Widest front tire?

[THEMASH]

What is the widest front tire i can have on my stock 18" wheels? i have the STOPTECH brake kit and they tend to easily lock at hard braking.
i am trying to fix that problem. i have heard some going 285s, has anyone tried 295s or larger in the front? Does the car stop or turn better? Any help/advice would be great, thanks in advance.

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Take a Driving School. Skip Barber has an exercise on braking in the 2 day, NCalif VCA school, and 3 the day Racing School. Learning how to brake at the limit of grip takes practice.

[Ron]

<FONT face="Comic Sans MS">You should never move the car with the hood popped, as if you turn the wheel the tire will grab the hood and damage it. Worse, with anything greater than 275's, even if you move the car straight forward the hood will be damaged.

Something to remember if you go up in size over stock.</FONT f>

[dancojax]

Nancy has run 335/30's (on John Purner wheels) with not much problem - tends to hit the porsche deflectors on hard 'crank' of the wheel.
Nearly everyone at Viperdays runs 285's on front (not even sure Bobby Archer brings 275's to track anymore).
Not sure about your brake system - have you removed the 'impediment' to full pressure on rear brakes?
Best cure is 'SnakeBrakes' (ABS) from Archer. Worked/s great for us.

[Bill Pemberton]

Not sure what Ron is discussing , but 285's are the norm, and many are running larger than that. You don't want to drive with the hood up with the bigger tires, but 285's are not an issue. We are all assuming your are running Michelins, but one caveat concerning tires - the rim size if running stock will probably dictate more than anything. With the 10inch front rim, 305's are about the limit.

[Ron]

<FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Bill:

What I meant that when you are working on the car, it is tempting to move it around with the front of the hood popped, rear down, rather than fully latching the hood (though maybe it's just me). With stock tires (at least on my 1996) if you keep the wheels straight (say pulling into a garage) you can do it without any tire to hood interference. With 285 tires, even pulling straight forward the larger tires will rub and damage the lower part of the hood clamshell.

Not a common occurrence, but something that'll ruin your day if it happens to you. Luke at TireRack warned me when I bought my 285's a couple of years ago. </FONT f>

[Bill Pemberton]

I fully understand, but I am not sure there is any problem with 285's? I guess I moved mine around with no problem, but your are right that the car really shouldn't be moved around( at all )with the hood up -- regardless of tire size. The hood is so stinkin expensive , it should be down when moving, but you can run a larger tire with no problem other than the one Ron mentioned.

[Sonny 00 GTS ACR]

If you are experiencing the problem while road racing, then it doesn't necessarily mean you need wider tires. However, that would certainly be one option.

Do a search here and pull up information on balancing your brakes (much has been written on this subject) You may find that you need to transfer some brake bias to the rear brakes or use different pads to get the best result.

If you lower the ride height appropriately you can end up with more "downforce" or weight on the front tires while braking and find that result to be a lot more effective.

Larger tire sizes may cause a problem with clearance on the fender wells if you lower the car enough to get the downforce you want for braking and cornering ability.

Stiffening the suspension, changing the ride height, adjusting the brake bias, and going with larger tire sizes are all part of an overall "package" that need to be worked out through specific advice and testing.

Check with people at ViperDays who have a set up like yours and see what they do. Everybody has to find the particular set up that works for them.

The only other sound advice is to listen to Fred and get some instruction in threshold braking. We've all been to enough schools to know there's more to learn.

Good luck,

[Gavin]

Sonny is on the right track with his advise - read the threads on aftermarket brakes - you need more rear brake not more front tire. Sean Roe has a great kit as does Stoptech. I have Sean Roe's kit and it is problem free - 6 piston calipers give you the feel you need to theshhold brake.
If you want to know moe - email me.