Do 255/40/17 tyres fit on the rear of an e36 m3?

[teabagger]

Hi all,

Has anyone fitted 255/40/17 tyres on the rear of an e36 m3 fitted with the staggered rear wheels (8.5j).
I am hoping to do this but am concerned about the tyre rubbing on the arches.

My arches are as the factory intended- i would like to keep it this way. the car runs at a fairly standard ride height on conventional springs and dampers.

Thanks for any info!

[french]

I had 255x35x18" on standard suspension & there is no problems at all,so I dont suppose it will happen on the 17" wheels.

One of the things that I did notice though was that because of the extra grip the car undesteered more.

[ASBO]

I'm assuming it's an EVO you have?

If that's the case then the correct setupis 225 on the front with 245 on the rear. The 3.0 cars ran 235's all round.

HTH

[teabagger]

yes its an evo

the standard tyres are 225/45/17 and 245/40/17

i am looking to change these to 235/40/17 and 255/40/17.

i am due for a new set of tyres after an up and coming trackday so i thought i would take the opportunity to get a little extra grip.

it seems the 255's on the rear will be ok.

cheers.

[breezy]

teabagger said:

yes its an evo

the standard tyres are 225/45/17 and 245/40/17

i am looking to change these to 235/40/17 and 255/40/17.

i am due for a new set of tyres after an up and coming trackday so i thought i would take the opportunity to get a little extra grip.

it seems the 255's on the rear will be ok.

cheers.

My understanding is that with standard arches it depends on the tyre.

Why are you doing it?

To be honest I don't really see the point in upping the rears. The balance of the car is generally quite safe and it gets good traction on the 245s.

Quite tempted to go 235 on the front of mine at some point (along with my staggered OEM setup I have a set of 7.5" non staggered wheels that I run 235 all round on for trackdays and these are fine at the front).

[scz4]

breezy said:

Quite tempted to go 235 on the front of mine at some point (along with my staggered OEM setup I have a set of 7.5" non staggered wheels that I run 235 all round on for trackdays and these are fine at the front).

Interesting, I've been tempted to put 235's on the front too for track days too to dial some understeer out. Bbut done a bit of research if you look up the range of rim widths to fit 235 tyres, 7.5" is a no no. It'll probably screw the handling up the front tyres will bulge over the rim and create an understeer effect, never mind trash your tyre. For road it'll be fine though.

255 rears isn't required IMO.

Anyone else have experience of this?

G

Edited by scz4 on Friday 7th November 18:41

[breezy]

scz4 said:

breezy said:

Quite tempted to go 235 on the front of mine at some point (along with my staggered OEM setup I have a set of 7.5" non staggered wheels that I run 235 all round on for trackdays and these are fine at the front).

Interesting, I've been tempted to put 235's on the front too for track days too to dial some understeer out. Bbut done a bit of research if you look up the range of rim widths to fit 235 tyres, 7.5" is a no no. It'll probably screw the handling up the front tyres will bulge over the rim and create an understeer effect, never mind trash your tyre. For road it'll be fine though.

255 rears isn't required IMO.

Anyone else have experience of this?

G

Edited by scz4 on Friday 7th November 18:41

My reasoning is exactly the same as yours - to dial out some of the inherent understeer.

Incidentally, I'm fairly certain that the standard 3.0 car ran 7.5" all around and that ran 235s. My track wheels are a 3.0 wheels running sticky 235 Yokohamas.

As an aside, the 235 rear Yokos grip much better when warm than the 245 F1s...

[Cliffv8]

breezy said:

scz4 said:

breezy said:

Quite tempted to go 235 on the front of mine at some point (along with my staggered OEM setup I have a set of 7.5" non staggered wheels that I run 235 all round on for trackdays and these are fine at the front).

Interesting, I've been tempted to put 235's on the front too for track days too to dial some understeer out. Bbut done a bit of research if you look up the range of rim widths to fit 235 tyres, 7.5" is a no no. It'll probably screw the handling up the front tyres will bulge over the rim and create an understeer effect, never mind trash your tyre. For road it'll be fine though.

255 rears isn't required IMO.

Anyone else have experience of this?

G

Edited by scz4 on Friday 7th November 18:41

My reasoning is exactly the same as yours - to dial out some of the inherent understeer.

Incidentally, I'm fairly certain that the standard 3.0 car ran 7.5" all around and that ran 235s. My track wheels are a 3.0 wheels running sticky 235 Yokohamas.

As an aside, the 235 rear Yokos grip much better when warm than the 245 F1s...

I run 235 front and 245 rear on my 3.0L 7.5" rims, with no problem but I am after some staggered wheels for road use when I've got a little spar cash and use the 7 1/5" rims for the track, I've got my friends set of e36 8" & 9" Alpina's on at the moment as I'm saving what's left of my old tyres for a track day at Oulton in a couple of weeks and their are really nice wheels they seem a good bit lighter and I like how you can see the brakes better so I'm tempted to get a set for myself.

oohh and I agree 255 would be a bit over kill IMO.

Edited by Cliffv8 on Friday 7th November 22:46

[scz4]

Use this website - http://www.tyresite.com/tyrecalc.asp

Like others I've tried it does say 8x17 to 9x17 for 235. I was aware of the 3.0 running 235's all round on 7.5", strange one really.

G

[iguana]

Road wheels Ive got 235s & 255s on Alpina rims, they are 9j rear, arches are rolled tho, track wheels BBS RC 8j 235 all round.

Don't need that much rubber on the rear, its how my car came 2nd hand, but 235 all round is ace combo IMHO.

[andygtt]

I had 255/40/17s on my M3 Evo for a while... had no issues, no rubbing etc in the 15k i did on them.

Looked cool, with the extra width and height, but added nothing to the car dynamically, also cant say it took anything away either but it was just a road warrior and never saw the track.

The only reason I fitted them is because they were cheaper at the time. Id not bother again and definatelly wouldnt fit larger rubber on a track car as the car simply doesnt warrant it IMHO.

[ASBO]

Just a quick note on the understeer comments.

If you wish to dial it out, suspension geometry is the way forward.

Wider tyres will give you more front grip, but the car will still 'want' to understeer even if it doesn't as much, if you see what mean

I had a full geo setup on my Evo, which dialed out most of the understeer despite running 225 road tyres at the front. Fitting properly set-up suspension is the single biggest change you can make to your car IMO.

[teabagger]

the reason i ask the question is because i have to replace my tyres fairly soon.
i use the car for road and track so my tyres have to be a compromise.
i would like a little more grip from the tyres so i thought about fitting wider tyres, as the cost is minimal.

would a 255 section falken 452 offer the same grip as a more expensive, stickier 235 section?

basically i want the most grip at the lowest price!!