Handling ?

[freedriver]

Hi all . I am looking at fitting 235,85,16 bf at tyres to my d2 and was wondering if any one could tell me if the on road handling is ok. I have 18"rims now and after advice from many on here I am looking at new rims and tyres instead of new 18" tyres. Cheers

[AussieAub]

No probs with mine. There's a few of us running that size on our D2's on here.
Gearing changes for the worse very slighty, and economy goes out the window a bit on the V8.

Might get a little rubbing, but fitting longer springs (even without longer shocks) soon sorts that.
But then I'm running muddies in that size. Might be less with more road friendly tyres.

Cheers,

[freedriver]

Thanks for that , i have a 50mm lift and i'm changing the diff ratio to 1.9:1 so with any luck i will keep the economy on the td5 . I was just a bit worried that going from low profile wide 18"s to skiny tall 16"s would have it feeling tpo heavy or give more body roll . If this is not the case i will change over to 16" rims. Cheers.

[Sully]

Switching form 18's to 16's will feel very different when it comes to the ride.

For one, the ride will be much more compliant on the 16's due to the extra give in on the tall tyres.
On that same note, there will be extra flex in the 235/85/16's so it won't be as nimble around corners.
However, if you have ACE, hopefully this will compensate somewhat.

All in all, comparing 18's with what it sounds you're trying to acheive is not really apples for apples.

[wopac5]

If you haven't already, try using this:
Tire size calculator (http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalcold.html)
Plug in your 18's and then 16's to see the rolling distances for each. You'll need a GPS to calibrate or use instead of your speedo, 'cause the 16s are bigger, you'll be breraking the limits without trying.

[AussieAub]

Hiya Chris.
TBH, I haven't noticed a lot of extra roll with the Hankook RT-03's I have on.
Might be different being a more heavy duty mud type tyre..?? Dunno.

I appreciate a taller sidewall should "give" more, but haven't really noticed any issues so far, and have been on a while now.

BTW, my speedo reads approx 10% out....oh well! :p

Cheers.

[Sully]

Hiya Chris.
TBH, I haven't noticed a lot of extra roll with the Hankook RT-03's I have on.
Might be different being a more heavy duty mud type tyre..?? Dunno.

I appreciate a taller sidewall should "give" more, but haven't really noticed any issues so far, and have been on a while now.

BTW, my speedo reads approx 10% out....oh well! :p

Cheers.

Does yours have ACE?

[AussieAub]

Does yours have ACE?

Most definately NOT mate.....though in MY mind, it is ACE!! :D;)
LOL!!

[freedriver]

I don't have ace on mine, it handles very nicely with the 18 s on . Thanks for the thoughts,by the way, will the speedo still be out if I get the gearing back to stock by changing the diff ratio?

[Hastykiwi]

Why are you worried. Use your 18's on the road, and keep the 16's with appropriate play tyres for......well, playing. Best of both worlds


cheers
Nick

[wopac5]

Post by Freedriver..."...by the way, will the speedo still be out if I get the gearing back to stock by changing the diff ratio?"

Now you're into a brave new world, and the calcs are horrific. The best as said, maybe to keep the 2 sets of tyres, however, if you are changing ratios anyway, then both sets of tyres will be out. So ultimately, change the tyres with or without the diff, and go for a run with your GPS on and make your own calibrations. Of course if you have a GPS, you can default to it for your speedo regardless of what tyres etc you wish to run.

[FISHGUTS]

Hi Freedriver,

I have 265/75R-16 Kelly Safari MSR muds on standard suspension, no ACE and they are awesome. The speed difference for me between factory tyres (255/55r-18) & the muds on standard gearing is 8.94% using the tyre calculator thread link on wopac5's post. I then set up an MS EXCEL spreadsheet from 40kmh to 150kmh, reduced the size of the print out to fit on the speedo (dash) with just the two speeds showing (speedo reading v's actual) and use that to stay under the limit. There are a plethera of electronic gadgets to plug in and convert the onboard computers but for me that went into the too hard basket. I also find that the revs are down about 250rpm on average at highway cruising which contributes to better fuel economy. Had the V8 down to 14.5litre/100km on a recent trip to Exmouth. PM me if you are interested in the spreadsheet and I will attach it in a reply.

