245 Enough Tire For 332HP? Discuss new tires.
 

One of my recuring thoughts about the 370Z is that 245 is not enought tire for 332HP. It's not enough for straight line acceleration and it really isn't enough for accelerating out of a curve. I'm thinking a 265 at minimum and maybe a 285. Discuss.

Just talking about rears at this point.

Also, lets talk about tire experiences. One strategy I used on my Speed6 was to increase the width of the tire from 215 to 235 and use a harder compound. This gave me equal traction but much better tire wear. I used Pirelli P Zero Nero M&S and got fantastic wear and performance. There has been alot of talk about wheels and their weights but tire weight is even more important as the weight is carried further from the axis of rotation.

you do realize that the sport package offers 245 up front and 275 out back thus giving you exactly what you want.:tup:

lulz +1 ^^^^

flame on.

Wrong car for straight line acceleration... Get yourself a challenger or a camaro! :D

And to answer your question, no, 245 isn't enough for 330+ HP unless they're drag radials or stickier. 275 is good up to about 400HP, from there you really should be around 295 all the way to 450HP. Above the 450 mark is a good idea to go 315s. If you want real traction, you'll go 335s. Of course, at that point, you may need spacers or mini-tubs.

As for the front tires in straight line acceleration, you want the absolute SMALLEST tire possible. Heard the term "Slick and Skinny?" Thats for 2 reasons... A) Less weight, and B) Less rolling resistance.

But as I said before, this is the wrong car for straight line acceleration. You want an American muscle car for that. The correct suspension (you know, the kind that doesn't turn at all), a V8 or better with plenty of torque, and CRAPPY brakes because the crappier your brakes, the less resistance (Some racers replace their brakes with drum brakes because they don't make any contact with the hub until they're braking).

The sport package doesn't have exactly what I want. I want to pick my wheels and tires as there is a ton of performance gain to be made from the proper selection. It's a mute point anyway as the dealers around here didn't have a sport package. Moving on.

This car has plenty of straight line acceleration. But thanks for the lesson on American muscle being all about straight line. Did you know the 350Z pulled a .89 on the skid pad? The 92 Camaro pulled a .93. Thanks for the completely off topic lesson about what makes a car accelerate. This thread is about a 245 not being enough tire for THIS car in straight line acceleration. Thank you, come again.

I am starting to get the impression that people 'round here are just like those at other car forums. It's much easier to be off topic and ignore the original post than it is to say something constructive.

back on topic. The G37 comes with 245's in the rear and has 330hp and the tires handel the power. However 275 is the better option and once i wear mine off I think I will be getting 285's

you do get forged rims with the sport package, but i see what your saying.

increasing a tire by 2-4cm will not increase your contact patch by a substantial amount for you to really notice much of a difference. I am sure you can find 245 rears with a higher coefficient of friction, and obtain what you want. Plus at higher speeds you tend to want thinner tires, as the drag created by the larger contact patch requires more work to be overcome.

as far as a ton of performance gains, that is a bit to much. can you improve some yes, substantially NO. Remember as an engineer when you design a car with a tire in mind it is designed to be optimal at this tire, most race cars have to re design they suspension geometry and settings for different tires.

There is a lot of performance gain that comes from wider, lighter or stickier tires or any combination thereof. Higher CO of friction almost always means a price to be payed in longevity. 2-4cm WILL increase your contact patch substantially. By about 2-4cm laterally in fact. Keep in mind that performance is more than just acceleration and horsepower. The right wheel and tire setup will bring you ever closer to the magical 1.0 skid pad and perhaps beyond.

Allow me to elaborate on the problem. Through first and second gear the TC light comes on almost without exception. Even with the auto if you stomp it from a stand still (no power brake just mash the gas and go) you will spin and spin until either you let up or the TC takes the car from you. A marginally wider tire 265, 275, or 285 (most likely what I'll choose) should allow the car to accelerate without breaking traction.

edit: Just wanted to add that I won't be doing any kind of speeds that drag on my tires will have a measurable effect. However, I will notice the benefit in having a wider wheel when cornering and accelerating. I've always kind of thought that people don't really have an appreciation for how important the proper wheel and tire setup is...it appears I was correct. This is possibly the easiest mod available and if done right can be one of the most dramatic (short of FI of course).

To answer your question i drove a non sports package with 245's and I was ALL over the place even with tc on.

Its not that people do not appreciate it, its just that the car already comes with a very nice package. the sport rims are light enough, wide enough for the 332hp the car has. Honestly you could probably hit the 1 lat.g point easier by just playing with your suspension setup and sway bars than by replacing the tires and wheels.

it really all depends on what you want. You want to track the car and go over 1.0 lat, ok. reduce weight play with suspension and you can get there. 0.03 is not that much to overcome. Now with your 245 in the back it might be a different story, but i still say its possible.

hell one of our race cars was pulling 1.32 lat g, we changed the tires and wheels, got 3 piece wheels, hoosier slicks and only increased to 1.34 lat g. Tweaked the suspension and where now at 1.48 lat g. a much bigger increase just by geometry.

Do you have any idea when will you'll need spacers for the Z? I was thinking about getting 295 or 305's.

^^^ there is a thread on weight reduction, and it has been weighed. I believe its around 26lbs, but you can double check.

spacers will only make it harder to get 295s or 305s to fit... also that will never work on stock wheels.