Feedback wanted on new tyres for 18" wheels / hatch

Now the cars have been around long enough to be on 2nd ( or maybe 3rd !! ) tyres, what are the feelings on best tyres on the hatch, particularly on 330s / 18" wheels? 245/40x18.

The vredstein sessanta (??) seemed well liked, along with michelin PS3's.
The OEM dunlops were OK but very noisy.

Thanks

vred's all the way matey

Pirreli's FTW 3rd set now just put on average 20,000 a set to these

Another vote for the vreds, 265 fit without issue on the wheels or bodywork. I'll have to get around to fitting the rear sub frame bush inserts as they grip that well its twisting the back every which way.

Rob wrote:Pirreli's FTW 3rd set now just put on average 20,000 a set to these

Same as Rob above but only on second set

Vreds here, not had them long but seem good so far.

They are not the quietest tyre in the world but then again neither is a Subaru, only thing I would say is the 245 looks a little skinny on the rim compared to the Dunlop, I could have gone wider but wanted to keep to recommend width and also with my offset I rub occasionally as it is and did not want to risk anymore.

All in all though a good, and good value option.

Also the vreds have a nice little rim protector which gives me a tiny bit of comfort just in case!

Rob wrote:Pirreli's FTW 3rd set now just put on average 20,000 a set to these

which pirreli's you running rob? do they come with F1 style paint on the sides?

sti_fairbs wrote:

Rob wrote:Pirreli's FTW 3rd set now just put on average 20,000 a set to these

which pirreli's you running rob? do they come with F1 style paint on the sides?

I'm running the p-zero rossa's there's no painted bit on the side wall. There about £690 for 4 tyres
They can take a hell of a hammering and still last a great length of time

Rob wrote:

sti_fairbs wrote:

Rob wrote:Pirreli's FTW 3rd set now just put on average 20,000 a set to these

which pirreli's you running rob? do they come with F1 style paint on the sides?

I'm running the p-zero rossa's there's no painted bit on the side wall. There about £690 for 4 tyres
They can take a hell of a hammering and still last a great length of time

That's expensive for p-zero rossos I pay £115 a corner

bushiwarrior wrote:

Rob wrote:

sti_fairbs wrote:

Rob wrote:Pirreli's FTW 3rd set now just put on average 20,000 a set to these

which pirreli's you running rob? do they come with F1 style paint on the sides?

I'm running the p-zero rossa's there's no painted bit on the side wall. There about £690 for 4 tyres
They can take a hell of a hammering and still last a great length of time

That's expensive for p-zero rossos I pay £115 a corner

were the hell from
These were fitted & balanced with vat and nitrogen filled mind

anyone tried Toyo's or Avon tyres?

Avons wear very oddly on a Subaru no matter how it's set up.
Toyos are ok maybe a little to soft if your quite aggressive with the car like iam with mine lol

Yokohama's?



Must say I'm pleased with the DUNLOPS on the 19s. I think it says Dunlops were designed of the 330s

Cheers guys, a couple of choices then, and then to find the best price!

If you're looking for Verds try http://www.jeffreyshpt.co.uk/ mine were £153 ea inc vat & fit for the 265's.

Paul.

Guys

Why a 265 size out of curiosity?

urban wrote:Why a 265 size out of curiosity?

I've fitted 265's to mine. Just quoting the size and price as an indication.

Paul666 wrote:If you're looking for Verds try http://www.jeffreyshpt.co.uk/ mine were £153 ea inc vat & fit for the 265's.

Paul.

Cheers Paul, that'll be Jim Jeffries in warrington then?

The p zero rosso asym, michelin PS3's etc. were silly prices on mytyres like £240 a corner!


May give these a go, not sure on sizing yet as 330S on 18's is already different rolling radius than STi, and not sure if the speedo was corrected for it?

vulnax wrote:

Cheers Paul, that'll be Jim Jeffries in warrington then?

