Not another tire thread...

[squeak]

Question about sizes for you tire experts out there

Looking at different tires to replace my current Continentals. Mine are Sportcontact 2's, 265/35/19 rears and 235/35/19 fronts. Some of the options coming up on tirerack.com are showing 265/30/19 rears with the same 235/35/19 fronts.

Questions:

1) Is having the different sidewall sizes between front and rear a "normal" and ok thing to do?
2) Does it look "right" having a thicker sidewall at the front/lower at the back?
2) Does it make any difference in the handling?
3) With the 19" wheels I'm using, what other size tires could I look at using? The wheels are Porsche 911 Carrera S "Sport Design" type.

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!

Cheers, Gord.

[schwank]

That sidewall height number is actually a ratio of sidewall height to tire width. So the back will naturally be lower due to the fact that the tire is wider.

For instance, I'm buying some new tires for OEM 18's today. Fronts are 225/40 while the back are 265/35.

FWIW, I am most likely getting Kumho Ecsta ASX. If not those then likely some Bridgestone Pole Position 960AS. It rains a weeeee bit around here at times.

[squeak]

Originally Posted by schwank

So the back will naturally be lower due to the fact that the tire is wider.

Yeah, I see what you're saying...but the tires that are on there right now have the same sidewall size, 35 front and rear.

Any other answers to my questions folks?

Cheers, Gord.

[mdex]

Originally Posted by squeak

Yeah, I see what you're saying...but the tires that are on there right now have the same sidewall size, 35 front and rear.

Any other answers to my questions folks?

Cheers, Gord.

The tires you have on the rear now are the wrong size.. the 265/30 is correct. The tires you have in the back now are adversely effecting the handling of the car, because they have a larger diameter then is ideal.

Marc

[squeak]

Originally Posted by mdex

The tires you have on the rear now are the wrong size..

Thanks for the reply. Really?? The tires that are on there right now came with the car. It was the previous owner who put those wheels/tires on there. He told me that the Continentals in that configuration was all he ever used.

Tirerack.com does recommend those (35 sidewall, f/r) also for the 19" rims. It was only after I saw some other owners have used the 265/30 set up on their wheels that I checked tirerack again.

Interesting..totally confused now, but interesting stuff lol.

Cheers, Gord.

[NickCats]

Squeak,

I agree with schwank & mdex. My 99 has 225/40ZR18 on the front and 265/35RR18 on the rear. Not sure about the difference with 19" wheels though, but it does make sense that the middle number for the rears would be less than the front due to the wider tire. Perhaps Grizzly and Bmus can chime in, I think they both have 19's...

Nick