This spring I replaced my conti. contact sports with mich. pilot sport's. They are mounted on 19" Techarts. Since the change, the car does not feel solid at speed. I have the pressures at about 36F and 44R What tire pressures should I be running? The sizes are F 235/35-19 and R 315/25-19. Also the driver rear tire rubs on the inside of the top of the wheel arch over some bumps and under sever cornering. WTF? Has anyone had problems like this? Are the Mich. Pilots junk? My local P dealer said more people were buying Mich over Conti so thats what I did. Any thoughts?

 

u are running on stock suspension setup right?

i think the upsized tire is right size. michelin are known for slightly smaller width so you shouldn't rub. not sure why it's doing it for you. guess you could add a small spacer if rub continues or if you are running on coil over you can adjust stiffness.

does the car bump around more? MPS should be softer than other tires. Are you comparing this setup with an 18" stock setup or just tire change alone?

 

doesnt a spacer push the wheel out further? wouldnt that rub even more?

 

Need to find out what ET (offsets) on your wheels are.
I run same size tires and have no rubbing (except occasionally at full lock...very light
front fenderwell rubbing).

MK

 

Yeah, stock suspension. It just doesnt seem as sure footed as it did with the stock wheels. I have conti's on the stock wheels and had conti's on the techarts until now. I still have contis on the stock wheels and it handles and feels like it should. Last summer it seemed to handle even better on the techarts with contis. When I drive the car at speed now it just doesnt seem to handle as predictable as it should. Nothing else hase changed except the diff tire manufacturer. The only things I can think of are the tire pressures or the tire compound. Even if the mps are softer, I wouldnt think it would make the car seem loose at speed. I'm stumped.

 

What is the best way to measure the offset?

 

I'd double check the balance weights. Swap out the front/rears with your old set of rims/tires that were known to feel right to see if you can pinpoint the rim/tire that might be balanced incorrectly.

 

Some People cannot stand the way M PS2's feel, I like em althought they really felt
squirrely the first 3-400 miles until the release set in on the new tires.
The sidewalls feel much softer than the Conti's but the PS2's are a Fantastic street
tire and an excellent track tire unless you are trying to set lap records (leave that to the Hoosiers)

MK

 

please excuse my ignorance..."until the release set in" what does that mean? The tires only have about 100 miles on them so far. Looks like I need to go for nice long drive.

 

From my knowledge (some one correct me if I'm wrong) new tires need to go through a couple heat cycles to break them in. Not 100% sure. I would say put another couple hundred miles on them and if that doesn't help, try adjusting the tire pressure.

 

When tires are molded, the molds are covered with a release agent so the rubber doesn't stick. This release agent bonds with the outermost part of the rubber, so it takes about 400-500 miles to wear it all off. During this period, the tires will not act normal, so give it some time before you pass judgment on the PS2's.