328 Larger Tires ??help?? | FerrariChat

328 Larger Tires ??help??

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by snafu, Apr 5, 2005.

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  1. snafu

    snafu Karting

    Mar 2, 2004
    59
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Full Name:
    David W
    I have had my 328 Red/Black for a little over a year. I am interested in upsizing the fronts to 225/55 WR-16 and the rears to 245/50 WR-16. According to my tire size calculator, the stock tires diameter is 24.9", sidewall is 4.4". The upsized tires diameter is 25.7" and sidewall is 4.9".
    I am worried about the tires rubbing when I turn or hit a bump, Has anyone changed to these tire sizes and if so what it your opinion. Part of my reason for the tire change is to correct the speedometer error (or get it closer).

    Thanks in advance,

    David W
     
  2. hardtop

    hardtop F1 World Champ

    Jan 31, 2002
    11,298
    Colorado
    Full Name:
    Dave
    Those are too tall. Use 225/50 on the front (stock rear size) and 245/45 rear. Unless you have a compelling rerason, I would recomend it against it. The larger tires will increase unsprung weight and require more steering effort while giving you very little extra grip.

    Dave
     
  3. GrigioGuy

    GrigioGuy Splenda Daddy
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 26, 2001
    33,426
    E ' ' '/ F
    Full Name:
    Enzo Gorlomi
  4. snafu

    snafu Karting

    Mar 2, 2004
    59
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Full Name:
    David W
    The only reason for the sizes I gave was they have the same circumference front to rear. I will check the size you gave.
    Thanks
     
  5. MManzonelli

    MManzonelli Karting

    Nov 4, 2003
    82
    Columbia, IL
    Full Name:
    Mark Manzonelli
    I have a 328 which I did have larger tires. Notice the past tense. Just recently, I changed them to the original sizes and it drives much better. Also, trying to put the larger tires on the rims not designed for them makes it much more difficult. Other than paying more money (a joke), I DO NOT RECCOMMEND it. Just my $.02.

    Mark Manzonelli
     
  6. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 27, 2004
    16,505
    Georgia
    Full Name:
    Jim Pernikoff
    I rode with Mike Charness in his 308 QV which has this tire combination on it and the grip was incredible. The ride was fine and the tires did not look too wide on the car. I suppose one negative is increased steering effort at low speeds.
     
  7. f355spider

    f355spider F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    May 29, 2001
    18,055
    USA
    I know several people that have done this...works fine. I did it on my 308GTS, but as suggested, use the 225/50/16 and 245/45/16. Ride is good, handling and grip excellent.
     
  8. carl888

    carl888 F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Oct 31, 2003
    6,966
    Melbourne, Australia
    Full Name:
    Carl
    I strongly suggest you fit the correct and original size so 205/55-16 at the front and 225/50-16 at the rear. I have extensively tested the 205/225/245 combination on the track with street and "R" compounds, the car fitted with a 225/50 and 245/45 tyres was no faster with the wider tyres. In fact, on the tighter circuits, the car was slower. Added to that, the 225 reduces the nice turn in which is a feature of the 308/328 series cars. You have to ask yourself, why does Ferrari fit a 215 section tyre to the front of the 360???? The 308/328 series cars have too much compliance in the suspension to take advantge of the wider contact patch when cornering. In all the instances where people have made claims that that the 225/245 section is better they have come from a 15 year old set ot XWX's or worse, some crappy el cheapo 205/225 combination.

    I will stand corrected if anyone can show me some data where the stopwatch compares the 205/225 combination with the 225/245 combination in the same compound on the same car where the wider tyres returned a faster lap time.
     
  9. geekstreet

    geekstreet Karting

    Feb 7, 2005
    220
    Sydney
    Full Name:
    Cam
    Hard to argue against a back-to-back comparison on the track.

    I'd also suspect that going ~1" wider on the same rims would result in less responsive steering & more sidewall flex through the corner for the same tyre model/compound.
     
  10. hardtop

    hardtop F1 World Champ

    Jan 31, 2002
    11,298
    Colorado
    Full Name:
    Dave
    Carl888 is right. I used for a while 17 inchers with 225's and 245's both road and track with Bridgestone S03's on both sets. After about 1K with the 17's, I went back to the originals. I did not do back to back timed runs but judging by how it ran against a friend's QV in both instances, any change in times were minimal. I'll reiterate my former comments about unsprung weight. To those who do want to upsize, I would recommend 215's in the front and shop for light weight tires.

    Dave
     
  11. snafu

    snafu Karting

    Mar 2, 2004
    59
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Full Name:
    David W
    Thanks to all who responded, the info is appreciated. I will report back after I purchase my tires.

    Dave
     

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