who is running the widest FRONT tires? How do you like it?

Like any self-respecting performance car nut, I loathe understeer with the unmitigated fury of a thousand suns. I know I'm not the only one!

How wide of a tire have you guys managed to fit up front? Has it improved the performance noticeably? How does it look? Did you have to change your alignment specs?

When shopping for tires for my stick-axle antiquated shitbox S197 (just kidding...I still love that car ) I found that with -1.5* of camber and careful wheel offset selection, I was able to comfortably run 285/35/19s up front with no rubbing at all. From what I read, this seemed to be just about the most I could fit without camber plates and more negative camber. I personally think the car looks much better with wide front rubber and the extra grip and (closer to) neutral characteristics at the limit are confidence inspiring.

And yes, I'm wondering if I should keep my aftermarket wheels or if I'll be able to use an even wider wheel when I bring home an S550.

Thanks for any input!

I've read on here a few times that you can go 285 all around on the stock wheels with no rubbing. I'l let someone else say it for sure. If that's the case for real, I'm planning on doing it as well.

PJR202 said:

I've read on here a few times that you can go 285 all around on the stock wheels with no rubbing. I'l let someone else say it for sure. If that's the case for real, I'm planning on doing it as well.

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I bet you're right. The stock PP wheels are 19"x9.5", correct?

While a 285 is a pretty meaty tire, I'm really hoping someone comes on and says that the stock front wheel wells can handle a 305. Obviously, the PP wheels wouldn't be wide enough for that tire but there are so many great looking aftermarket S550 wheels that picking out good looking 10.5" wide set would be a fun task.

The PP should come with 4-sqaure set-up, it's stupid that it doesn't.

I'd like to know if the wider wheel/tire combo on the back can be installed on the front.

The back wheel of a PP car - the 9.5" one - can be installed up front with a spacer. I can't remember the size spacer right now but it's on this forum in many places.

It is possible to run a 305 tire up front so long as you have the proper wheel offset and don't use camber bolts or slot the strut for your alignments (i.e., get camber plates).

I run a 285 up front typically and between that and a 275, I really don't notice the difference. 285 just looks better on a 10 or 10.5" wide rim (the rim sizes I have).

That's right...I forgot that they have staggered wheels on the PP. So it's 19x9 up front and 9.5 in the rear, right? Is this a weight/cost saving measure or what?

Great to hear that the front CAN hold a 305 without camber plates. What offset does this require? More negative, I assume...

I am running Eibach's camber bolts in my S197 to get that -1.5* and every so often, I think about what would happen if they snapped. I've been hammering it through corners with those camber bolts for a couple of years now on relatively sticky 200 treadwear rubber...so far so good. :O

The front can hold a 305 without camber plates, I guess, but my point was if you are running 305s up front, you are tracking your car or at least want as much grip as you can get which tells me you'll need a performance alignment which means you'll need camber plates. So... 305s, IMHO, need to be associated with camber plates for proper alignments.

i run 4 rears on all four corners. you can use rear wheels up front with 5mm spacer without rubbing and also using stock studs. any bigger spacer and you need longer studs or the bolt on spacers. btw this is assuming we are talking stock pp wheels.

wildcatgoal said:

The front can hold a 305 without camber plates, I guess, but my point was if you are running 305s up front, you are tracking your car or at least want as much grip as you can get which tells me you'll need a performance alignment which means you'll need camber plates. So... 305s, IMHO, need to be associated with camber plates for proper alignments.

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That makes sense.
I took the advice from Vorshlag to optimize my alignment specs with my suspension/tire mods...but like you, they recommended the camber plates for the best possible set up.

If I end up keeping my S197, I'll likely install them at some point...at the time, I couldn't choke up another $400 after dropping more cash than I care to admit on shocks/struts, springs, control arms, tires and wheels....and since the $20 camber bolts got me most of the way there for a car that mostly sees country roads and a rare autox event, it made sense to hold off. FWIW, with the correct offsets and camber plates, guys run lowered S197s with 305s up front but it's really close and it requires pretty extreme alignment to make that work...I suspect that the S550 should be able to do better than this.

The S550 doesn't need any particularly fancy alignment, just some neg. camber with camber plates (so the wheel isn't pivoted inward into the strut and instead the strut is what is moved and the wheel follow suit). I have 10.5" wheels that are 35 offset and, to run a 305, I apparently need an 8mm spacer, so I bought them. We'll see if they fit.

PJR202 said:

I've read on here a few times that you can go 285 all around on the stock wheels with no rubbing. I'l let someone else say it for sure. If that's the case for real, I'm planning on doing it as well.

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I'm 275 all around with PP wheels. You need a 5mm spacer up front. I'm surprised 285 would clear, it's pretty tight. Good to know though

I run 285/35/19 on the front of my gtpp on a 10'' wheel. No rubbing issues at all

Let's be honest though, a 285 is a pretty damn wide tire. I run 285 on a road course and front grip is not really the issue (typically it's me goofing up a corner, haha).

NoVaGT said:

The PP should come with 4-sqaure set-up, it's stupid that it doesn't.

I'd like to know if the wider wheel/tire combo on the back can be installed on the front.

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I have been told that you can. I want to move my PP rears to the front and buy the AM PP style 20x10 for the rear because there are no DR's in 19. Also, 20" tires are cheaper than 19", at least that is the case for the options I am considering so far.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/performance-pack-black-20x10-2015.html

On my GT I ran 285's all around on 19x9.5's with a +30 offset.