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[Kamal]

As the title states... is anyone running slightly wider (225/40) in the front and OE size (245/35) in the rear? Any reasons not to attempt this setup?

My logic for the wider front and stock rear is two-fold... 1) price... for example a set of Conti DW's are $100 cheaper by not stepping up to the 255's in the rear, and 2) wider in the front would bring the staggered setup closer to being square and thus reduce understeer (??).

Thoughts, opinions, comments, criticisms, etc. are all welcome. I'm looking to purchase some tires to replace the balding stock RFTs, my budget is capped at $800 installed and I want the absolute best tire I can get for the money, in terms of dry traction and moderate tread life for a high-perf. tire.

[miiipilot]

I am not sure about the availability now, but when I bought my car 9 months ago, I was looking into different tires and 245 rears were not widely available.

So I went with a 225/255 setup.

my experience,
miiipilot

[fboutlaw]

I run 225/245 DW's as my daily drive setup. It works fine, but I'd suggest moving to 225/255, there are currently far more options in that size.

[Kamal]

Originally Posted by fboutlaw

I run 225/245 DW's as my daily drive setup. It works fine, but I'd suggest moving to 225/255, there are currently far more options in that size.

There are definitely far more options in 225/255, but the setup I'm currently looking at (Continental DW 225/245) is $100 cheaper if I stay at 245 in the rear. At 225/255, I can only afford some of the lower quality tires, and I don't want to do that!

fboutlaw, what are your impressions on your daily drive setup?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Kamal

There are definitely far more options in 225/255, but the setup I'm currently looking at (Continental DW 225/245) is $100 cheaper if I stay at 245 in the rear. At 225/255, I can only afford some of the lower quality tires, and I don't want to do that!

fboutlaw, what are your impressions on your daily drive setup?

I know that my German tire dealer looked up the 1er OE wheels. When he looked up the 135i's 7.5 and 8.5 18's... the max suggested tire sizes were: 225's and 245's. He was kind of worried that my choice of 255's rears might not fit on the car/wheel. But it did.

I am lucky I do not have to go thru TUV, because they would not allow these large tire sizes. lol TUV must approve any changes to a car. How ever so slight/small.

Btw OP... Did you see my thread of my PS3's in 225's and 255's? The 255's really make the rear of the car stand out!

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...=1#post9287154


Dackel

[Kamal]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Btw OP... Did you see my thread of my PS3's in 225's and 255's? The 255's really make the rear of the car stand out!

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...=1#post9287154


Dackel

Yessir, I saw your thread over the weekend. I definitely wish I could afford the PS3's and I've had a 255 rear tire on a 8.5" rim before (on my S2000)... I loved how 'meaty' they were.

I'm going to contact Gil@TireRack and see if he can fill me in on any upcoming rebate offers on some of the top tier tires... Otherwise I'm leaning towards getting either the Conti DW's (225/245) or going cheap and getting the Hankook k110's in the 225/255 setup.

[Dackelone]

I think you will have serious dry traction problems with the Hankook k110's.

The Conti DW's - I think are a very good tire. I only saw two negative comments over here - about them. Most ppl are fairly happy with them.

But for me living over here in DE... EVERYTHING costs more over here. Especially tires. Conti doesn't sell a DW tire over here. I suspect that the ContiContact3's are based on the DW's or vice versa. But that is just a hunch. For me the price difference was only 50 euros difference: Contact3's vs PS3's. So I am happy I went with PS3's.

I think IF I was in the states... those DW's might be on my car. lol

One thing is for sure... you do not want to skimp on tires. They make such a huge impact on the way your car feels and drives. IF you select a poor tire... you will be kicking yourself! Talk to Gill maybe he can help you out.

Dackel

[Kamal]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

One thing is for sure... you do not want to skimp on tires. They make such a huge impact on the way your car feels and drives. IF you select a poor tire... you will be kicking yourself! Talk to Gill maybe he can help you out.

