docwra

Chris I - nice one, some sanity at last. I fully agree that you should be putting on the best tyres you can, for sure. What Id add though is that for me, replacing a front FK452 with an RE050 is an improvement, even if youve got FK452's on the rear as well. Perhaps it is down to my experience but I cant say I ever make an assumption about the level of grip Im going to get, even if Im driving the car two different times on the same day And this is half of the point Im trying to make here - the reason you are suffering Tez is more likely to be the fact that ZZ2's are absolute pants, not that they dont match the fronts. Put even FK452's on the rear and I guarantee you will notice a marked improvement, even though they dont match the 040's on the front.

Thanks. I worked as a software and hardware test engineer for 3 years, but I guess that doesnt count as technical huh? If you are arguing that poor tyres can sometimes be safer than very good ones then I really dont think I need to say anymore. We have already had the claim that mismatched tyres may kill you, and it now seems that you are recommending using 4 matched tyres of dubious quality over 2 high quality pairs ....... despite my obvious lack of "technical background" thats just preposterous. Im sorry, but what started out as good advice has now turned into crazy talk.

I think even if you arent a football fan you have to admit on paper we have one of the best teams - apparently its the 3rd most expensive, and players like Rooney, Gerard, Lampard and Terry would walk into any team, anywhere. Its therefore pretty reasonable to expect that we would at least be in with a shout Unfortunately I think Capello made some shockingly bad tactical decisions for a manager of his calibre and the players themselves just didnt seem up for it. Great shame, particularly for those that travelled out there - noticed after the game last night not one player thanked the fans for their support which is pretty rough IMO.

I just have three points that if anyone can disagree with then more power to them. 1. Running Re040's on the back and Re050's on the front is a hell of a lot safer in all conditions than running Nankang ditchfinders all round. Any given tyre that provides you with better grip, water dispersion and heat management is going to be better than one that doesnt, even if it doesnt match whats on the other axle. I dont need graphs, charts or data to prove that - good tyres are always better than @*!# ones, thats common sense. 2. I have personal experience of the above and I really dont care what the Nissan Sports GB Manager says - Nankang NS2's all round are by far the worst combination for grip and predictability Ive had on my car, particularly in the wet. Every other set of tyres Ive had have been mismatched and Ive been a lot more confident with them. 3. I will happily accept that Re050's front and back is the best solution, but IMO its more because they are the best tyres, full stop, not because they are matching front and back. Tyres are not co-dependant like suspension is. As I said from the outset I wasnt looking for a row here, but the argument that seems to be being presented here is that matching your tyres is the most important thing. It isnt - tread depth, tread design, compound and the general quality of the tyre all have more bearing on grip. Road conditions and alignment can affect your car far more than mismatched tyres can, and the most important bit is the lump of flesh behind the wheel. As I said in the first instance, I agree with the principle but there are numerous factors, IMO at least, that you should be considering first. I dont want people to blindly buy 4 matched Nankangs and think thats the best answer because it isnt.

Sorry, driving like an idiot will potentially end your life. To suggest that running mismatched tyres front and back, something I and most of the people I know have been doing for years is just total scaremongering. They arent suddenly going to steer you in a ditch unless you are driving too fast and that could happen on a matched set of the best tyres in the world. Like I said, I dont disagree with the principle, but dont you think thats a bit much? Anyway, Ive sent the information over to the OP but there are at least two cars that have mismatched tyres fitted as standard. Obviously the manufacturers are keen for their customers to "end their life"

Ive just nicked a couple of quotes: So if you wanted it to handle like that in the wet, then fine. But keeping the tyres the same all round will keep the handling in both wet and dry conditions pretty much as the manufacturer intended. I think that's what you're saying Dan? That is what will catch you out, not that it will or wont understeer, but that it will do something different to before And I dont think anyone could disagree with them - obviously the car will behave differently to before if something as intrsic as the tyres have been changed. However, one could probably argue it would behave a lot more differently from the manufacturers intention with uprated suspension, wider wheels or even after a 4 wheel alignment, but I bet most of the people on this thread havent worried about that when they have upgraded. It comes back to my original post - you drive to the conditions, be that trolley castors or slicks off an F1 car. Scottie seems to see my point - if a car understeers at 45mph on RE040's, but only at 55mph on RE050's then thats an improvement, isnt it?? What you are running on your rears doesnt have any bearing on that, matched or otherwise.

