Front Tire Question

[orion32773]

I am new to owning a Z car....well any sports car for that matter....so forgive my greenness. I own a 2009 370 and recently just replaced the original back tires. I didn't really want to plop down the money for the Yokohama ADVAN Sports so I went with some recommended Dunlop fierce instinct tires from a local shop. They've been fine and the tire place told me to come back when the fronts were ready....they had a few thousand miles left on them. The time came to replace the fronts and so I called the tire place and the guy tells me....sorry but they don't make a Dunlop fierce tire in that front size. Thanks for selling me rears with no matching fronts....now I will have mismatched tires. I was frustrated so I chose not to go back to that tire shop. I went to another place and picked the michelin pilot super sport. Ive had them on for a month and performance and ride is fine but I'm really not a big fan of the look which brings me to my question. Attached are some pics of the fronts and rears. I like that narrow look (Kind of low profile) look that the rears have which I have found that the lip/tire flange/rim protector adds to this effect. If you look at the fronts you can see that the tire is pretty much flush with the rim and they look really bubbly. It's really bugging me. Is this just the way that the pilot super sports are (Beefy and no rim protector)? I swear that the Yokohama ADVAN Sports were not this way but I can't remember the look at this point.

[LMBmikeZ]

It has to do with the tire size on the PSS if you would have gotten ones with a smaller profile it would look less "bubbly"


The lower the middle number is the lower the profile while look

I am looking at tires currently because mine are overdue!
Example:
rears with 305/35/19 will look thicker then 305/30/19

hope this helps, but you should also note that they don't make every size so you need to check with the manufacturer to see what tires they have that will work with your rims

[orion32773]

ok...well being new to the Z and all I was just trying to put the same size that I had before and I have some old pics (hard to tell really) of the Yokahamas and they looked more like what i was wanting...as far as the looks. If I am looking at same tire size is there any brand out there aside from the yokahama that you would recommend?

[LMBmikeZ]

Those Michelin Pilot Super Sports receive great reviews and that's what I will be getting this spring when I replace mine

[Masa]

Its just the way PSS are. They are a killer tire. I personally would have gone 245/45 front and 265/40 rear.

The Z is way too front heavy for 225 width tires and understeers. 245's would lessen that and improve braking as well.

[orion32773]

Thanks guys....I guess I just am not much for going outside of the recommended tire sizes. I keep things pretty standard and I was just surprised at how much different these fronts looked. Just not much for that beefy look.

[Masa]

I would keep the PSS on the front and get PSS on the rear. They are excellent.

[LMBmikeZ]

Originally Posted by orion32773

Thanks guys....I guess I just am not much for going outside of the recommended tire sizes. I keep things pretty standard and I was just surprised at how much different these fronts looked. Just not much for that beefy look.

Ya don't be scared to change the sizes just search the forum to see what has worked for others and what looks you like. There are lots of threads in tires and fitment GL

[orion32773]

The worst part is the new tires on the back and it is becoming hard to sell 2 tires. Do you think that the PSS on the rear with the default size (245/45/18) will look the same as the fronts...all beefy? I have been considering buying the PSS on the rear anyway

[seizer8]

I have the PSS on my touring and they are great summer tires!

[orion32773]

seizer8 you have standard OEM sizes or do you have different sizes...any pics to post?