205-50-16 new tires

[38SHO]

I just put on a new set of Fuzion ZRi 205-50-16 W rated tires on my Slicers. They handle very good and are fairly cheap. I like the smaller tire look compared to my previous size of 215-55-16 Hankook Ventus h405's... the fuzion's handle better. In fact i can't get these tires to squeel at all... I am running them right now at 50 psi, I ran my old tires at 44psi. Instead of any tire screetch I get some wheelhop in real tight corners...

this car handles very good for a Taurus, it suprises many people



I can get pics later to show how they look if anyone wants to see. I defintely recromend the size change from the 215-55 series.

 

[rlw001]

Interesting? Most people go for a larger tire and contact patch.

Isn't 55psi kind of high? I would think you be riding on the center rib only.

 

[SHO92]

I'd check the load rating on those tires. My guess is a narrow tire like that with the low profile isn't made for the heavy weight of the Taurus.

 

[Ian Macoomb]

I'm with him ^

I've looked at going to a shorter tire to get an effective shorter final drive for better 60' times. Trouble is that the narrower tires seem to need more profile to get a safe load handling.

 

[wuzzzer]

You should be okay as far as load ratings, each tire is rated at 1201 pounds according to Tire Rack.

You like the look of a shorter tire? May I ask why? Going for the 4X4 look?

Running the tires at 50psi is just stupid. You're not going to get as good of a contact patch from the tires, and you're going to wear the center of the tire out much faster than the sides. I think it was YamahaV6 that said that over-inflated tires result in much worse handling than under-inflated ones.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

You should have 32psi in your tires when cold. Both under and over inflation destroys your gas mileage.

 

[38SHO]

gas mileage? go bump up the air in your tires by 10 psi and tell me if you notice a difference. When your done go back to the 32psi, I'll leave that for the limo's.

The tires grip a lot harder with more air, defintely noticeable. The tires say 51 psi on them, I will probably drop them down to 45psi though. Also the weight is more then suffecient and a W rated tire will hold up good to highway speeds, especially since I don't go over even 100mph that much. I am with you on the wear in the middle, but my car has negative camber anyhow... pick an area you want to wear out first... I'm not trying to make these tires last a year or longer.

I'll take a picture of my back wheel to show u that gap since its lower with the shorter tire and you can tell me if it looks better. I'm just not a fan of tall buldging sidewalls.

 

[Jonny Cash]

gas mileage? go bump up the air in your tires by 10 psi and tell me if you notice a difference. When your done go back to the 32psi, I'll leave that for the limo's.

The tires grip a lot harder with more air, defintely noticeable. The tires say 51 psi on them, I will probably drop them down to 45psi though. Also the weight is more then suffecient and a W rated tire will hold up good to highway speeds, especially since I don't go over even 100mph that much. I am with you on the wear in the middle, but my car has negative camber anyhow... pick an area you want to wear out first... I'm not trying to make these tires last a year or longer.

QUOTE]

HUH?

Well now I feel sorry for myself for saying anything in the other post after reading that...

A... T...R... oh nevermind..

 

[38SHO]

higher air pressure makes the tire grip better, guranteed.

I've never really had anyone question that before..

every car I've experimented this on turns better. A lot of people run higher psi for auto-x'ing.

If you are running 35psi on any sort of 55 series tire or smaller that is considered a performance tire, you are seriously limmiting your grip.

I like driving hard in my car though but it is also my daily driver, I don't care too much about tire wear or fuel economy. I love to drive, paying for gas and tires is just something you have to do in order to drive. There are compromises one could make for the car to be smoother riding or more fuel effecient, but if you are modifiying a car to enjoy it why not take advantage of its full potential or just stop waisting your money and keep it in good stock condition, if that is your cup of tea don't listen to me.

 

[SHO92]

That 51 PSI on the sidewall is the MAX pressure for the tire, not what you should run that at at all times.

If 1201 is the load rating of those tires, thats under what they should be. I can't remember what the load rating should be, but I think it's much closer to 1400 lbs.

38SHO, you should start with the pressure that is on the door sticker, and adjust from there, 50 psi is way too high.

 

[DDakRT]

higher air pressure makes the tire grip better, guranteed.

I've never really had anyone question that before..

Uhhh no it doesn't, not at your level of air pressure. Grip depends on contact patch, in your case you don't have much of one.

 

[Jonny Cash]

Uhhh no it doesn't, not at your level of air pressure. Grip depends on contact patch, in your case you don't have much of one.

Thank you. I thought that was a no brainer....

 

[jedhead]

1200lbs is a thin margin of safety. The SHO weighs between 3400-3600lbs. 1200lbs can be exceeded by braking and cornering hard at the same time. Factory tires had a 1477lbs load rating.

