Just read the excellent tyre test in the new EVO and I'm convinced the Pirelli P Zero's are perfect for my standard 2004 Civic Type R.

Only problem is my car has 205 45 17 Alloys (7J rim) and the smallest size Pirelli do in the P Zero is 225 45 17. The ETRTO standards say you can safely fit a 225 on the 7 inch OEM rims but is all that extra rubber going to be the best thing for the handling?

What is the rule on putting larger/smaller tyres than the manufacturer intended?

Any advice would be much appreciated! Great work on the 175th issue, that Porsche group test is incredible - mine's a 964 Carrera 2 please. In grey.

Updated September 9, 2012 at 10:29 PM

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"I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

US autocrossing classes are limited by rim width, which results in them stuffing considerably more than 225 on a 7J I think. In terms of lap times, I'm pretty sure that 225 is quicker than 205 on the same 7 inch wheel.

Not sure what it does for the subjective feel of the car, though, but I expect it would be absolutely fine.

Samoht said...

US autocrossing classes are limited by rim width, which results in them stuffing considerably more than 225 on a 7J I think. In terms of lap times, I'm pretty sure that 225 is quicker than 205 on the same 7 inch wheel.

Not sure what it does for the subjective feel of the car, though, but I expect it would be absolutely fine.

Thanks mate that answers my concerns about the tyre 'popping off' the rim during hard cornering. Just the issue of steering feel left and I've heard that EP3 Civic Type R's are very sensitive to tyre choice...

I expect the steering will become heavier with less feedback but the car should feel more planted and less fidgety on poor surfaces? Could wider tyres reduce torque steer?

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"I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

Any reason why Michelin Pilot Super Sports were not included in this test? They are supposed to be superb tyres and their exclusion seems like a massive oversight, it really spoilt the article for me.

Yeah and Yokohama Advan Neova AD08's. I know they're an extreme tyre but surely as petrol heads we want to know where to get maximum grip and feel? Even if it is at the cost of ride comfort and road noise!

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"I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

I've got through countless Yokohama AD08s on my integra dc2. Love them. Brilliant grip and soooo much more feedback than other tyres with floppier sidewalls. (bit off topic, sorry)

That's good to hear mate - I've never tried AD08's but have heard so many good things about them on Type R forums. At least they do them in my tyre size unlike the top two placed tyres in the test!

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"I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

Hi all,

Ref. Michelin - they nominated the Pilot Sport 3 based on the test criteria. Super Sports may not have performed better than the Pilot Sport 3s if you take into account wet weather performance. So a good result from the Pilot Sport 3s based on the test conditions and categories

Nick
Editor
evo

Thanks Nick. However, one point to mention is that not all of the tyres tested are available in sizes to suit performance cars, the PS3s being a case in point.

When it gets to sizes that you would expect to fit to more "Evo" cars, such as 235/35 R19 for example, the only Michelin options are currently PS2s, Super Sports or track biased cup/cup+ tyres. It's pretty clear that Michelin are targeting more mainstream cars with the PS3 and using the (apparently excellent) Super Sport tyre to satisfy the high performance market.

Given your readership profile, I would have expected this to have been given some consideration as part of the selection criteria. Finding tyres that fit is certainly more relevant than slightly better wet weather performance as far as I'm concerned.

Updated September 12, 2012 at 12:38 PM

This certainly was a broader tyre test - intentionally so. We've carried out a number of tyre tests in the last couple of years including a 19-inch test in issue 150. Our readership profile is perhaps a little broader than you'd imagine - this test reflects the fact that the size chosen is one of, if not the most, popular tyre size in the UK.

Saying that, now we've done the broader test we can look closely at a more performance-oriented test next year. Watch this space...

Okay thanks Nick, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has read some excellent reviews of the Pilot Super Sport tyre, so no doubt you can understand my disappointment. It would have been great to see how it compared to the competition.

With regards to the performance tyre test, issue 150 was two years ago now and tyre technology has moved on quite a bit since then. However, I appreciate this was a broader test and I will look forward to next year's performance tyre test!

Updated September 12, 2012 at 3:30 PM

Quick question on the Pirellis: are they p zero nero, rosso or just p zero's?

I was thinking the same thing. The Pirelli website differentiates between all three. My local tyre dealer says only Nero's and Rosso's are available. Vanilla P Zero's are not.

You'd have thought the website would be up to date.

arttvendelay said...

Quick question on the Pirellis: are they p zero nero, rosso or just p zero's?

They were regular P Zeros - we put the full name of each tyre next to the pics of the treads at the start of the feature.

PZero Rosso, PZero Nero and PZero are actually different tyres and exist in different sizes - so that for some sizes (or for some car models that require specific tyres homologation) not all kinds may be available.

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Pilouil
Citroen C3 1.4 HDI 69.0424 bhp