Testarossa tires... safe to run 255 or not?

Yes

Seems a bit odd to me that the even lower profile 255-18 of the same tire (which has even less sidewall height to expand outward) does have a wheel width range going up to 10"?

 

Years ago, I worked for the Championship winning team in the IMSA RS (Radial Sport) series.

We routinely put the narrow OEM size tire (required) on wider rims. Faster.....

One caveat - those were 'tall' tires back in the '70s. Modern low profile tires may not react the same way.

YMMV,
Vincenzo

 

If the tread is narrower than the rim its even better in corners. All BB512's came with a 225 rear tire on a 9" rim and my car seems to work well, that or im just old and don't go fast enough to know better

 

The 255/50/16 tires are 10.2 inches wide and are 5.1 inches tall from rim to ground, so doubling that you are 10.2 inches tall plus 16 inches for the rim you are 26.2 inches in height which needs to be kept for speedometer accuracy. So while I have been writing this I decided to look online for alternative sizes .........so it is the rear tire size that is an issue. There are some Drag radials available but....what an issue. It is the rim size that is limiting us. I am going keep looking .

 

So the actual 87 Testarossa manual lists actual tire sizes as 250/50/16 for the rear and 225/50/16 for fronts, so rear overall tire height is 26 inches rear and 25 inches front. Assuming 8/32 tread tire would be 1/2 inch shorter when bald. The metric version was 280/45 /415 or tire height of 10 inches and a rim height of 16.6 inches tall for overall height of approximately 26.6 inches high for rear. Fronts are 240 45 415 or 8.32 inches plus the 16.6 for overall height of basically 25 inches. So there were a lot of choices at 245/45/16 but not ideal. The 255/50/16 are better suited. It is interesting and I am going to look into it further. Sorry to ramble.

 

I agree with everything you said. I got a bit off topic and was surprised that I couldn't find any additional tires in the 255 /50/16 SIZE.

 

Simples; just fit the 255/50ZR16 Michelin Pilot Sport | Longstone Tyres they are fine we have sold lots of them to Ferrari Testarossa | Longstone Tyres and they are great (i actually thought they were original equipment. am i wrong)

It is so very Ferrari, they did the same thing with Big Daytona rear wheels and the 512BB had a wheel rim that is specified as to small for the standard recomended rim for a tyre.

The rim recommendations that Michelin give are designated by the ETRTO (i think that's what they're called) and these are the standard road recommendations but they are not set in stone. for instance else where in my Michelin book they specify that "for competition use, one inch wider is possible". One of the considerations that the ETRTO have in mind when they are specifying ideal rim widths is they like to have an overhang so that the tyre being wider than the rim will protect the metal rim from curbs.

It is fair to say that a 10" rim could be too wide for a tyre that was 255mm wide (because 10" is 254mm wide) However Michelins 255/50ZR16 Pilote Sport is actually 276mm wide, which is fine on a 10" or 254mm rim. go figure.

Anyway they definitely work and i have plenty on the shelf and we can ship them to most places gfree of carriage charges
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Hi

We ship these tyres all over the world. It takes about a week to get to the states and it is free of shipping charges. we are shipping from the UK and it seems to be luck of the draw as to weather you pay any duty or not. I think most of our deliveries don't have any duty applied to them,

 

Sorry, missed a bit.

No every different tyre manufacturer will have slightly different dimentions.

i don't think there any other options that are right for your car than the Pilote Sport

 

There are, or were a few a while back Dougal. I went for Kumho but unfortunately they have stopped manufacture. Also available but perhaps not quite right for road use, are the semi track tyres made by a couple of the other manufacturers.


Phil

 

Don't use them. I spoke to the UK distributor of those when I had my TR and they are NOT advisable for the rear. They tyre issue of the TR was one of the reasons why the TR was sold.

 

My suggestion would be there isn't a tyre issue at all. Simply buy the right tyres, and deal with the heavy credit card bill.

255/50ZR16 Michelin Pilot Sport | Longstone Tyres
&
225/50ZR16 Michelin Pilot Sport | Longstone Tyres

they are not expensive for what they are, specially while my currency is worth no more than toilet paper.

Yes a set of tyres does amount to a lot of money. But that is part of what makes a Testarossa the car it is, because it is constructed out of a series of unusual, and high specification components that the majority of people can't afford. It just costs to have something that special

 

Dougal, the problem for me with the rear Michelin is that it is a rather bulbous tyre and does not look right otherwise I would be happy to buy them again.


Phil

 

Yes, unobtanium! People are just trying it on with a lot of these high prices of parts.

With respect when I looked for tyres no one would give me the date of manufacture and no way was I paying 4 figures (I don't need a credit card to afford them) that no one could give me a date. Ridiculous situation when Michelin are the only matching sets available.

 

Thats not right

these tyres aren't expensive. It is a lot of money but it is reasonable for what it is. these are Michelin.

Yes you can get them no problem. just buy them off the links provcided earlier. we will post them to most places free of carriage charges, and it rarely takes less than a week

You clearly haven't asked us for date codes.

Fronts 3215
Rears 4715

these are the date codes i have today.

Thiis assumption that there is some kind of conspiracy to fleece Ferrari owners is ridiculous. You have a fabulous bespoke car that is made up of bespoke rare components of the highest quality made by the worlds best manufacturer . that just costs. which is why yoou car was expensive in the first place.

they are on here if you want them Ferrari Testarossa | Longstone Tyres
Or ring us 00 44 1302 711123
or email [email protected]

We distribute Michelin Classsic range of tyres (and pirelli for that matter & Boorrani)
https://www.cinturato.net/tyre-fitment-guide.html
https://www.borrani.com/

 

That may be your opinion. But when you can get some componenents that are used on 'lesser' cars for a fraction of the cost than if you were buying it for a Ferrari, us owners would tend to disagree.

 

Yes but Ferrari bits are better

 

I would love to know what are the rare bespoke highest quality components are on a TR as in 12yrs of ownership I didn't see many of them. I love Ferrari's I really do, but making a statement like that is crazy. As the sticky thread at the top of the page Ferrari "parts" are often from other cars. Really only bodywork tends to be bespoke and the engine/gearbox-but frankly some of those parts are made of jelly such as the diff (yes mine went).

This was over 6 years ago I inquired about tyres and no one would give me a date.

 

I think Body work, engine and gear box is a big part of the car. I think the chassis is probabbly pretty special and bespoke too.

well even if the rest of the parts in your car are rubbish (which i don't believe) the tyres are not they are of the highest possible quality made by Michelin one of the worlds best tyre manufacturers.

This rear tyre 255/50ZR16 Michelin Pilot Sport | Longstone Tyres Is made specially for the rear of the TestaRossa the only other car i know that fits this tyre is just a couple of years of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

We give ages of tyres if we can & if you ask.