best 16" tire size for my 308

If you are running the 16" QV wheels yes. 7" wide in the front and 8" in the rear.

Those tire sizes are exactly what I am running on mine. Yokohama AVS ES100's. Love 'em!

 

Ditto, for the money they are the best! ride is very smooth. Check Discount Tire.com

 

You could also look at the std 328 sizes which are 225/50 & 205/55.

I'm going to need some new tyres on my 328 in the next year & i was considering upsizing to the 245/225s - but I'd like to see a car or at least some pics to see what the sidewalls look like on the rims first & whether the tyres look too big on the rims.

If anyone who has the bigger tyres could be bothered to take some pics & post them that would be most useful.


I.

 

Walt..Check on Mich Pilot Sports.. Thats what I had and they were GREAT!!!

 

My profile picture.

 

right on!!! get Michilin...

 

Actually, in the 245/45/16, there are very limited availability....the Yoks, Bridgestone SO3, RE750, and a couple others...that is it.

Dave

 

I'm actually thinking about trying 245/50's on the rears & 215/55 fronts. Anyone ever tried this?

 

I've seen that rear size tried and talked about here on FChat... and they had to change due to rubbing.

Either of those sizes will change your overall diameter, compared to the original sizes which isn't a good idea. You want to add a little width (more rubber on the road for your contact patch) without substantially changing (or especially adding) height. See the attached spreadsheet in which I entered the stock sizes, the common "upsizes", and your proposed size.
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I would go with 205 in the front and 225 in the rear...that's what the car was designed for.

Birdman

 

I use the common 308 "upsize" of 225/50's on the front and 245/45's on the rear. If you like being aggressive through turns, and especially if you like to occasionally track your car on street tires, it REALLY handles better and holds better with the additional rubber.

 

Hi Guys,

This is what I've come up with:

Stock '78 205/70-14: 25.4 dia
Stock QV 205/55 or 225/50-16: 24.9 dia

245/45-16: 24.6 dia
245/50-16: 25.7 dia
215/55-16: 25.3 dia

It appears that going to 16" rims and stock QV tire sizes would be just under the OEM dia. The 245/45 would actually be even smaller dia. The 245/50 would be just over the OEM dia. and the 215/55 would be just about right. My car is lowered (QA-1's) but the gap in the rear wheel well still seems to be substantial. I just ordered some 245/45's (and are waiting for me at home to get back from Indy) but was just curious about the 245/50's

Henry

 

I totally agree and am using the same size Kumos.

As a matter of interest how much do you think the speedo is out with this combination at 70 mph?

 

Ralph Schumacher will not be quoted saying that this weekend.

 

Hey Mike,
I'm not saying I don't believe you, I'm just curious if this is something you really tested? I have heard some say that upsizing the rubber on the wheels actually harms performance. There definitely is a point at which the rubber is too wide for the rim and the handling will suffer, or worse.

I do not track my car, nor do I have the driving ability to really put tires to the test. But I have stock width (205/55-16 front and 225/50-16 rear) Cooper Zeons on my 308 and they are absolutely amazing, 1000 times better than the 14" stuff that was on there. It would be hard for me to imagine them sticking much better.

Birdman

 

No offense taken. Yes, all comparisons were done at Talladega Grand Prix Roadcourse (about 10 miles from the big oval speedway) all using Yokahama AVS Intermediates. I have ten years of experience running my 308QV on that track... so I know what the car is capable of in various configurations. Regarding the tires specifically, I know how fast and hard I was able to run on stock size tires, then upsized the rears only, then also upsized the fronts. Upsizing the rears only helped some, but when I upsized the fronts, it was amazing how much more I could push the car into and through the turns compared to the other configurations.

Keep in mind that tire technology has improved A LOT since the factory started putting 16" wheels on the QVs. I can't think of any reason not to take advantage of that, just as I have improved and modernized the cars handling most recently by increasing the spring strength with new shocks and putting on bigger anti-roll (stabilizer) bars.

 

I recently tracked my 308 with metric Avon CR28s (220|55VR390) for the first time. The CR28 has been described as a 'race tire that happens to be street legal', so don't confuse it with the Michelin TRXs that are touring tires. I was being taught by Scott Major, an SCCA certified race instructor. Scott drove quite a few laps as well, first to get a feel for the car before turning me loose on a track for the first time, then later we traded a couple of times.

Unfortunately we flat-spotted one of the CR28s. Since CR28s are NLA, I have bought a set of Superformance 16" wheels & am in the process of selecting tires.

CURRENT THINKING SYMMETRIC FRONT & REAR TIRES:
The car exhibited noticable understeer with symmetric front-rear tires. Even with heavy throttle, we couldn't induce neutral steering, much less oversteer.

I've been discussing tire sizes with him. He feels pretty strongly that having rear tires wider than the front tires will further exaggerate the understeer, & recommens that I stay with the same size front & rear. Specificly he recommended 225|50-16s front & rear.

mcharness upsized the rears, then upsized the fronts. However, no one has reported on just upsizing the fronts & leaving the rears at 225|50-16.

HAS ANYONE TRIED SYMMETRIC FRONT & REARS?

I DON'T want you to just tell me to go with the std 225|50 front, 245|45 rear because you use them UNLESS you've also tried a symmetric setup as well.

 

The best size tires that work well with 16" rims are 225/50-16 in front and 245/50-16 in rear
If you go with 245/45-16 in rear they are SMALLER in diameter than the fronts and the nose of the car points UP.

I have run probably 15 sets of tires on my car over last 20 yrs and tried every combination possible.
On a track and for every dya driving a tire between 24.8 and 25.1 in front is best and 25.5 to 25.8 in rear is best. The additional 1/2" in rear gives you a LOT better high speed handeling.

ALSO , if you look at michelin of BFG tires you will end up with a narrow tire--their sidewall-to-tread transition is less agressive than birdgestone and kuhmo and you end up with less rubber onthe road.

 

The difference is TINY... see the table below. And many people have had clearance problems with the 245/50's.
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I'm currently tracking with Kumho V710 225/50 fronts and 265/45 in rears. I has also tracked with 225/50 and 245/45 Dunlop street tires. Before you go nuts purchasing all types and sizes of tires, try working with your air pressure. If you have understeer, try raising the front air pressure by 2 lbs. Chaulk your tires to determine tire roll. I found that 39 lbs front and 41 lbs rear - hot - works well with my car setup. Give it a try.