Will really wide tires make you faster? | Nankang CR-S Tire Test

“15s are dead.”

That’s the typical response when asking any major tire or automobile manufacturer about rubber in that diameter. Cars really haven’t been built with 15-inch wheels in decades.

So why are we so excited about a new, extra-wide Super 200 tire, Nankang’s latest 275/35R15?

Because many of us still race those older cars–think Miatas, golden-era Hondas, E30-chassis BMWs, …

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Dang, remember when we were happy to run 195s on a Miata? (At least I was.)

I'm glad they were significantly faster...

...cuz the car looks significantly more bad-ass on that setup.

In reply to Andy Hollis :

Hella flush!

Beefcake. BEEFCAKE!!

It needs an Arby's sticker, just the hat. 

And yes, it looks mean as hell with that setup. 

one thing that I wonder about, is 6 tenths worth a weekend of entry fee's?  

at $150 more per tire than the 10" wide 245 tires that works out to be around $600.  for me, i'll find more time /w more time than i will with wider tires...

ClearWaterMS said:

one thing that I wonder about, is 6 tenths worth a weekend of entry fee's?  

at $150 more per tire than the 10" wide 245 tires that works out to be around $600.  for me, i'll find more time /w more time than i will with wider tires...

 

Valid question. I'd say that the answer is likely yes for some people, especially when they're at the pointy end of the field, when 6 tenths is all that separates 1st and 2nd place.

Now I want a comparison of the Nankangs, Hoosiers, Vitours, and anything else in a 275/35/15 that'll fit the Challenge Corolla..........and do it on an autocross course, rather than a track. For science, you know.....

I always find these interesting because I mostly live in a world where the extra weight and rolling resistance of super wide tires kills the lap times.

Good on playing to the needs of the racers, but a bit late to the party.

It’s not that the Nankang 275/35/15 is bad… it’s just that the Vitour 305/30/15 is better. 

dallasreed said:

Good on playing to the needs of the racers, but a bit late to the party.

It’s not that the Nankang 275/35/15 is bad… it’s just that the Vitour 305/30/15 is better. 

 

If you can effectively run a 22" OD tire, which pretty much nobody was setup for in the past.

Daniel Moore had to build a new transmission with a longer FD to make it work on his turbo EF hatch.  Plus screw around with his suspension geometry to get the splitter off the deck.  And lose camber.

It's far from a bolt-on solution.

Y'all need to get those 275/35-15 and 245/40-15 P1's off your promise list and onto the shipped list.  Then you'll have the best of both worlds.

I have an autoX wheel to tire size question. In DST (formerly STX) everyone in a twin runs a 245 on a 9" wide wheel, yet this article claims the optimal  tire width for a 9" is a 225. Is there a particular  reason people run 245's vs 225's? Thanks!

Oh hell yes. Fat 15s look so great to me. Never take those off. :)

More than a decade back we ran my 986 Boxster in Bsp with 15x10 and 275,  . (before the 295 came out)  Slot car handling and at 23.5 diameter tire the corner exit acceleration felt like a gt3.   So fun..   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACvSuklIWDw

Not just about faster. I find that wider tires last longer. 

bladebrakers101 said:

I have an autoX wheel to tire size question. In DST (formerly STX) everyone in a twin runs a 245 on a 9" wide wheel, yet this article claims the optimal  tire width for a 9" is a 225. Is there a particular  reason people run 245's vs 225's? Thanks!

The other way around.

What we said was, the optimal wheel for a 225 is a 9.  So that's what we fitted.

In your case, you are rules limited to a 9" wheel, so it's a different question.  What's the optimal tire width for a 9" wheel. 

And the answer to that varies depending on the brand/model of tire.  Some can be pinched and still provide extra performance over the narrower size tire.  Some cannot.

There is also heat to consider.  A bigger tire doesn't overheat as fast.  Which may also play a role.

