What are the best tires for the 348?

Probably depends on what kind of driving you will want to do. Also, a picture of the tread would help.

I suspect that for daily driving they may be fine, but if you want to track the car, replacement with a tire that is rated for the speed you want to achieve would be required. Like I said, hard to tell without more details. What do you want to do?

 

On my 2003 C4S (porsche 996) I just put on Bridgestone Pole Position RE050's. They are cheaper that P-Zeros or my OEM Conti sport contact 2's, but still excellent tires. They came highly recommended both by the tirerack guy that participates on the 996 board and by a local tireshop that gets a lot of performance cars.

From personal experience, compared to the sport contact 2's, they are much better. Grip is better, noise is lower. They are a summer performance tire though. Won't do well in near freezing temperatures.

Hope this helps

 

Sadly due to the odd 348 tire sizes, we are limited to a few sets only. On tirerack we have:
1. Pirelli PZero System - $233/tire
2. Avon M500 - $102-114/tire
3. Fuzion Zri - $97-98/tire
4. Kumho Ecsta SPT - $92-99/tire

I have the Fuzion on my car. It is pretty decent considering the price. I will be trying the Ecsta SPT next. I like this tire on my Audi.

 

I'm on my second set of P-Zero's and love them. Haven't tracked the car but they've had plenty of excercise. Don't have any wet weather feedback as princess doesn't run in the questionable weather.

 

Not to me. The Kumho's and Fuzion's are Z rated tires too. Its not like they are a cheap H rated tire. They have pretty good reviews.

But if you can afford to slap on a set of P Zeros - why not go for it? Italian tires on Italian car sounds quite nice to me.

I am likely to put about 5k miles per year on my car and forsee changing tires every 2-2.5 years. The extra $500 I save by picking the Kumhos can well go into something else. Similarly for those of you who like to track the car, it makes no sense to spend that much money on a set of tires that wont last more than a couple weekends.

 

They came with the car and are fabulous

 

I got some prices yesterday here in Australia for some Pirelli tyres for my 348.
255/40/17's Pirelli Pzero systems will cost me AU$780 each!
255/40/17's Pirelli Corsa systems will cost me AU$610 each.
We get ripped on everything in Australia......

 

If u want to access better tires and more choices than the 4 sets shown on Tirerack, I would suggest decreasing the profile of the fronts. The stock size makes it a challenge. You want to keep the rears since your speedo/odo runs off these and u want to avoid errors. Stock is PZero's or S01's. You can get PZero's but there is a difference between Assymetricos and Directiziones. You might try Yokohama's with a slightly smaller profile up front. I was using AVS's with 215x40x17 up front (vrs. 45) and they worked great. Oh yeah, u might want to check tire profiles yourself becasue not everyone is consistent. A PZero 45 might be shorter than an S01 45, for example.

Alternatively, you could swap out for 18's via the 355 wheels. There are many more tire set choices. I'm running PZero's now - Directiziones on the rear and Assyms on the front (or is it the other way around? ). Whatever. My preference is for Michelin Pilot Sports, but they come at a cost. The Yokes are probably the best value for performance for the money.

 

HI Guys when I bought my 92 348tb the seller put 2 new rear tires (Fuzion) two pass safety, the fronts were Pirelli. The 4 hour ride home was the scariest ride of my life the car would change lanes by it's self. Then put all 4 new Pirelli Pzero's the car handled 75% better. Then put spacers now 99% better,on the track and street. The biggest thing to look at is the tread wear on the tire you choose, Pirelli 140 AA very soft compoundand excellent grip, but wear fast.The higher the number the harder the compound. The best to stay below 300 AA. Good luck

Fuzion 320 AA
Avon 280 AA

 

Bloody hell!!

 

Pirelli P-Zeros for me

 

I truly like my Pirellis, but I'm open to change.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/CompareTireResults.jsp?search=true&pagelen=20&pagenum=1&pagemark=1&vehicleSearch=true&startIndex=0&autoYear=1994&minLoad=S&frontRatio=50&autoModClar=&frontDiameter=17&rearWidth=255%2F&rearDiameter=17&frontWidth=215%2F&autoMake=Ferrari&rearSortCode=50200&minSpeedRating=V&frontSortCode=49550&autoModel=348&rearRatio=45&manufacturer=Avon&manufacturer=BFGoodrich&manufacturer=Bridgestone&manufacturer=Continental&manufacturer=Dunlop&manufacturer=Firestone&manufacturer=Fuzion&manufacturer=General&manufacturer=Goodyear&manufacturer=Hankook&manufacturer=Hoosier&manufacturer=Kumho&manufacturer=Michelin&manufacturer=Pirelli&manufacturer=Sumitomo&manufacturer=Toyo&manufacturer=Uniroyal&manufacturer=Yokohama&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&RunFlat=All