The p zero rosso asym, michelin PS3's etc. were silly prices on mytyres like £240 a corner!


May give these a go, not sure on sizing yet as 330S on 18's is already different rolling radius than STi, and not sure if the speedo was corrected for it?

Yes mate that's him.

Mytyre are expensive and a pain as they wanted a bank transfer when I tried to order, Camskill http://www.camskill.co.uk/ are the cheapest on the net that have stock and Elite http://www.elitedirect.com/TyresNew/tyres.php are the cheapest but didn't have stock and couldn't say when they would.

As the difference is only 1.5% I wouldn't think they've done anything with the speedo.

Paul.

Paul666 wrote:If you're looking for Verds try http://www.jeffreyshpt.co.uk/ mine were £153 ea inc vat & fit for the 265's.
Paul.

Hi Paul' What Hatch rims did you fit the 265s to ?
245 are nice on 8". Just spent 2 days trawling through web pages trying to find a supplier who could tell me if 9's (for 255) would fit. None could, so went to sca in Norwich and as far as we could measure, a 9" rim wont fit between the front suspension and outside of the bodywork - it'll stick out and pebble spray the side of the car.

I hope our measurements are wrong. Has anyone fitted 9's ????

Every tyre size has a design rim width, that is to say that the tyre will be at its design optimum for performance, profile etc when fitted to its design rim width.

For tyres with an aspect ratio of 80 to 50 the design rim width is 70% of the tyre section width, rounded up to the nearest 0.5".

For tyres with an aspect ratio of less than 50, the design rim width is 85% of the tyre section width, rounded up to the nearest 0.5".

As far as I am aware this is a standard adhered to by all tyre manufacturers.

For a 245/40R18 tyre, the rim design width is 8.5". I.E. 245x85% = 208.25. Converting to inches by dividing by 25.4 gives us 8.1988" and then rounding up to the nearest 0.5" gives 8.5".

265 section width should idealy be fitted to a 9" rim. By fitting to an 8.5" rim the tyre will not be performing to it's design optimum.

Here endeth the tyre lesson.

Stan, have a look on NASIOC or IWSTI for fitting info on wider than stock wheels. 9.5" rims are very popular on the hatch STi over there.

HTH, Neil

Thanks Neil

May have to consider rolling and pulling out the "fenders" (+ respray !) to fit 9.5's. - is it really worth it
Not for me !

Still investigating 9's.....

Update after a few more measurements !
I reckon (could be wrong !) that even pulling out the arches to accommodate the extra width, and allowing for only 5mm clearance between wheel and suspension, the tyres will still pebble splatter the sides unless you fit crazy looking flaps.
I think 8'5's are the widest "sensible" width.
USA maybe dont have as much stone debris on their roads - or are happy to respray every year !

StanS wrote:Hi Paul' What Hatch rims did you fit the 265s to ?

Hi Stan,

Mine are fitted to the 330 alloys 8.5", had 245 on but looked under sized.

Have a look at https://subaruhatch.forumotion.com/t370-trip-to-the-powder-coaters to see what they look like fitted.

Paul.

If you use 8.5" rim width with ET55 as a starting point (stock 330S and BBS wheel) then in order to run a 9" rim and retain the same clearance between inside of wheel and suspension etc, the 9" rim would need an offset of ET48/ET49. This would position the outside face of the wheel 12mm/13mm further out than for the 8.5" ET55 wheel.

So, a 9" rim with ET48 is equivalent to an 8.5" rim with ET42 in respect to the position of the outer face of the wheel. ET42 on an 8.5" rim is 'safe' on the STi hatch, there should be no rubbing or clearance issues. ET35 on an 8.5" rim is about the safe limit before mods to the bodywork are needed although you may still get some rubbing in certain circumstances.

Personally I wouldn't go bigger than 8.5" rim with 245 tyre. Just pick a wheel with lower offset to fill the arches although bear in mind that anything much lower than ET50 will affect the handling to a degree - does look good though!

Cheers, Neil