Looking for a bit of advice on aftermarket wheels for a 456. I have been talking to Novitec about the NF2s which look good, and they've offered a fantastic deal on new wheels and tyres. My 456 currently runs on the standard 285/40s on the 17" rear, 255/45s on the front. The guys at Novitec offered me a great deal on a set of 19" NF2s, including a full set of Pirellis, with 355/25s on the rear. I did some calculations (not my strong point admittedly), and I figure that the circumference of the NF2/Pirellis combo is +/-200 cms, while my current configuration gives a circumference of +/-249 cms. How does this variance affect the performance of the car? Am I right in thinking acceleration would be better but top speed would be reduced? On the subject of the new tyre size availability, is anyone else running 255/35 19s on the front and 355/25 19s on the rear and if so, do you find getting tyres is a chore? After all, this is one of the reasons I am looking to get away from the standard 17 wheels. Appreciate any advice you can give.
Shorter tires will have the effect of deeper/stiffer gearing. All else being equal, that will help acceleration times a little, but you will be faster in any given gear. But that may be offset in part by heavier wheels and tires. That will hurt acceleration. Hard to know without getting a feel for the weight difference, which is rotating, so it has a multiplier effect ( I think 1:5, but that is just fuzzy memory). Meaning, if you add 100 lbs of extra wheel and tire weight, it would be like adding 500 lbs of dead weight ( or whatever the right formula is). You get the idea. Unless you regularly worry about your 0-60 times, get what you like and looks good. More rubber will certainly help cornering!! Regards, Jerry
Hi Jerry, Thanks for your reply! I am not one who worries about 0-60 times, more I'm worried about the fact that Ferrari designed a product and I'm wanting to change it for reasons which are primarily cosmetic. I just want to make sure I'm not un-doing a lot of the optimisation that 20 or more Maranello engineers have spent a lot of time perfecting! (And I'm still worried that the tyres might be unobtainable!) Thanks again, Chris
Chris- You will not even notice the difference one way or the other. The 355/25/ 19 P Zeros are 25.99" in diameter and OEM 456 tires (285/40 17) are 26.00". I have NF2s and the P Zeros on my 575M. One thing to notice is those rear tires will have been made in 2008, so ask them for the date codes on both front and rear tires and you may get a further discount. They should be good for a couple of years, at least. Some good deals out there now on the older Novitecs, like the NF1 and NF2, but NF1s will not work for the V12s.
Hi Taz, Thanks for that. My calculations must have been somewhat out! Regarding the age of the tyres, my info is the same as yours - Pirelli haven't made these tyres for 5 years, so any tyres will be minimum 5 years old. I had some Bridgestones on the car which were 5 years old and started to crack circumferentially and had to be replaced. I am worried that the Pirellis would do the same. Apparently Pirelli are making a new batch of tyres in 2014, so they may become more readily available and it might be worth waiting a few months to get some of these new tyres. Chris
cjb007, As Taz notes, the rolling radii of the PZeros on the NF2s are not materially different from stock. I got my NF2s in Feb '12. 18 months and less than 10K kilometers later, F/R were worn down and so I replaced them with Michelin PSS. Note that the front PZeros that came with my NF2s came with red "PZero" lettering while the rears did not. Something to keep in mind if you're into that sort of thing. Another thing to keep in mind is that it subjectively feels more difficult to break traction at the rear, whether PZero or PSS, than stock, i.e., the handling balance of the car feels different on NF2s, depending on how much you like to throttle-steer, this might also be an issue. Per the Novitec salesperson's recommendation, I have 30mm spacers in the rear, and so far they haven't rubbed the fenders. Others have gone 25mm. Good luck, and please post pics if you go NF2.
Chris- Calculation is easy with a handheld calculator or your PC/smart phone. (355x0.25x2)/25.4=6.99"+19"=25.99" (285x0.40x2)/25.4=8.98"+17"=25.98" (I rounded too early above) Takes about 15 seconds to do, a lot longer to write.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login I hope these help you. NF2s all the way although I'm worried too about when the time comes to change the rear Pirellis. On the handling front the only thing I would say is that for me, the tram lining effect is definitely greater with the new wheels. Maybe my geometry is off?