Cool, like I said, Im not here for an argument. One question though - do you replace all four of your tyres at the same time? Is this what you are recommending?

A driver with Re050's on the front and Vredes on the rear will be in a hell of a lot better position than someone running NS-2's all round. Trust me, Ive been there By definition then, if all of your tyres should be "matched", are you guys suggesting that you should buy them in sets of 4?? Using my example above, Id bet that a car on 2 brand new NS-2's at the front is going to stop quicker in the wet than one on 2 heavily worn Re050's ....... Id rather run differing compounds than differing wear levels ........

Im speaking from track and road experience in a variety of cars though, both FWD and RWD - the simple fact is that the tyres do not all work in harmony, as you could argue the dampers do for instance. You will have a finite amount of grip at the front, and a finite amount of grip at the rear, and thats what you drive to. I cant accept that the behaviour of the front tyres in some way affects the performance of the rears - they are two seperate entities. Of course if you run an RE050 on the front and a Linglong Ditchfinder on the rear the car is going to be a bit tailhappy, but thats not the mismatch, thats just crap rubber on the back. Id add again that mixing across axles is somewhat suicidal though

Great post, and Im not arguing for a second with the logic, but shouldnt you be driving to the conditions anyway? You dont drive flat out in the wet, and I struggle to see how this is different from driving on mismatched tyres (not on the same axle mind you). yoiu drive to your level of grip Road conditions play a much greater part in grip than any tyre combination will. If you run rubbish tyres then you are going to get less grip, thats a given, if you use lower quality brake pads then you are going to stop slower as well ........ the only instance I can think where mismatched tyres might cause an issue is in heavy standing water, where the front may start to aquaplane faster than the rear due to differing water displacement, but then if you are aquaplaning you are already going too fast Maybe Ive missed something here, but my car handles better now than it ever has (on Re050 fronts and Vredestein rears), it was fine with Toyo T1's front and FK452 rears and vice versa, and the worst it ever handled, gripped or gave any feedback was on Nankang NS-2's, the only set of matched tyres its ever had on it. Is it not the case that different tyres work better for different applications too? Tyres that are good on FWD arent always the same on RWD, so does it not stand to reason that certain tyres and patterns will give better grip on the driven wheels and others on the non driven/steering wheels? As I say, Im not arguing, just saying that in my experience there are a number of other areas that I consider to be more improtant than matching your tyres fore and aft

Hes advertising it at £12K elsewhere. That aint cheap Also: SIMPLY THE BEST AND MOST AGRRESIVE 350Z AVAILABLE No it isnt mate. A standard car is probably better and more AGRRESIVE than that is.

*something* may be in the pipeline there Oh, and the silver V8 is a Skyline, the black one is an S14

I know the wheels well - considered buying them from the previous owner (who I know well) myself. I really dont think they would suit a Z33 or Id have them already. Oh, and as for wide wheels ruin your handling: other than a touch more bumpsteer I actually think my car handles better with these on. The increase in friction is not really going to affect your acceleration, and I havent noticed any adverse effect from the increase in unsprung weight - lateral grip is noticably better in fact. The car also drifts just as well as it used to, on private roads of course

Im down this year with 35 (count em) others. Probs not going to take the Z33, opting for a campervan instead, but if you see a massive beer mountain on Karting Nord with a load of 200SX's, a Monaro, NSX, some wide Mercs and a few M3's come and say hello

Oh believe me, you arent the first by any means Its not going to be to everyones taste, but it really does look better in the metal, promise I am going to have a good think about making it lower or filling the arches - the rears are really the problem but its a bit of a balance between awesome looks and drivability. I will be coming to most of the big shows this year so Im sure youll have a chance to see it in the metal as well, but thank you for all of the positive commesnt, and cheers for the less positive but still constructive ones. On other forums Ive had "It looks Halfords spec", "worse than a standard car" and "It look @*!#"

Thanks for the positive response - its been rather less ....... positive elsewhere The arches are metal, fabricated by Will at Streetoptions - he's done an astonishingly good job, so good it looks factory. The kit was Chargespeed and fitted beautifully, but obviously needed some work to go with the arches. The car does ideally need to be lower but is already pretty close at the front, and its a daily drive too - ideally Id like some decent 20's, but Im thinking about taking it down a bit first and seeing how I get on as its a lot cheaper Handy photoshop though: Im going to sort a proper build thread out, or I could just be lazy of course ....... http://streetoptions.co.uk/WidebodyNissan350z.aspx Oh, wheels are Work Equip 18x10J's, ET -36 front and ET -42 rear, running 255/40 and 265/35 rear

