F40 Tire question.

I don't even wanna know what you paid for those Pirellis LOL.

 

If anyone is interested, I'll have a pair of PZero rears for sale on eBay soon. They have never been mounted and have been stored properly, but are still old.

Costas
cars and such...

costas(at)witchdoctormotorsports(dot)com

 

If you had some fronts you would get a real clamour...good luck with the sale, are you going to have a "buy it now" price ?

 

I'm checking for some fronts to make a set, but so far no luck (and I was in the tire industry for years.....<shrug>).

No clue on the 'buy it now' but if you know someone interested have them shoot me an offer and I can avoid the fleaBay charges/hassle.


Cheers,

Costas
cars and such...

 

Carlo Durante at Alfa of Tacoma has an F40 in his shop and is also searching for tires,
perhaps call him and find out what he's found?

 

Does anyone know how tires should be stored? I ask because I have done some research and read that however you store them, undoubtebly the rubber degrades, even with no use, so from a practical point of view you will ultimately get loss of performance. So old tires even without any use simply do not work as well as fresher rubber. Unless therefore you only use the oem tires for show purposes(i.e. car standing still), for driving they are not very good and could in fact be detrimental.

 

Alex, taken from an aircraft service manual....

"The life of a tire, whether mounted or unmounted, is directly affected by storage conditions. Tires should always be stored indoors in a dark, cool, dry room. It is necessary to protect them from light, especially sunlight. Light causes ultraviolet (UV) damage by breaking down the rubber compounds. The elements, such as wind, rain, and temperature changes, also break down the rubber compounds. Damage from the elements is visible in the form of surface cracking or weather checking. UV damage may not be visible. Tires can be protected from light by painting the storeroom windows. Tires must not be allowed to come in contact with oils, greases, solvents, or other petroleum products that cause rubber to soften or deteriorate. The storeroom should not contain fluorescent lights or sparking electrical equipment that could produce ozone."


Obviously a bit over the top, but gives you the basics !

 

So does everyone here who has the oem tires store them in a hermetically sealed room? Otherwise, from reading the above, something will ultimately degrade the tire and therefore reduce performance.

 

So in light of the above, Can I ask what tyres people would choose when given the option between
a. fresh Michelin pilots(or similar contemporary tire) do to fresh oem pirellis sizes not being available or
b. 4 or 5 year old(you can check the date of tire manufacture on the side of the tire) oem pirellis that have been kicking around some back store warehouse

In my mind, without a shadow of a doubt I would choose a.

 

Surely you'd want modern tyres unless your sole aim was to impress some chap in a floppy hat and clipboard on someone's lawn? As you say, the compounds in the tyre will degrade with age, and if the point is actually driving the car fast, then one would assume grip, traction, and handling are all beneficial. IF you follow Flemke's F1 thread over at PH, you'll see he's gone from the old Goodyears on his F1 to the same tyre that's used on the Enzo - 10 years is a long time in tyre technology.

 

Uh-huh... make that a grassy meadow.

Joe
www.joesackey.com

 

My sentiments entirely, I cannot see any other reason for wanting to put inferior rubber on the F40. It's not as if the car is 50 years old and had vintage tires as standard. The newer modern tires look pretty much the same as the oem pirelli or goodyear so why choose or have old rubber? Makes no sense apart for the purposes mentioned above if that's what you're into. But imo the F40 is meant to be driveeeeennnnn not for showing!

 

Careful, I think that kind of opinion is considered heresy round these parts! Cars not for concourses? What ever next?

 

Was that your preferred locale when you won all those "concours trophies in the garage" you once bragged about ? Being a touch hypocriticial again ?

 

Wonderful !

 

Oh no no no no no. I could never ascend to the hypocritical heigts youve established by never-before-seen levels of image plagiarism in the F40 photos thread subsequent to your scolding of the use of other's images in a certain other thread prior. And then theres the..... oh never mind.

BTW, the concours days were with truly vintage cars over 30 years old with lots of mileage and the sarcasm (clearly lost on you) has been directed at contemporary 2,000 mile garage queens that ought to be concours anyway by virtue of their non-use!

But each to their own I suppose... oh and yes, PS2s for me, even if only to traverse from trailer over grassy knolls.

Joe
www.joesackey.com

 

Sorry, Kuzi. Gotta temporarily jack your thread with a tire question of my own.

I've got the 18" OZ Racing Magnesio LM wheels on my F40, and the current tire sizes I have on are: 235/40 ZR18 on the front and 345/30 ZR18 on the back. I have (and love) the Michelin Pilot Sports. Baby needs new shoes, and I can't find the Michelin rears anywhere, and nobody else seems to make that size. Anyone know what range of tire sizes will work for that rear wheel?

I'd rather stay away from the Pirellis, and have a preference for the Michelins or Bridgestones.

TIA!

SteveJ

Edit: And I want these tires for driving - fast, and often. I have unused stock Pirellis on the stock wheels in the garage just in case I slip and bump my head and decide I ever need to show the car in a concours. Or if I ever get really insecure and need to have a little certificate from Ferrari with their logo on it that tells me what I own. When I put my right foot down, there's no question in my mind what I own.

 

BUMP! Seriously - someone's GOTTA have some advice here!

 

Youve given the only advice I could have given....

Joe
www.joesackey.com

 

Cool! A post to say "I can't help you." Pad that post count, Joe! Hehehe.

So.... nobody has any ideas what other tire size(s) will fit those wheels? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

 

Steve, I'll call my tire guy today...he has found some difficult to obtain tires in the past.

With regards to Pirellis. Track temps at Sakhir were 40C plus. The car was put through vigorous spirited laps at the hands of a former goodyear test driver on Monday, and Jacky Ickx on Tuesday. They held up beautifully, with the appropriate amount of scrub wear and heating. Fantastico ! Obviously, sourcing is always going to be the issue, but they really are a very, very good tire.

I will post pics of them when the car gets back in the next week of so, to demonstrate how they wore in conditions/driving they are unlikely to face in Stateside road use.

 

My 1990 86056 came with Goodyear Eagles, proven by the original window sticker which disclosed make of tire. I've had PZeros but due to time I just 6 months ago replaced them with Michelin Pilot Sports. Best performance tire out there but it comes with low warranty (12k and 4 years) I recently put a second set on my MB S55.

If you have any set of tires over 4 years old on a performance car, check the space between the treads. You might find cracks just due to age. Too many people are hurt by this problem.

Gerry

 

Period.

Thanks for that clarification Gerry as my experience has been identical. The Pilot Sports are the best.

And they are far better than PZeros, no matter how hard some will try and convince you, Italian exclamations and all.... *rolls eyes*


Joe
www.joesackey.com

 

Steve, I spoke to my tire guy again just now. He says you can use a 335-30-18 tire in Michelin PS2 on the rear as long as the wheel width is 11.5 to 12.5 inches. What is the width of those LM rear wheels ?

 

I've used Pilot Sports on my F40 car since I bought her, and I don't want to use anything else! I also run them on my other Ferraris and my Maserati. So another +1 to Gerry, as I am in violent agreement.

Jas - thanks for the awesome legwork. I'll have to check the wheel width this weekend. I think I'm gonna go pick her up from Carlo's and drive her this weekend... even with the old tires. I'll keep it controlled, but I GOTTA have more cowbell... er.. I mean exhaust note! And when the weather is like this in Seattle, there is NOTHING I'd rather be doing than driving an F40.

SJ