Bob

 

[Porkchop]

38SHO - I don't know how you learned this information about tires, or who told you. But it is the wrong information. SO throw it out the window

Grip - not pressure related, tire width and tire compound related. OE 215, you 205: you lost traction. And another tidbit of information, regular taurii have a 195 tire you might want to look at the differences between all 3 and tell us which one is better. More tire = more contact patch. Guarenteed....
Thinner, softer psi are for winter. Wider, higher PSI are for summer. I don't think we've had anyone question this before..

Tire Pressure - 51 PSI your very lucky that you havn't exploded a tire yet, at that psi you hit a pothole or a decent sized anything in the road and your tire is buh bye.

Sidewall - Is not determined by tire PSI or tire width. That you have to look at when you bought the tires. We've been through this earlier.

If you have doubts about this then listen to the other members. Some have been alive, presumably, longer than you and have bought tires many more times than you.

 

[Porkchop]

I was re-reading some of your posts and felt the need to clarify..

but if you are modifiying a car to enjoy it why not take advantage of its full potential or just stop waisting your money and keep it in good stock condition

What we decide to do with our vehicles is totally up to us (the owners). Some decide to keep it stock on their own free will. **** I had the highest modified gen 3 SLO in the NE, if not more. I did all that, and you know what... I put SHO wheels on it. 225/55/16 to be exact and I can guarentee you that it handled better than your 3.8 with 205's, and I had a 2" suspension drop on top of it.

every car I've experimented this on turns better. A lot of people run higher psi for auto-x'ing.

Thats autocrossing, autocrossing doesn't have speedbumps, *** holes, road debris which wreck havoc on tires. Next time you drive the car hard, put white shoe polish on the sidewall and see how much your 205's flex. And you do know that even when on cold days the air inside the tire heats up? So at 51psi after a hard day of driving on a HOT day your going to be pushing 55+psi? Which as you stated, is above the max pressure?

gas mileage? go bump up the air in your tires by 10 psi and tell me if you notice a difference. When your done go back to the 32psi, I'll leave that for the limo's.

Funny you mentioned that... I did do that on my SLO while AUTOCROSSING ... and you know what. I didn't notice a damn bit of difference.

 

[drivinhard]

The words "handle great" and "slicer" in the same sentence? The slicers are 6" wide. In other words, skinny. The best tires in the world can only do so much on a skinny rim with a 3400 lb car.

Go 7.5 - 8" and a proper sized tire (a good one) in the 215-235 range depending on wheel size/width and you'll be amazed at the results.

 

[38SHO]

on 5 different tires and 3 different cars bumping up the air pressure past 35psi made an extradonairy difference.

those are just my personal experiments, other people I know have tried it on their cars and agree with the results too... Tires contact patches change in corners, a smaller stiffer sidewall does help out, as does a less resiliant higher psi tire. Im sorry but your not going to change my mind. 1000 bucks says my car will handle worse and make screetching sounds if I lower it to 35psi...

tire psi increases while driving are not as much as you think. If you run nitrogen you don't even have to worry about this. I have hit many potholes, bumps etc and my tires keep on ticking like a charm. Not just one or hits, but dozens.

 

[Jonny Cash]

Im sorry but your not going to change my mind.

Then you will underacheive every car you own for the rest of your life. hahaha.

Just go put 195-45-16's on your car, and your car will handle better than ever.

 

[DHMag]

boy, someone is VERY misinformed about tires.

sidewall height is a percentage of treadwidth. 205/50 = sidewall is 50% the width of your tread width, which would be 152.5mm, or a 6" sidewall height.

you dont need to increase your air pressure drastically to notice changes in fuel economy. most often, you only need to vary the pressure within 5 pounds for all year weather. i can add 2 lbs to my already 32lbs of pressure and notice a 1MPG increase. but i dont because i prefer even tire wear over fuel economy. i already get 30MPG on the highway, thats good enough for me.

a smaller sidewall does not always equal a stiff widewall. the rigidity of any tire sidewall is the internal chords, belts, and composition.

thats all ill add for now.

 

[Porkchop]

on 5 different tires and 3 different cars bumping up the air pressure past 35psi made an extradonairy difference.

those are just my personal experiments, other people I know have tried it on their cars and agree with the results too... Tires contact patches change in corners, a smaller stiffer sidewall does help out, as does a less resiliant higher psi tire. Im sorry but your not going to change my mind. 1000 bucks says my car will handle worse and make screetching sounds if I lower it to 35psi...

tire psi increases while driving are not as much as you think. If you run nitrogen you don't even have to worry about this. I have hit many potholes, bumps etc and my tires keep on ticking like a charm. Not just one or hits, but dozens.

Who runs nitrogen in their tires? I hate to be the one to pull out the BS flag but lets be reasonable here. Since when does Joe Schmo have ready access to nitrogen when their tires are low.

Fine then we will agree to disagree with the Tire PSI... Have you looked and even concidered the information that the other members are offering? Yes contact patch will increase in corners, but your talking about making your car handle like its on rails by decreasing your overall tire patch. Again, whoever taught you your tire knowledge should probably be shot.