Tire Rack did a really comprehensive test of various wheel/tire size combos, in both wet and dry.  Very enlightening.  But note that it was only a single model of tire.  Results with other tires will vary.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=296&srsltid=AfmBOooHj0blhy2u7HoiHg3LCoYLnf09AOzyeJL2JwyG-jdUjtOH6VUw

See I love this; however, the series we run in primarily, Champcar, has just restricted the use of Nankangs for the CY2026 season. We still run 15s on our Accord and our tire options are limited. We get the douchey responses of "Should've built a different car." "Put bigger wheels on it." etc when we gripe to the series about their decisions as if we haven't been running that car with them for a decade now. 4x114.3 isn't the easiest bolt pattern to find wheels in either. We tried 16s once and it threw the roll center of the car way off. Unsure why Honda did this in the 90s when literally everything else was 4x100.

Anyways, it's nice to see tire manufacturers still supporting those niche markets. 

And I notice in that TR test the 9"-245 combo had a single lap that was fastest, while the 9-225 combo was slightly faster on average. Complex.

Andy Hollis said:

dallasreed said:

Good on playing to the needs of the racers, but a bit late to the party.

It’s not that the Nankang 275/35/15 is bad… it’s just that the Vitour 305/30/15 is better. 

 

If you can effectively run a 22" OD tire, which pretty much nobody was setup for in the past.

Daniel Moore had to build a new transmission with a longer FD to make it work on his turbo EF hatch.  Plus screw around with his suspension geometry to get the splitter off the deck.  And lose camber.

It's far from a bolt-on solution.

Y'all need to get those 275/35-15 and 245/40-15 P1's off your promise list and onto the shipped list.  Then you'll have the best of both worlds.

You're preaching to the choir!

In reply to dallasreed :

Agreeing with Andy on this one. I really don't understand why Vitour decided to go so short, when there was a pretty well-established OD for 15" tires. Was there a good reason? Any chance you might be lobbying for them to address that?

Only reason I haven't gone wider for the Exocet, apart from trying to maximize my performance as a driver with a 205, is that if I bought a 15x10 or 11, I'd basically be stuck with Hoosier as my only option if I didn't like the tire I bought the wheels for.

I suppose there is the other factor of having to recalibrate my brain for a car that is suddenly 6" wider than it was before...

nealt said:

In reply to dallasreed :

Agreeing with Andy on this one. I really don't understand why Vitour decided to go so short, when there was a pretty well-established OD for 15" tires. Was there a good reason? Any chance you might be lobbying for them to address that?

Dallas is aware and was not part of the Vitour team at the time these decisions were made.  Other folks were guiding that ship, which he is now attempting to redirect.  That's why the "promised" list includes the fat, 23" OD 15's I mentioned above.  But the molds are not even made yet for those, so...

I've heard several rationales for the short OD's ranging from lowering cg's to more wheelwell clearance.  But ground clearance and gearing are limiting factors on the viability, and quite often more impactful.

Here's a pic from our original review of the 225/40-15 size which clocks in at 22" OD.  In a turn, the OE splitter was scraping.

One more thing...

15's aren't the only diameter with super-short P1's.  Most of the available diameters have one or two sizes that are an inch or more shorter than is typical.  And sometimes that affords other fitment opportunities.

In particular, 285/30-17 comes in at 23.7", which is similar to a 225/50-15.  And that's the size A052's we've run on the One Lap CRX of late.  And if you remember this test, 17's fit that car better allowing for less wheel offset due to spindle config.  I have a set of those 285 P1's in hand, with wheels on the way from Goodwin -- another exclusive Konig fitment.

The plan is to shoehorn those onto the front of the CRX and see where it leads.  We'll compare to the 275 Nankangs featured in this story, which will also fit that car.

That test is a month out, as I've got some vacation planned for July and just finishing up some other tests this week.  Headed to the track today, in fact.

Would love to see a 15 vs 17 in comparison in the furture

Garrett9435 said:

Would love to see a 15 vs 17 in comparison in the furture

We've done that before, both on the CRX and ND.  Taller is quicker, all things equal -- but width can still trump that benefit.