Best Tires for Stock 355 Wheels

HI All,

My car should be on its way to me in a few days! One item it needs ASAP is a set of tires - they're 12 years old.

Is there a consensus for the best tires to mount on the stock rims?

Poll for fun.

 

Mine are 14 years old and I need to replace them too. But I am doing that next year. This year is all about working on the car.

Michelins are the way to go. The Pirellis are OEM and I like OEM stuff but they go hard a lot faster than Michelin.

 

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Michelin Pilot Sport 4S - 225/40ZR18 F and 265/40ZR18 R

 

Agree with 308GTB. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S - stock sizes

 

What is best? There is best tire regardless of car ( Pilot Sport 4S) and there is best looking tire. In high performance summer there is also Continental Extreme contact, the front is the same width as the Michelin but the rears are actually notably wider than the Michelin which looks better. In terms of rating is is very close to the Pilot SS.

I don't know how much traction I need looking cool cruising parking lots and dining spots and local roads with 45 mph limits its but I suspect it is WAY below what the Pilot Sport 4S offers. I am actually getting a post on this with lowering specs for the 348 and the 355 wheels

 

For street use you might also consider increasing tire diameter. The notion being:
1) to raise the car to more easily clear speed bumps ('sleeping policemen' to you UK guys) and traverse drainage gutters while at the same time....
2) improving appearance by more fully filling the wheel arches.
In my case the choice was Continental Extreme Sport. Their 1/4" increase in radius over comparable tires gave a 1/2" increase in tire diameter which of course raised the car 1/2" while at the same time more fully filling the wheel arches for a more attractive appearance and elimination of any 'jacked up' look. There was no necessity to alter suspension geometry or settings. Amazing what an extra 1/2" in clearance gives you in real life. The result is a car less likely to scrape and bottom out while enhancing it's stock appearance. Better Clearance - Better Appearance. Additionally Continentals have a conservative sidewall design that I favor.

 

Eric,

Yes, the Continental ExtremeContact Sport, in stock sizes, is an excellent choice. I'm not concerned with looks as my F355 challenge is configured to original Challenge suspension, alignment, and Challenge wheel and tire specifications (Pirelli slicks). I needed a good "rain" and cold weather tire for my car. The Michelin Pilot Sport 4Ss have served me well since October 2018. They're safe and predictable on the track as long as I follow the "rain line." Only a dedicated rain tire will do well when there is heavy rain and standing water.

The 4Ss heat up rapidly and gain adhesion in cold weather. Here I am at Lime Rock Park in late October 2018. It was 42F and too cold for slicks...


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After three laps, the tires heated sufficiently and I soon forgot that I wasn't on slicks.

Barry

 

I agree Barry, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S are possibly the best street tires available no dispute there. Even ride quality is first rate.

If your rear radius is 1/4 higher and fronts are OEM size you then have a need to lower the rear 1/4 unless you are wanting more oversteer or unless fronts are also 1/4 radius increase. I have seen 275 on these cars (360 size tire size) always seemed too large to my eye, also wider and heavier.

Scraping everywhere sucks royally, The 348 is even worse than 355. Bigger tires definitely help, if it look right then its a good addition.

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Eric, Rob Schermerhorn at Delta Vee rebuilt my shocks to accommodate my track driving skills. Along with Jim McGee at Pocono Sportscar (Rob and Jim helped develop the 348 and F355 challenge cars), my car does well on the tracks I frequent...even Sebring with its rough Turn 17 and Turns 1-3.

Delta Vee offers this guide on setting the F355 up for the track: Ferrari F355 track alignment recommendations

I also follow these guidelines for racing setup...

 

Ive got Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 on my car, and I will get them again.
I'm on 18" so not the standard 348 wheel size, so the front are 225/40 and the rear are 275/35.
I think they are great tyres..

 

Good combination and almost exact 348 oem diameter on both ends, the extra rear tire width one has to decide if that's acceptable is all.,

 

What size would you run on a 355 to fill out the well better and give the car a bit more clearance? This could be useful in Denver...

 

Get the best and forget about tire life. Most of us wont be putting on the miles in 5 years time.

 

For appearance the Pirellis looks best, for performance the Michelins no doubt....

 

Thought I read somewhere last year that Pilot Super Sports are soon to be NLA and have been essentially replaced by the Pilot Sport 4S (and that no, 4S did not refer to 4-season, which I guess people had been assuming).

 

I also believe this is the case, the mp4s is the replacement to the mpss.

I highly recommend running the stocks 225 up front with the slightly wider 285/35 rear.

 

On paper the sizes look sort of like this, in reality the width of brands vary
The 295/30 Rear is .1 shorter than 348 oem and .4 shorter than the 355 oem.
The 295/35 Rear is .1 taller than 348 oem and .2 shorter than the 355 oem.
The 275/35 Rear is .4 shorter than 348 oem and .7 shorter than the 355 oem.
The 285/35 Rear is .1 shorter than 348 oem and .4 shorter than the 355 oem.
The 225/40 Front is .4 shorter than 348 oem and .same size as the 355 oem.
The 215/45 Front is .1 shorter than 348 oem and .4 taller than the 355 oem.

Lots of folks like the 275 look, it is wider for sure, the 285 looks best to me. If I had a 355 id's keep oem size if i had a 348 I would do 355 oem size and adjust the ride height to factory rake. I think the 348 front tire it too tall and the rear is too short.

The trick is not all tires are the same and some brands size is wider than next size up in another brand so picking the "right" tire size is more art than the science of sizes on paper. Again this assumes your using a great tire and are concerned about looks, if its just performance on the street put oem 4S tires on in my opinion. Other wise spend time doing research.

There is no right or wrong that's the great thing, its your car make it how you want. Remember tire width and weight and it can change how the car feels

 

Michelin 4s. Best stock size tire
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4S has 2mm narrower tread than SS btw. Same section width though. Looking at the bottom of the tire to the rim, does the 4S looks a bit stretched?

 

2mm is negligible.

The reason I don't want too wide a tread on my rear tires is that I don't want to reduce oversteer too much. In some track corners, like Big Bend (Turns 1 and 2) at Lime Rock Park, I want to lift momentarily while in the turn to rotate the car by breathing off the throttle and as I turn the car quickly into Turn 2, adding power. In this way I reduce the radius of my path between Turns 1 and 2 and increase the radius for the entry of Turn 2.

For street use, none of this applies.

 

I believe they stopped making ps2’s so the 4s is the currently manufactured replacement.

On a separate note, and not to judge anyone, who drives a high performance car with 10+yr old tires!? I always felt dollar for dollar tires were the best investment in a car- spending 5-10k$ on a major every 5yrs but not spending 1200$ on new tires when you need them? When I bot my car a few years ago it had 3 engine out services since 2007 but tires from 2005!

 

Can still get them here in New Zealand, I was just talking to the tyre shop yesterday.......Maybe they were ill advising me? Whatever if I can't get them I'll get the 4S, not a big deal..

 

My tires just shipped from tire rack ill post them up after I adjust suspension etc.

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This may be a good time to ask this as my tires are older than the OP's... But is it safe to drive on them? I know they wont grip very well but is there a risk of the tire breaking apart due to age?