The King is dead. Long live the King. Every recent tyre test has placed the Conti SportContact 7 ahead of the much loved MPS4S. The headache is that they aren’t available in F12 or 812 sizing as the 315/35/20 doesn’t exist. But I was curious to try them so I sized up the rears to 325/35/20 and the fronts to 265/35/20. The additional sidewall hasn’t been an issue - in fact, I’d venture to say that it’s helpful for day to day comfort and handling but probably dulls the reactions on the limit. My mechanic (who used to be a Nurburgring instructor) says that they drive really nicely. What else can I say? The reviews are right about the dry grip. Flooring it in 2nd gear on a rolling start hooks up immediately where the MPSS I previously had fitted would step out. This could be down to new vs old tyres so I’m not putting too much faith in this but early signs are good. I haven’t driven them in the wet yet but I’m hoping the reviews are right about that too. The Porsche and BMW forums are full of positive reviews for the SC 7 with the only complaint being limited tyre life (about 7-8,000 miles). Given that most Ferrari tyres time out rather than mileage out, I don’t think this will be a problem. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank you for another great tire advice. Interesting to see the 599 GTO wheels on the F12. Looks like the thick style. Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat
My only issue with Conti tires is that the shoulder edge on the fronts round over very quickly and it affects the steering. Frequent swapping front/rear has helped but on the F12 and others this cannot be done.
You’re welcome. And well spotted on the thick spokes - they’re the later Apptech manufactured ones. Ironically, I prefer the look of the thin spoke BBS version when fitted to the GTO but the thick spoke ones look better on the F12. If I’d wanted a thin spoke look on the F12, I could just as well have gone for the Superformance ‘Spider’ Y spoke forged alloys. Here’s a photoshop comparison I made of the two; Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank you for sharing your experience of Conti tyres. You can see the rounded profile of the tyres in the shallow angle photo of the front wheel but by sizing up, I’m hoping to mitigate that somewhat. The stock MPSS also has a rounded shoulder by dint of being slightly stretched for the rim size. So far, the grip and steering has been a big step up from the aged MPSS which were previously on the car but as I mentioned earlier, that might just be the difference between old and new tyres. But even if they wear faster than the Michelins, their better performance and lower price will mitigate that. Part of the reason for the lower life expectancy of the Contis is that the tread depth from the factory is coming out at around 6.7mm (according to other users) which coincidentally reminds me of the Michelin K spec GTO tyres which were also ‘shaved’. I shall need to measure mine. I’m running MPS4S on the FF but there are too many other variables at play for that to be a valid comparison. I think the best I can say is that the Contis work on the F12 if you’re prepared to size up. And if you’re willing to sacrifice tyre life for better grip in the dry and wet then they are a viable alternative to the MPS4S which has been the default choice for too long.
The Michelin K spec GTO tyres also has a tread depth at about 6,5 mm. For some days in 2022 i had my GTO wheels on my 812 (my twisted forged 812 rims were out for respray) I had the GTO tire sizes, 285/30 and 315/35. Daniel Image Unavailable, Please Login
my 2 cents The forged F12 rims are not really nice. The angle from the spokes are different to the GTO rims (BBS FI and AppTech), and because of that detail the GTO rims are much nicer. Daniel
That looks great. I just measured the Contis’ tread depth and they’re 6.7-7.2mm depending on the measurement point (thinner at the shoulders).
I completely agree. And what isn’t noticeable when the wheels are static is that the GTO rims have much more life to them from the throw of light when they’re in motion compared to the Superformance F12 wheels.
This is the holy grail of rims BBS FI-R But no sizes for Ferrari. Daniel Image Unavailable, Please Login
Are your wheels exactly the stock size/offset? I've been thinking about getting an aftermarket set that measure like TDF wheels.
No - they’re GTO wheels which have a ETs of 38mm F and 63mm R. Which is 10.4mm smaller at the front and 8.6mm smaller at the rear. GTO and F12 rim widths are the same. As a result, the look is nice and flush although that will change a bit if I have the car lowered slightly. Here’s a thread with more photos; https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/599-gto-wheels-on-an-f12.692941/ TdF/812 offsets are 48.4F and 57.3R but the front rim is a bit wider at 10J instead of 9.5J on the F12. As I’m sure you’re aware, many F12 owners have successfully fitted TdF/812 rims so you’ll be good to go with those offsets too although the rear might be a touch aggressive based on my experience with the GTO offset which is 5.7mm larger - although I am running a slightly wider 325 section tyre.
The F12 rear offset is 72, I thought. That’s pretty different. Actually can anyone on her confirm what the TDF’s wheel dimensions are? Here’s what I found online: 10J20 ET 48 front 11.5J20 ET 72 rear PCD 5x114.3 (5x4.5) Center bore 67.1 mm
My self made excel file to calculate possible spacers with different wheels. The rim sizes and offsets are proofed with fotos and manuals. Daniel
This spreadsheet is really helpful. Thank you! So 71.6 is the rear offset for the F12. Maybe I'm not thinking about this the right way, but it's a bit surprising that the rear is the thing that gets wider when the rear wheels are staying the same size, and the front wheels are getting a little wider.