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What size of Contis?
Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2022 9:20 pm
by LarryC555
I've got 2000 NB1, that is mostly stock. I've got wheels and tires for track days, but the street tires while OK in the dry, not so much in the wet.
I see where you recommend the Conti Extreme Contact Sport tires, but that leaves the question of what size?
The car currently has the stock 15" wheels, and I do have a set of bare 16" wheels in my "pile of parts". In general I tend to favor wet performance for my daily driver on the street, because that's when I tend to run out of grip.
I have noticed that the 185/60 14 Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S on my 99 NB are a lot quieter than the Dunlop 195/50 15 Direzza DZ101 tires on the 2000, which I need to replace.
What are the relative merits between 195 and 205 15" Contis, in terms of wet/dry grip, tire life, and road noise?
If I don't have a big brake kit is there any advantage to going to 16" wheels on a daily driver?
Re: What size of Contis?
Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2022 5:39 am
by BillK336
I had 225/45/17 0n my 2016, and indeed they wew magic in the wet.
I'd go with the 16" in stock size, keeping it nimble.
Re: What size of Contis?
Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2022 4:15 pm
by LarryC555
Stock size on the NB is 15".
You mention an MG in your signature, which one did you have?
Re: What size of Contis?
Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 11:08 am
by Brian
LarryC555 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 9:20 pm
I've got 2000 NB1, that is mostly stock. I've got wheels and tires for track days, but the street tires while OK in the dry, not so much in the wet.
I see where you recommend the Conti Extreme Contact Sport tires, but that leaves the question of what size?
The car currently has the stock 15" wheels, and I do have a set of bare 16" wheels in my "pile of parts". In general I tend to favor wet performance for my daily driver on the street, because that's when I tend to run out of grip.
I have noticed that the 185/60 14 Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S on my 99 NB are a lot quieter than the Dunlop 195/50 15 Direzza DZ101 tires on the 2000, which I need to replace.
What are the relative merits between 195 and 205 15" Contis, in terms of wet/dry grip, tire life, and road noise?
If I don't have a big brake kit is there any advantage to going to 16" wheels on a daily driver?
Most folks really like the 205/50/15 Conti. The difference is pretty slight down to the 195/50 but the 195mm is slightly less diameter and that means slightly faster gearing out of the corners, and the trade off is that the 205mm offers a bit more ultimate grip in the corners. In our experience you are not going to notice any difference in tire life or road noise or wet grip. That 10mm extra width is less than half an inch, so the change is pretty slight.
Re: What size of Contis?
Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2022 4:24 pm
by LarryC555
Thanks for the info Brian. In case anybody else is looking to buy them right now (Nov 2022), since there is an America's Tire across the street from my office, I ordered from them. They list there for $150, but were willing to do a price match with Walmart for $122. By signing up and using their credit card I got another 5% off bringing the price down to $116, also conti is doing a $70 rebate bringing the price down to $98.40 (plus tax, mounting etc.).
Long story short, $100 each for tires that list for $150.
I hope this helps someone else.