Cheers,

Peter.

[AussieAub]

There are a plethera of electronic gadgets to plug in and convert the onboard computers but for me that went into the too hard basket.
I just have a mental note telling me to stay 10% lower than the speed limit!
Easier to convert in my head than 8.94%...!! ;)

[FISHGUTS]

Hi Kieren,

Good point but SWMBO is not comfortable in trying to calculate while driving so I made it simple. This is all you see stuck over the tacho, small enough not to interfere with any dash lights & with an auto the tacho is not so important. Have hidden the calculation columns as they are not needed in the printout.

I did try to copy in the details you see from the spreadsheet but the forum converted it to a sentence not columns as intended so have deleted it.

Plus these new cameras are a nasty piece of work so like to be accurate as I like all my demerit points.:D

Cheers,
Peter.

[freedriver]

Cheers guys,i think I will give the gps a go.

[Pacemaker]

I fitted 275/65/18 today. I put on Kuhmo KL61 ATS.
I fitted 255/55/18 3 weeks ago they were Falken STZ04. I wasnt happy with the performance in the wet of the Falkens. Ive done 120kms on the Kuhmos. The ride is so much nicer but theres only about 10mm between the tyre and front bar at the bottom. They dont touch at full lock at idle speed. Havent tried doing a u turn at any sort of speed yet. So far im very happy.

[AussieAub]

Havent tried doing a u turn at any sort of speed yet.
Thats where the hand brake comes in...!! :wasntme::angel:

[clubagreenie]

Plus these new cameras are a nasty piece of work so like to be accurate as I like all my demerit points.:D

Cheers,
Peter.

Who's up for stealing one and fitting a chassis/engine so we can get a camera booked for speeding?

[Sully]

Freedriver, it's a shame that you're on the other side of the country. We could have done a swap! My 16s for your 18s! Hahaha.

[freedriver]

Your not wrong, I hope I can at least trade them in at a wrecker here, I will see how that goes.

[TerryO]

I fitted 275/65/18 today. I put on Kuhmo KL61 ATS.
I fitted 255/55/18 3 weeks ago they were Falken STZ04. I wasnt happy with the performance in the wet of the Falkens. Ive done 120kms on the Kuhmos. The ride is so much nicer but theres only about 10mm between the tyre and front bar at the bottom. They dont touch at full lock at idle speed. Havent tried doing a u turn at any sort of speed yet. So far im very happy.


I put two Kumho A/T's 255/60/18's on one of our vehicles when I couldn't get the Hankooks it came with at the time. The ride on the Kumho's was good but they wore out really quickly. From memory the Hankooks lasted 100,000 ks, the Kumho's 30,000 ks and the ride and handling was not really any better.

I hope your Kumho's last longer then ours did.

cheers,
Terry

[clubagreenie]

I have 4 of these size AT's with around 30-40% left on them you could have. But since everyone but me on here seems to live in perth...

[Pacemaker]

Hi terryo,

The standard Kuhmo AT's are quite a bit softer. They have good grip but dont wear really well. Im suprised you only got 30,000 kms out of them though. Most people ive spoken to that have had them said they got 50 to 60,000 out of them.
These KL61 SAt's have a tread wear of 680. Ive been told that guys are getting 70 to 95,000 kms out of Kl61s. Only time will tell.
So far ive done 510 kms and still very happy.
Oh and they dont rub either. Atleast not on the bitumen any how.:)

[FISHGUTS]

Freedriver,

I advertised my 18" alloys + tyres here on the Markets page and also in Gumtree (a local version of ebay). Took about 2 months, a little perserverence & they eventually sold (via gumtree). More space under the patio and they paid what I shelled out for the replacement alloys (8 x P38a 16" three spoke) & tyres (5 x preloved Kelly Safari MSR's).
You will get more that way rather than a trade-in I would suggest.

Cheers,

Peter.

[biggin]

I don't have ace on mine, it handles very nicely with the 18 s on . Thanks for the thoughts,by the way, will the speedo still be out if I get the gearing back to stock by changing the diff ratio?

I think the speedo uses a signal from the speed sensors on the hubs, so the gearing change will have no effect on speedo reading.