Yokohama AVS *might* be another Summer choice (Fronts might be a bit slick if temps are freezing). Front: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp?startIndex=0&width=215%2F&ratio=50&diameter=17&manufacturer=Yokohama&search=true&pagelen=20&pagenum=1&pagemark=1&x=7&y=16

Rear: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp?startIndex=0&width=255%2F&ratio=45&diameter=17&manufacturer=Yokohama&search=true&pagelen=20&pagenum=1&pagemark=1&x=13&y=12

Some people like the Falkens, too.

But I've only driven on Pirellis.

 

That seems to be normal with Ferrari. When I changed just the rear tires ( my old Dunlop S 9000) a similar thing happened, b/c the new tires where much softer. Had to buy 4 new ones and chose P Zeros Rosso Asymetrico.

Good tires are the most cost effective performance upgrade one can get. I think it is silly to drive a car that is bought for its performance and than economize on tires.

What the best tire is depends pretty much on the demand profile. E.g.: I personnaly am willing to sacrifice some dry road performance for more safety in the rain.

I have been following reviews over the years and as tire development is still quite dynamic the favourites change from year to year. Brands that have always had their products ranked among the best where Dunlop, Pirelli, Continental and Michelin.

 

You know what mate............you are absolutely right!!!

 

It is a fantastic place to be isnt it Chris!
I love this place! The 348 Brotherhood ROCKS!!

 

Has anyone tried Goodyear F1s? This tire came tops in both Car & Driver, Evo Tirerack testings.

I've personally used it on my previous BMW E34 5-series (235/45/18s F&R) and they were amazing in the dry (you could see the pebbles and rocks sticking to them when you parked) and astounding in the wet (drove through standing water with nary a hint of aquaplanning).

What's the widest profile that one can use with the OEM 348 rims (F&R) and yet maintain the same handling characteristics with OEM set-up? I have the spacers at the rear.

Right now, my car tends to understeer if I go in too hot. Like my previous 993, I've found that the trick is to lift slightly for the front to turn in before hitting the gas. Anyone else doing this? I'm assuming that the lighter front end due to the mid-engine design gives the car a natural understeering tendency. I've yet to explore the limits of the PZeroes as I haven't had the opportunity to track the car yet (the closest track, 40 minutes away is the Sepang F1 circuit).

 

Goodyear F1's are nice tires, but really really soft and, like 5000 mile tire life. They are best for lighter cars (like our Ferraris), but heavier ones will scrub them clean to slickville in no time. I consider them a good option.

 

tires are a tough call. I wore out my yellow-label P-Zero's (18k km's). Trying to stick to stock tire size was a problem and went with the Bridgestone Fuzions.

They stick a lot better in the rain and cooler temperatures, so expect warmer performance will be better as well. They're also a larger rolling diameter so the speedometer actually reads accurately now (at all legal speeds anyways ).

But I feel a lost a fair bit of on-centre feel. upp'd the air pressure 3 lbs to 35lbs all-round and it's better but not as hyper-sensitive as the P-Zero's were (which I liked).

Also expecting better wear than the P-Zero's so I've got some driving to do before justifying replacing them.

I also had the alignment done at the same time, and the shop went to -1.5 at the rear, so may up that to -2.1 and see if that helps.

Tires are a tough call!

 

I couldn't get Potenza's in 348 sizes up here in Canada when I needed tires. Something about special order, blah blah blah... Next time I think I'll special order and wait, or TireRack.

 

Here's a comparison between 4 tires that come in the right size for the 348. --> http://www.tirerack.com/tires/CompareTireSets.jsp?RunFlat=All&rearWidth=255%2F&rearDiameter=17&rearRatio=45&frontWidth=215%2F&frontDiameter=17&frontRatio=50&frontSortCode=49550&rearSortCode=50200&compareList=0%2C1%2C2%2C3&compare=true&goWhere=%252Ftires%252FCompareTireResults.jsp&newCompare=true&autoMake=Ferrari&autoModel=348&autoYear=1991&autoModClar=&vehicleSearch=true&minLoad=S&minSpeedRating=V&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&startIndex=0&sortValue=1&displayResults=10

Looks like the discount tires are much better than the Pirellis in wet weather/hydroplaning/ride areas and run it pretty close in cornering stability and dry traction.

You can buy Pirellis if you like but you aren't getting a much tire by any means.