Finally managed to get some decent pics of the car at Duxford last weekend - these were taken outside the US Hangar along with the Mint Tyres Skyline R32. Im rather pleased with people standing next to an SR71 Blackbird but checking out my 350Z Mud is due to stupid Duxford access road :down: Ive also caught a guy in a Gallardo convertible and another in a GT3RS checking it out in the last week, which makes me rather happy

Weight isnt such an issue as you might think - more weight equals greater traction and more mass for feint entries that was the car that won the European Drift Championship in 2008. And this one: won the Japanese champs in 2008 as well, albeit with 800hp From watching the video, the Jag doesnt look to be a great drift car mainly due to its pretty weak steering lock - clutches are pretty vital as well, and I believe they are tip only. Sort that out and Ive no doubt it would be properly capable

Get off the fence Chesterfield - tell us what you really think As someone who is considering a Jag ATM that makes for interesting reading.

Looks like it could use a bit more steering lock to me

Ive managed 615km (382 miles) on the way to Le Mans before - anyone else noticed that the fuel economy seems to improve once you pass the speed limit??

Why: Dynamically, a stretched tyre will suffer less roll under abuse. It also is a lot cheaper on tyres (a 225 for a 10J is a lot cheaper than a 275, for instance), and gives you some movement on wheel fitment As I have said, Im not sure a 350Z lends itself particularly, but some other cars neeeed stretch.

I dont imagine theres an insurance issue and cant really speak for tyre wear, but then I go through them rather quickly anyway The stretched look has to be done right, and Id say the Z33 isnt a car that particularly lends itself to it TBH. The low look is spot on for the car, but my car now only has maybe 3 inches of clearance at the front and it wouldnt work it was the only car I owned - most speed bumps are out, multistory car parks are a no, and pretty much on anything with a decent incline the nose scrapes ......... but the car needs to go lower to look right in my eyes. Id also add that I have other cars to concentrate on the driving dynamics of, so within reason Im prepared to compromise a little on the Zed to get it looking "right"

Ekona - that does surprise me, as I could easily find 200 odd people who have the same opinion as me. However, to be fair, those 200 people are effectively driving track focused cars on the road so ride comfort is less important than ultimate grip. Not sure about the breakaway point though - if anything I find it easier on a stretched tyre due to the lack of flex, I imagine rtbiscuit - sure, the rear tyres may not be experiencing the same level of lateral grip, but the front ones are, and Id argue considerably exceeding the lateral forces you would find on a grip car - the directional changes are certainly faster and more violent. It suprises a lot of people that drifting is actuallyall about grip, not the lack of it, and even the spinning back tyres are holding onto the road. Your average drifter is going to be 180/360 spinning the car more than someone driving a car "properly" too which surely puts the most force on a set of tyres. Dont get me wrong, Im not arguing that drifting is the be all and end all or that stretched tyres are the way forward for everyone, but I am saying that in certain cases, be it drift cars or heavily modified showcars they have their place,and they certainly dont just fall off of rims. I see a lot of people dismissing it instantly without experience of it, which is why Im putting my side here. Next up, welded diffs

Ahh, I hear this sooo much. Ever tried stretched tyres? No? You surpise me. I seem to qualify every post on here by saying that Im a drifter, but I think its relevant here. Most of us run stretched tyres, for various reasons - one is of fitment, another is price and another is the actual performance of the tyre. Contrary to Ekona's belief, the lack of sidewall reduces flex, and actually makes the car feel more solid. Ive certainly never noticed any adverse handling effects from running stretch anyway and as for the "youll rip the tyre off the rim" argument, in 10 years of drifting on the street, on airfields, in carparks, on kart tracks, on concrete runways and on FIA tracks I have never seen one stretched tyre leave the rim of the car running it. I find it hard to believe that any grip racer is going to pusha tyre harder than a drifter either. So, if you dotn like the look then fair enough, but dynamically in my experience at least there is no issue with them If you do like it then check here: http://www.rimtuck.com/thumbnails.php?v ... odel=350Z&