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Hi everyone, I'm a noob here... This Jan 2020 I picked up a 2017 C63s coupe which has the forged 19/20" black multi spoke wheels w/ 255/35 R19 up front & 285/30 R20 in the rear. I drive pretty aggressively & need new rear tires and was wondering what is the widest & thickest/highest profile rear tire I can fit in the rear at stock ride height w/o rubbing or downgrading the handling? If possible, I want a meaty rear tire look & I find the stock 30mm profile rear tires to be a bit too low profile/thin which makes the ride harsh/jarring,. Can I fit a 35mm or even a 40mmm profile tire in the rear & what's the widest I can go w/o issues?
Also any recommendations on tires? I was planning on going with Michelin PSS for the weather here in the Bay Area California.
I tired searching through the forum but only found info/threads on the sedan. Any info/guidance anyone can provide is much appreciated, TIA.
I got mine with Dunlop SportMaxx tires that are really summer tires really, though I believe they call them 3 season ones. I am not in the bay area (foothills area), but on those SportMaxx tires, occasional rain in winter after a period of good weather and the thing would slide all over the place! In the summer they were good, but not great. Warm tires and you could feel the difference, but I did ask here and everyone said go for the Michelin PS4S tires. I took the plunge and I have to say they are great. Fast to warm up, not sketchy in damp conditions and even better, they are quieter too! Have to say, big recommendation from me. I know the weather in the Bay is pretty consistent, but on the 3 months where its changeable, I would recommend PS4S's over PSS for a daily driver. If its not your regular car, PSS's should be fine, but your call.
I have the same exact car. Color, wheels everything. Have PS4S 305s on the rear and 285s on the front. Massive improvement over stock sized PSS IMO. No fitment issues.
I also have to believe that the PS4S in 305/30/20 is a very tight fit as my 295 is a tight fit. When I had the 285 on the rear I could reach over the top of the wheel and touch the inside of the rear tire...now I can barley get my fingers 1/2 way across the tire and it is very close to rubbing the inside wheel well but doesn't.
Being that I am tuned I imagine I could benefit from a 305 for better traction and need to start comparing actual 295 vs 305 to see how close it would be.
Nice car, congrats. You should try the Michelin PS4S. In my opinion the best summer tire out there. Ive had them on my previous car (Audi S5). My C63s came with Dunlop Sport Maxx and I hate them. They cant handle the power. I have a buddy with the same car with the Michelins and leaves me for dead (from a standstill) when we take our cars out for a drive.
How are the R888R's in the rain, are they alright? Is the road noise loud?
R888R’s are super loud on the highway, you can hear them down the track whenever someone’s at the strip with them. They offer fantastic grip though (It’s a high wear, R-compound tire), so it’s a trade off.
I may have been one of the first to put PS4S 305’s on the back on my Coupe - it’s been about 2 years and 3 months and I have maybe 3mm of tread left on them, but the heat cycling has definitely put a toll on their grip. I believe I’m at about 7-8k miles on my PS4S’s, and I’m ready to move onto something more aggressive as the grip is just not even close to what it was when the tire was newer with more tread and less heat cycles.
My next tire will either be the new Nitto NT555RII drag radials, or R888R’s in 305’s. I’d still recommend PS4S’s but I’m not going to be replacing with a new set - these cars really need R-compound tires with the torque these things make.
R888R’s are super loud on the highway, you can hear them down the track whenever someone’s at the strip with them. They offer fantastic grip though (It’s a high wear, R-compound tire), so it’s a trade off.
How are the R888R's in the rain, are they alright? Is the road noise loud?
Don't use them in the rain, you'll be sliding all over the place. The road noise isn't that bad if you have your windows up, otherwise you sound like a UFO.
R888R’s are super loud on the highway, you can hear them down the track whenever someone’s at the strip with them. They offer fantastic grip though (It’s a high wear, R-compound tire), so it’s a trade off.
I may have been one of the first to put PS4S 305’s on the back on my Coupe - it’s been about 2 years and 3 months and I have maybe 3mm of tread left on them, but the heat cycling has definitely put a toll on their grip. I believe I’m at about 7-8k miles on my PS4S’s, and I’m ready to move onto something more aggressive as the grip is just not even close to what it was when the tire was newer with more tread and less heat cycles.
My next tire will either be the new Nitto NT555RII drag radials, or R888R’s in 305’s. I’d still recommend PS4S’s but I’m not going to be replacing with a new set - these cars really need R-compound tires with the torque these things make.
What do you think about the Michelin Cup 2 tires? Those are R-compound as well right? Were you tracking your C63s with PS4S tires? Do you think PS4S tires would last much better if you didn't track your car and only did daily driving with some sporty driving here and there?
thanks so much to everyone for all the advice & info. Out of curiosity I was wondering what all you guys use for winter tires? The worst we get in my area of CA is rain, it'd be nice to have something i don't need to worry about should i go up to Lake Tahoe or Yosemite when there's snow, but I pretty much never drive in snow so a tire that's good in rain will do.
