Tires Pirelli or Falken
i think it's possible to find smaller than 205/40 but not easily or cheaply.. i think you can get 195/45. however the falken 512 (which you can now only get from discount tire on ebay) is much smaller than most 205/40's. it's what i run on my mk3 and they are much smaller than the set they replaced.
The tires are 205/40/16 Falken Azenis RT-615. The wheel adapters/spacers were purchased on here from Vtec-This-Vr, and are excellent quality. There is no rubbing and the car handles perfectly.
I have them on my E30. They're a fantastic tire in ALL conditions but heavy snow. Great in the dry, great in the wet, wear better than 512s did, fairly quiet for what they are. They're even passably ok in plowed/packed snow on traveled roads. They're slow to get going from a stop, but once you're moving they're very predictable and easy to drive with.
I've been running them for 22000 miles now, no complaints here. Stick well in wet and dry, no comment on snow.
I have them on 2 of my cars - one summer car - one daily... Perform good in rain, and "well" in snow. I've got about 50% tread left - and in snowy conditions do fine (except from a dead stop - can be difficult). Did great in the first summer/winter - but like any "performance all-season" does so-so once the tread wears down... For a great price - I say rock em...
Primarily you want thin and narrow. I ran all season Falken-512 195 50 15 last winter and had no problems.
Both my cars wear Pirelli Winter Carvings in the white stuff. Very happy with those tires.
I use falken rt615 both for auto-x and summer driving. best bang for the buck, and don't worry about wet weather traction, i drove through some of the nastiest storm on them without a second of hesitation, as a matter of fact they are better then any other tire I had so far
meh.. the falkens can really get you in trouble in rain if you're not carefull. yes they provide alot of grip in the rain, but they'll breakaway (lose grip) with little to no warning unlike the goodyear eagle F1's which were pretty gradual.
yeah they can be scary in heavy downpours. i have to drive on the slow lane most of the time, because past 55-60, i'm hydroplaning. it's actually exciting in my opinion, but not safe at all.
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