Whether you have issues from the added bump steer is separate from the fact that they add it.
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2021 VW GLI - Track Day (Open Lapping) at TMP
- Thread starter dgunay
- Start date
It depends. My GTI wheels are actually 7.75" width depite being nominally 7.5".
With 235/40 they should be perfectly square while with 225/40 PS4S they are
not, with my previous 225/40 PSS HN my rims have been awkwardly exposed.
That particular PSS HN (Hyundai N spec) appear to come with actual 205 or
215 mm width.
Mushy? I doubt it. Hundreds of GTI/GLI owners do run 235s on stock wheels.
That said thanks to you all for your contributions regarding these ball joints.
.
235 is a bit much on a 7.5 (it will fit). 225 is a better fit (slight stretch) and testing has shown repeatedly that a proportioned tire to wheel width will handle better. I run 235s on 8.5s and 245s on 9s. 235/40 on 18x8.5:
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This is the chart I usually refer.
If you are daily driving, you can choose max tire width, which I do. It's just fine. Running 245s on 8J wheels.
If you are taking it to track, you may want to stay within the ideal tire width for more grip.
If you are daily driving, you can choose max tire width, which I do. It's just fine. Running 245s on 8J wheels.
If you are taking it to track, you may want to stay within the ideal tire width for more grip.
Wheel width: Is wider always better?
We tend to obsess about tire width, but are your wheels the right size, too?
grassrootsmotorsports.com
Basically there aren't necessarily performance returns on a wider tire for a given wheel past a point. A 235 will be way more supported on an 8.5", you can add more tire to a skinnier wheel but all you get is more heat capacity and weight.
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I know. I'm more than familar with what's ideal and where the pros and cons are as
that's part of my profession.
However, live is far from ideal. Real is your wife is driving your car and she touches
curbstones. That's life. I love my wife and I prefer to prevent wheels from damages.
Track? We are all amateurs. Forget about what's ideal. Who is running 'ideal' tires on
track such as Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R or Michelin Pilot Cup 2R, not to mention slicks?
With a run-of-the-mill A/S or even HP A/S? Forget about what's ideal.
If you do amateur racing there are strict rules. Wheel size is one of them while you
may allowed to use non-stock tire sizes. Next, heat, You don't want to overheat your
(A/S?) tires you want to drive daily (heat cycles harden/weaken the rubber what you'll
notice on the next cold wet day). Tire width is a viable factor to reduce heat, at least
wider tires spreads the heating.
I could write for pages and pages about similar details. Some more complicated some
easier to to comprehend like that above.
ps
Tables without cross section are broad-brushed say incomplete.
I know. I'm more than familar with what's ideal and where the pros and cons are as
that's part of my profession.
However, live is far from ideal. Real is your wife is driving your car and she touches
curbstones. That's life. I love my wife and I prefer to prevent wheels from damages.
Track? We are all amateurs. Forget about what's ideal. Who is running 'ideal' tires on
track such as Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R or Michelin Pilot Cup 2R, not to mention slicks?
With a run-of-the-mill A/S or even HP A/S? Forget about what's ideal.
If you do amateur racing there are strict rules. Wheel size is one of them while you
may allowed to use non-stock tire sizes. Next, heat, You don't want to overheat your
(A/S?) tires you want to drive daily (heat cycles harden/weaken the rubber what you'll
notice on the next cold wet day). Tire width is a viable factor to reduce heat, at least
wider tires spreads the heating.
I could write for pages and pages about similar details. Some more complicated some
easier to to comprehend like that above.
ps
Tables without cross section are broad-brushed say incomplete.
I agree with everyone but sometimes there are more than performance returns on a wider tire, especially if you are daily driving it.
This is my daily setup, and stock 235 tires look VERY stretched on a 8J wheel for some reason, maybe because of the brand, not sure. When I bought the rims with 235 tires, ALL wheels had curb damage, and all wheels were bent (not extreme, but needed repair). The tires came off a stock MK7.5 Golf R, it wasn't even lowered or slammed.
So I decided to switch to 245/35/R19, it looks normal to me. The difference is -0.8% compared to the stock size, so speedo is as accurate as it gets with 19" wheels. Here is how it looks:
This is my daily setup, and stock 235 tires look VERY stretched on a 8J wheel for some reason, maybe because of the brand, not sure. When I bought the rims with 235 tires, ALL wheels had curb damage, and all wheels were bent (not extreme, but needed repair). The tires came off a stock MK7.5 Golf R, it wasn't even lowered or slammed.
So I decided to switch to 245/35/R19, it looks normal to me. The difference is -0.8% compared to the stock size, so speedo is as accurate as it gets with 19" wheels. Here is how it looks:
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I mean, this topic was track day-related. I can't imagine not having a second set of tires/wheels for trackdays. If I was sharing the car, I'd rather not have to worry about someone else hydroplaning my V730s, or have to explain why the daily UHP all-seasons have to be replaced every weekend.
If you follow time attack in the US, most if not all of the rulesets these days are tire-limited, not wheel-limited. Entry-level autocross is wheel-limited but I'm not sure that's "racing." Trofeo R and Cup2R are only for winning at HPDE, they're not competitive with slicks nor are they allowed in 200TW classes that prohibit slicks.
Having driven a friend's GTI on 7.5s with 235s, I stick by my description of "mushy," especially after going up from an 8.5 to a 9J on my 235s.
I agree that "less-than-ideal" is fine of course for amatueur hour HPDE but this post was about track use so why not get all you can get w/r to tire/wheel optimization when given the choice? I have separate wheels/tires for track use.
Nexen N'Fera Sport R 200s mounted on forged Apex 17x9 et42s. A top-rated "super 200" according to Grassgroots Motorsports. 245/40/17. I have run 255s narrower than these but wider than what you see here starts to become an issue w/r to interference/rubbing. I run 5mm spacers in the back with these.
235/40/18 Michelin PSAS4s on 18x8.5 et45s. These are on the larger side for a 235/40 but still a bit stretched. Going 245 in these would be too tall and rub.
And my summers. Conti ECS02s, 235/40s on Apex 18x8.5 et43s. Definately could have done a 245 in the Contis, they are pretty narrow overall. These can also double as rain/wet track tires. Main reason to not do 245s was they were a bit too tall overall to me.
Nexen N'Fera Sport R 200s mounted on forged Apex 17x9 et42s. A top-rated "super 200" according to Grassgroots Motorsports. 245/40/17. I have run 255s narrower than these but wider than what you see here starts to become an issue w/r to interference/rubbing. I run 5mm spacers in the back with these.
235/40/18 Michelin PSAS4s on 18x8.5 et45s. These are on the larger side for a 235/40 but still a bit stretched. Going 245 in these would be too tall and rub.
And my summers. Conti ECS02s, 235/40s on Apex 18x8.5 et43s. Definately could have done a 245 in the Contis, they are pretty narrow overall. These can also double as rain/wet track tires. Main reason to not do 245s was they were a bit too tall overall to me.
