308 tyres - what's currently recommended?

With 16s you are on the hunt for 225x50s & 205x55s. The fronts are easy but (here in the UK at least) the choice on the rear is much more limited. It seems that there are different tyres available in different markets. There are basically no 225x50x16 Michelins here that I can see on their website . The best option has been the P7 Cincurato. Bridgestone's website are now showing nothing available. Goodyear are showing one tyre & also a Dunlop Sportmax, Michelin is only showing some winter tyres & Pirelli just has the Cincurato P7. One of the big online tyre suppliers is showing some Michelins & Bridgestones but if they are not on the manufacturers site then who knows where they have come from.

 

Hi Martin,

What about the Continental ContiSportContact (Porsche N2 designated) that are recommended for the 80's Porsche 911 G model Carrera on 16" rims? Size, load and speed rating are all OK.

I think they're still available and Porsche must have thoroughly tested them before they got their N2 designation.

I've had good experiences with the ContiSportContact but not on a 308, although I know someone who had a good experience with a set on one. The feedback was good on noise, grip, comfort and wear.

 

I'm getting new 16's this week... currently the car has Bridgestone Potenzas that are no longer made; can't really tell how I feel about them, as they're quite past their prime. The new tire plan is Firehawk Indy 500.

 

Try Doral SDL made by Sumitomo. For a daily driver they are not bad.

 

I have the BFGoodrichs on my 308 about 1000 miles and I like them very much. They are still available for our sizes and at a reasonable price. I did not drive them in the rain so don't know how they behave. I thought about the Mich Pilot Sport A/S 3+ but did not like the tread pattern not aggressive looking enough.
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On his 308 a friend in Europe has Toyo T1R with which he is very happy

 

Well, the Michelin "Pilot Exalto 2" are easily available here "on the continent" in both dimensions, front and rear. It is the favourite tyre, by far, of the small community of 308/328 owners on our french forum. I have these on my two cars (328 GTB & 328 GTS) even if I would have prefered to keep the GTS on Goodyears, as it was originally delivered new in Germany, so fitted with Goodyears. The GTB was among the small number of late french 328s, so originally fitted with the rare Michelin MXX (not TRX, MXX) which is no longer available, so the Pilot Exalto 2 acts as an acceptable substitute.
Rgds

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/146510796/
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/146512230/

https://www.pirelli.com/tyres/it-it/auto/collezione

Pirelli P7 Classic

ciao

 

Martin,
Note that these are considered as "summer" tyres, so I don't know if that will satisfy your need for a tyre able to sustain rain: as always, it depends "how much rain"....but you should be able to find information about their drivability on the net rather easily.
(I'm slightly surprised that you haven't "gone back" to 14-inchers; I love the look of 14 inchers on carbed cars...)

Rgds

 

Oh no, no need to call the "Police for taste" (it has already a lot to do in many matters...) as long as it is not "an insult to good taste" ("Une insulte au bon goût"). I do not dislike the 16' on a 308, but somehow, I always think "14' " when I think of a carbed 308.
Rgds

 

This car guy (that was with us at Pirelli test track soma days ago) told me they work very well.

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In any case the most important thing is what I wrote in my two posts:

"spent a day Yesterday at Pirelli test track in Vizzola Ticino, Italy. We participaded with our cars to a Pirelli video making about classic Pirelli tires lineup (it will be shown at @@@@@ @'@@@@ this year), with more or less twenty classic cars of different ages and brands. We talked a lot with the Pirelli Classic tires dept boss, and he explained us how they choose the correct tire compound for classic cars, and why we should avoid to put on our 40 years old car a tire that is designed for present day cars (expecially if it's a street legal race tire or something like that). A wonderful day."

"...I had no interest about the CN36 so I talked with them just about P7 and Pzero. What they told me in general was this: there are some cars (eg. classic Porsche 911) that can become very hard to control with todays tires so they have to find the best balance between the old compound and the modern compounds, to have a good aderence without modifying too much the original car handling and safety. And that it's not easy."

For those reasons I would avoid top grip actual tyres (the semiracing ones). I'm very satisfied with very simple and cheap actual Pirelli Cinturato P7 (I have the VR in the 208 turbo, as its top speed for Italian MOT department is 238 kmh so the V speed code is enough: that's the real top speed and not the "advertised" one). Next time I will go for the P7 Classic YR (they weren't available when I got my standard P7).

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ciao

 

Martin, please consider that I don't remind in any way Gilles Villeneuve (as I'm much taller…), so I drive gently my car. In my opinion with the standard Pirelli P7 VR the steer is ok with a great feeling. I had some steering feeling problem with the old steering rack and pinion plus the old suspension joints.

I know that the P7 are available in higher speed codes, but the V code is ultra cheap, has a good design pattern, works well and is 100% legal with the early 208 turbo (as well as the 2V injected cars). It's road legal on 328 too (as you have the V code also for 328 MOT documents) but you know it cannot go over 240 km/h so it could be very dangerous (in Germany…).

What you complaint about it's exactly what Pirelli techincians told us: with ultra grip modern tires the car is no more what it had to be. They know it as Ferrari went to that track to set the car before production (Dario Benuzzi told me several anecdotes about that) so they know that a car must have correct tires to perform the way Dario Benuzzi set it (he was the one that set our cars). Every day they test new cars and the suspension setting is done around the tires and vice versa (I talked a lot with the Pirelli test driver that set the Lamborghini Urus at that track).

ciao

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Martin, as said, there isn't a good tire and a bad tire, but there is a good tire and bad tire for THAT car model as every car is different.

PZero has Z speed code , Cinturato P7 is a cheap tire so just H and V speed codes.

For wet road you have to look at the specific letter: A is excellent, B good, C is poor. PZero has an A, Cinturato P7 has a B. Cheap China tires have C.

https://www.reifendirekt.de/

 

Martin,

As far as I can tell (I'm not a very experienced driver...), they are nice regarding steering precison. The weather your car is experiencing, and the weather my cars are experiencing, cannot be very different, as we are separated by 200 kms at most, or 120 miles. Driving conditions are the same: I avoid rain as much as I can, but things being what they are, from time to time, you cannot avoid getting caught by it....

Rgds

 

I have FULDAs, but have not installed them so cannot comment on road feel.

They are the proper size, and it's a subsidiary of Goodyear.
Limited availability I think they produce them once a year for our vintage application.

Dunlop has started making the correct size, also.....