Last edited by StatusQuoReject; 06-10-2020 at 05:07 AM.
I got mine with Dunlop SportMaxx tires that are really summer tires really, though I believe they call them 3 season ones. I am not in the bay area (foothills area), but on those SportMaxx tires, occasional rain in winter after a period of good weather and the thing would slide all over the place! In the summer they were good, but not great. Warm tires and you could feel the difference, but I did ask here and everyone said go for the Michelin PS4S tires. I took the plunge and I have to say they are great. Fast to warm up, not sketchy in damp conditions and even better, they are quieter too! Have to say, big recommendation from me. I know the weather in the Bay is pretty consistent, but on the 3 months where its changeable, I would recommend PS4S's over PSS for a daily driver. If its not your regular car, PSS's should be fine, but your call.
Thanks so much for the heads up. I will definitely look into the PS4S over the PSS then
Thats a lovely C63S you have. So clearly 305/30/20 will fit on the rear. Do you have any rubbing/clearance issues when people sit in the rear? Also, do you think it's possible to fit a 305/35/20 tire in the back w/o clearance issues? Would the sidewall of a 35mm tire would buldge out too much? I feel like a 30mm sidewall is too small/weak for the amount of torque the car has & that it just ends up collapses too much when taking off from a standstill or cornering, but the only experience I have is from the stock 285/30/20 tire so I don't know if the same would be true for 305/30/20 tire. I want as much traction as possible & I like the meaty tire look as long as it doesn't affect clearance.
Last edited by StatusQuoReject; 06-10-2020 at 05:11 AM.
I have the same exact car. Color, wheels everything. Have PS4S 305s on the rear and 285s on the front. Massive improvement over stock sized PSS IMO. No fitment issues.
Sweet, so clearly 305/30/20 will fit on the rear. Do you have any clearance issues when people sit in the rear? What is your sidewall height? Do you think it's possible to fit a 305/35/20 tire in the back w/o clearance issues? I feel like a 30 sidewall is too small/weak for the amount of torque the car has & that it just ends up collapsing too much when taking off from a standstill or cornering, but the only experience I have is from the stock 285/30/20 tire so I don't know if the same would be true for 305/30/20 tire. I want as much traction as possible & I like the meaty tire look as long as it doesn't affect clearance.
I'm surprised a 285 fits on the front & it doesn't hit anything on the when the wheel is fully turned. What is the sidewall height on your front tires & would you say 285 is the widest that can go on the front? Did you notice any loss in turn in speeds or sharpness of steering when cornering due to the increase tire width?
Last edited by StatusQuoReject; 06-10-2020 at 09:33 PM.
I've had both R888R's and Michelin P4S's and all I can say is if you want to really hook, get the R888R's.
I've heard great things about these tires, but since they don't do well in the rain I might have to buy them as track only tires. Hopefully if I buy rear tires now, they'll last through at least one winter. If they don't then i'll probably get them for a summer tire next time. Getting traction is the hardest thing with all the torque the c63s has
Thats a lovely C63S you have. So clearly 305/30/20 will fit on the rear. Do you have any rubbing/clearance issues when people sit in the rear? Also, do you think it's possible to fit a 305/35/20 tire in the back w/o clearance issues? Would the sidewall of a 35mm tire would buldge out too much? I feel like a 30mm sidewall is too small/weak for the amount of torque the car has & that it just ends up collapses too much when taking off from a standstill or cornering, but the only experience I have is from the stock 285/30/20 tire so I don't know if the same would be true for 305/30/20 tire. I want as much traction as possible & I like the meaty tire look as long as it doesn't affect clearance.
No rubbing issues at all, and I have a very steep driveway, but I haven't had someone in the back since I got them.
The "30" in 305/30/20 is not 30mm, but 30% of 305 and refers to the height of the sidewall, so 305/35/20 wont bulge out any more than the 30, it will just be taller and have a larger rolling diameter.
I'm not sure that a 305/35 would fit, or give any benefit to traction over 305/30, and it might look funny.
No rubbing issues at all, and I have a very steep driveway, but I haven't had someone in the back since I got them.
The "30" in 305/30/20 is not 30mm, but 30% of 305 and refers to the height of the sidewall, so 305/35/20 wont bulge out any more than the 30, it will just be taller and have a larger rolling diameter.
I'm not sure that a 305/35 would fit, or give any benefit to traction over 305/30, and it might look funny.
Ah ok, thanks for that info, it really helps. I will pick up a set of 305/30/20 PS4S tires the for my rear. What size tires are you using up front? Thanks for your help.
Ah ok, thanks for that info, it really helps. I will pick up a set of 305/30/20 PS4S tires the for my rear. What size tires are you using up front? Thanks for your help.
Glad to help. I went with 275/35/19 up front so that it's a 20mm increase in width all round. So in summary:
06-09-2020, 01:16 AM