Dackel

Agreed... this is why I'm having such a hard time deciding. I want the best tires I can afford, unfortunately I can't seem to afford the best tires! I see mixed reviews on the Hankooks but it seems like it's decent for a street setup. I do plan on doing a couple of DE's this year so a grippy tire that is still durable is a must.

[Dackelone]

^^yup.

I think the Hankooks are good "rim protectors". Not a tire you would want to do any DE on. I see the 1er guys over here with 116i's and 118i's with 18's use Hankooks. I think for the power that the 135i cranks out... you need better tires.

What about Yok's or those Dizza's ? I still think that for the money the DW's are tough to beat.

Anyone else wanna chime in here?

[Kamal]

Originally Posted by maxnix

Yeah, if you are worried about spending an extra $100 on tires, you are in the wrong car.

The tires are the only part of the car in touch with the road so ultimately determine the potential performance envelope. BMW didn't cheap out on the tires and neither should you!

Trust me, I definitely understand that the tires are what contact the road, however; I also understand that the premiums we pay for the top tier tires are to offset their sky-high costs to advertise (during the Superbowl, primetime television, etc.). There's plenty of tires that are as good, arguably, better than the "top tier" brands. I doubt the Conti's DW are considered cheap... I probably should have never brought up the Hankook idea

Anyways, back on topic... 225/40/18 in the front and 245/35/18 in the rear... what do you guys think!?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Kamal

Anyways, back on topic... 225/40/18 in the front and 245/35/18 in the rear... what do you guys think!?

They will work fine. But 225's/255's would work better.

[135forthewin]

When I got my dunlop direzza star specs i went 225/40/18 front and 245/40/18 rear.
The rear tires were higher than stock, but filled the wheel wells a little better and gave the car a nice rake and meaty look.
While a lot of people enjoy the 255 rears, i think the car is closer to neutral sticking with 245 rear and jumping to 225 up front.

[fboutlaw]

The 225/245 DW setup is ok.

If I had to do it again, I'd go fatter rear (255) because the car has so much power. The car is much closer to neutral with the 245 rear, but under acceleration, the dw's don't hold on.

Thoughts about the DW's are that they're good wet tires and ok dry tires. You'll have to run high pressures to compensate for the soft sidewalls.

Oh, and since I am doing it again, here's what I'm looking at for my new setup:
- Vorshlaq camber plates set to -2.5 deg
- Pilot super sports 255/275 on Arc-8's, 3mm spacer in front

I expect much better grip out of this new setup and better performance with michelin stiffening up their sidewalls.

However, if I was doing a 225/255 bargain setup again, I'd for sure go with direzza star specs. Everyone at autox loves them.

[ptack]

Dude - $100??
you really have the wrong car if that's where you're at.

[Kamal]

Originally Posted by ptack

Dude - $100??
you really have the wrong car if that's where you're at.

Dude thanks for the productive input... your comments are enlightening and helpful!

Originally Posted by maxnix

DW are the only decent cheap tires I see out there, and even then there are complaints about turn in response, and one member here actually regretted not spending the additional funds for a better tire.

If you think top tier tire companies are just charging extra for advertising, you have a lot to learn about tire production and research. The kind of tires the 1er and other high performance cars require constitute a very small percentage of their business.

Maybe that BMW you own is priced so high to cover all the advertising money spent on the brand. Ever thought of that?

Without a doubt the premium we pay for both high-end cars and tires are tied into the cost to design, manufacture, and market. Nobody is denying their quality... but when your advertising budget is high, those costs do come down to the consumer...

The original question was regarding a 225/245 setup, thanks to all of those who chimed in with positive input... I'm not going cheap on the tires, the whole point of the thread was to get input on a going wider in front and staying stock in the rear (to neutralize understeer AND save some money). I'm going to weigh my options by it looks like Conti DW's is what I'm going to get... not quite sure if I'll go with the 245 rears or the 255.

Let's be real here... we're not driving Porsche GT2s, I purchased my car for $26k. Not paying $1000+ for tires doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing or don't deserve to drive the car.

...and we wonder by BMW drivers are notorious for being douchebags.

