something like this - Cool! Your two tire choices noted above are interesting too.

My phat fives have gone through various iterations over the last 15 years to try and improve their looks. OEM silver, black, white, gunmetal, none of those colors helped. After all the layers of paint, I decided to chemically strip everything and refinish them back to stock. Anyways, I found that the face is like a diamond machine cut, and the sides have a raw forged texture. I kinda liked that look, and it also happened to be the lightest too. Also to help with the looks (since they need all the help they can get), I used 40mm spacers in the rear and 15mm up front (should have used 25mm up front). Coupled with Kumho Ecsta V720 tires, this setup is pure driving bliss on the street (although somewhat loud).

I haven't tried my phat five setup with my newer Ohlins TTX's, but I'll probably swap them on this summer for fun. Here's a crummy pic of the bare forged aluminum finish:
View attachment 158692

 

[JRitt]

@JRitt
Sounds like a good idea and I hope you post back your thoughts on how it turned out. Of all my years here I don't recall anyone else trying something like this - Cool! Your two tire choices noted above are interesting too.

My phat fives have gone through various iterations over the last 15 years to try and improve their looks. OEM silver, black, white, gunmetal, none of those colors helped. After all the layers of paint, I decided to chemically strip everything and refinish them back to stock. Anyways, I found that the face is like a diamond machine cut, and the sides have a raw forged texture. I kinda liked that look, and it also happened to be the lightest too. Also to help with the looks (since they need all the help they can get), I used 40mm spacers in the rear and 15mm up front (should have used 25mm up front). Coupled with Kumho Ecsta V720 tires, this setup is pure driving bliss on the street (although somewhat loud).

I haven't tried my phat five setup with my newer Ohlins TTX's, but I'll probably swap them on this summer for fun. Here's a crummy pic of the bare forged aluminum finish

Nice! I ended up with some OEM 16/17" in Blades Silver. I think they look really good on these cars, and they're what I picture in my mind when I think about a stock NSX. In other words, they were on the car that really captured my imagination back when I was finishing up high school and really salivating over these cars.

I ordered the 205/225 Firestone tires last night, and they're supposed to be here today. I'll post up once I have them mounted and get some wheel time. Weather unfortunately looks wretched for next week or so.

 

[warrenw]

I run Toyo Proxies 205/45/16 on the front with OEM 1994+ rims. When I bought the rims they had 225 tires on the front, and my car was awful... There was no under steer, but he car found every dip in the road on uneven pavement. With the 205 tires, the car runs down the road without any steering input. Marginal understeer only when the tires are cold.
245/40/17 on the rear.
For the track keep your old fat five 15-16 rims. There are plenty of good track tires in those size rims.

 

[Zipy]

Did you have any traction control problems with the 205 front 245 rear setup? That’s what I’m thinking of going with on my stock 16/17 wheels. Or did you just have to keep traction control off all the time?

 

[Arkaid]

Did you have any traction control problems with the 205 front 245 rear setup? That’s what I’m thinking of going with on my stock 16/17 wheels. Or did you just have to keep traction control off all the time?

No issues whatsoever. I run this same setup with Hankook RS4's and it feels perfect, and have never had a TCS light come on.

 

[qingcong]

If you can live with the looks, I recommend trying a set of the OEM 15/16" wheels. You can pick up a set of wheels for a few hundred, and there's a BUNCH of tire options to choose from. Because of the smaller size, the tires are cheap too.

A bunch of tires options to choose from, really? I looked for tires for the OEM 15/16 wheel set and all that came up were a couple of summer and racing/autocross tires.

 

[Mac Attack]

A bunch of tires options to choose from, really? I looked for tires for the OEM 15/16 wheel set and all that came up were a couple of summer and racing/autocross tires.

Yes. Expand your search beyond Tirerack's default to look at just the individual front and then rear sizes. There are more options but they only show matched sets with similar load ratings.

If you're looking for winter or all-seasons though then you're going to have to look at non-OEM sizes that will fit your rim widths and OD restrictions to keep TCS/ABS working correctly.

 

[qingcong]

Yes. Expand your search beyond Tirerack's default to look at just the individual front and then rear sizes. There are more options but they only show matched sets with similar load ratings.

If you're looking for winter or all-seasons though then you're going to have to look at non-OEM sizes that will fit your rim widths and OD restrictions to keep TCS/ABS working correctly.

Yeah, the problem I'm having is with all-seasons. There just aren't any all-seasons for the OEM tire sizes. It doesn't make much sense to me, as I'm sure plenty of people drive these cars under 50F.

 

[nis350]

any vibration with the spacers? I assumed they hub centric?

[MENTION=22790]JRitt[/MENTION]

I used 40mm spacers in the rear and 15mm up front (should have used 25mm up front). Coupled with Kumho Ecsta V720 tires, this setup is pure driving bliss on the street (although somewhat loud).


View attachment 158692

 

[Mac Attack]

any vibration with the spacers? I assumed they hub centric?

In all kinds of cars I've never had a problem running good quality (H&R, etc) hubcentric spacers. I don't remember what brand the 40mm rear spacers were on the NSX, but Angus sold them on here awhile ago.