</rant>

[Purgatory]

Originally Posted by ptack

Dude - $100??
you really have the wrong car if that's where you're at.

+1 I am going to have to agree, maybe you should consider getting a part-time job at your local Taco Bell or something to make an extra $100. How did you afford to buy the car in the first place? (never mind that's rhetorical).

[Kamal]

Originally Posted by Purgatory

+1 I am going to have to agree, maybe you should consider getting a part-time job at your local Taco Bell or something to make an extra $100. How did you afford to buy the car in the first place? (never mind that's rhetorical).

Wow... really? My PhD research doesn't afford me the time to work nights at Taco Bell, and it doesn't allow for spending extra money to go 10mm wider than stock in the rear if I don't have to.

[jsublime]

Originally Posted by Kamal

Wow... really? My PhD research doesn't afford me the time to work nights at Taco Bell, and it doesn't allow for spending extra money to go 10mm wider than stock in the rear if I don't have to.

You don't have to, it's merely a recommendation. I'm currently running this setup 225/40 and 245/35, it happened by chance (got some used oem tires off a local 3 series for a great price after i got bubbles in one of my front). To me the car doesn't look different. 215*.4 = 86, 225*.4 = 90, so the front tire is a whole 4 mm taller, that's just over an 1/8 of an inch.

I think most people like the idea of 255 in back because it is easy to break the tires loose when you drive hard, if this isn't a concern to you, then get the 245 and use the 100 bucks to eat at Taco Bell.

As for the suggestion that 225/245 is more neutral, I call bs. To me the car pushes just as much as it did stock. If you're trying to change the handling by changing tire sizes, going to a square setup would likely yield much better results.

[Kamal]

With the Cobb tune, breaking traction is definitely a problem now... in theory it seems like closing the difference in width would positively influence the car's tendency to understeer, but in the real world I'm getting the feeling that such a small change is insignificant and not noticeable. Are your observations on the car pushing as much as stock based on track experience, or just hard street driving?

[jsublime]

Originally Posted by Kamal

...in the real world I'm getting the feeling that such a small change is insignificant and not noticeable. Are your observations on the car pushing as much as stock based on track experience, or just hard street driving?

Based on street driving and one autox. I haven't seen a comparison between same brand and age of tires with the +1 size being the only difference. Of course going from used rfts to new non rft tires in a larger size is gonna feel great, and you're gonna want to attribute some of that feeling to the larger size especially when you pay more for it.

[ptack]

Originally Posted by Kamal

Dude thanks for the productive input... your comments are enlightening and helpful!



Without a doubt the premium we pay for both high-end cars and tires are tied into the cost to design, manufacture, and market. Nobody is denying their quality... but when your advertising budget is high, those costs do come down to the consumer...

The original question was regarding a 225/245 setup, thanks to all of those who chimed in with positive input... I'm not going cheap on the tires, the whole point of the thread was to get input on a going wider in front and staying stock in the rear (to neutralize understeer AND save some money). I'm going to weigh my options by it looks like Conti DW's is what I'm going to get... not quite sure if I'll go with the 245 rears or the 255.

Let's be real here... we're not driving Porsche GT2s, I purchased my car for $26k. Not paying $1000+ for tires doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing or don't deserve to drive the car.

...and we wonder by BMW drivers are notorious for being douchebags.

</rant>

and you come across as a cheap poser.

[Kamal]

Originally Posted by ptack

and you come across as a cheap poser.

I don't get why you have to take shots at me for preferring not to spend more than I need to. I'm a poser now? How so? What 'credentials' do you have that make you the real deal and not a poser? This is my 3rd BMW ('98 M3 sedan, '07 Z4 3.0si coupe), 4th german car (also had a tuned Audi TT 225QC), and 5th performance car ('05 Honda S2000). Cheapest tire I've ever put on a car were some Sumitumo HTRZ3's on the S2k, and they did their job damn well during a track day at GIR.

The e-thug persona is really stupid BTW, it's easy to talk shit and take shots on the web.