275 vs 285 tires 9.5 rim

Myusername

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Hey all, I'm going to need rear tires soon and every search I've found that starts to talk about tire sizes and performance end up with which tire people like the best. I am wondering for those of you with 9.5 inch rear rims have any of you gone from 285 down to 275? Notice any Difference in performance or traction vs the 285? Noticable any differences? I do not track or drag my car but I do drive it like i stole it so that's why I'm asking. For those wondering I will be getting continental extreme contact dw. Either 285/35/19 or 275/40/19. Just wanting to know if there are anything noticeable from those that have done it. Thanks
 

kdaly

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I would stuff as much as you can on that rim. No reason to short yourself on grip. Its the only way to get that performance/power to the ground.
 

TheVikingRL

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The taller sidewall is more likely to help traction than 10mm of tread width IMO. I think it's also going to fill up the wheel well a little better in most cases. I have run both 275/40 Pirelli PZero Nero and 295/35 MPSS's on the rear (10" rims) as well as 20's with the stock Goodyear G2's and BFG Comp 2's. In all cases, tread compound made the biggest difference in straight line traction followed by sidewall height. Width made the least.
 

nate714

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Tire width is more likely to affect your cornering/turning performance than your straight line traction. (in theory)

I'm running 275 nitto invo on an 18x10 rear rim and for a mild bolt on car, I feel like it's enough rear tire. I can rotate the rear like an asshole in an empty intersection with much more control and confidence than I could on the stock 235 pzero nero. If you are launching from red lights / stop signs, you'll want the longer contact patch from a taller tire, as TheVikingRL said. If I was choosing between 285 and 275 with the same tire compound, I'd aim for the taller option. (275/40). If the car was seeing frequent track use, more tire would be nice.

https://tiresize.com/calculator/ will give you a good idea of difference in width/height etc between the two tires. I'd go with 275/40 if they are close in price. That'll probably fit the 9.5 inch rim a little cleaner than a 285 anyway. Lots of people run 275 on 9.5 on all 4 corners.

I agree with kdaly in not compromising tire size, but between 275/40 and 285/35 you're trading one dimension for another, and on 9.5 I'm not sure how much bigger you can go.
 

Myusername

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Straight line traction is what I was mainly worried about. Not so much going hard around corners even tho that is a lot of fun too. Thanks for the input!!
 

My Monster

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I'd go with the 275/40's all around. I have a staggered set-up on my Shelby, I have had the MPSS, a set of Cooper 305/35-20 with 255/40-19 on the front and now Continental Extreme DWS A/S's in 275/40-19 and 275/40-20. The Conti's are,hands down, the best ride comfort and traction combo I've come up with thus far. They handle the rain quite well, straight line traction is acceptable for a non-drag radial tire and the price wasn't too ugly.
That's my 2 cents worth.
 

TheVikingRL

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Funny, I would say almost the exact same thing about the BFG G-FORCE COMP-2 A/S. I'm running 275/40-19's up from and 285/35-20's in the rear on a set of 2013 GT500 rims. So far they have been an outstanding A/S tire, and better ride/straight-line traction than the MPSS's.
 

9TMAREEE

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Do you have a track pack car OP? Either way Id go with the 285/35's they have a shorter sidewall than the 275/40's. For reference I have the MPSS 275/40 19's on my stock 9" track pack wheels and the sidewall is just a little too tall for my taste. Plus you get the benefit of slightly wider tires for traction. But compound also has a lot do do with it. Get a good sticky tire like supersports or continental DW's.
 
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noldevin

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Wat? All seasons have better grip than MPSS? Did you just make the switch recently while it has been in the 40s? Because that would be why.
All seasons might be a half decent compromise of comfort, price, and grip, but anywhere above 55 degrees or so there is no way in hell they are out-gripping a proper summer tire.

As for the OP, the taller 275/40 will give you better straight line grip than the 285/35. They also fit the wheel better, and IMO, probably handle better too.
 

TheVikingRL

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In a straight line yes, the BFG's hold better in most cases. Obviously NOT talking about cornering grip where the MPSS's would have a huge advantage. Perhaps once the Michelin's are nice and hot they would have an advantage in straight line grip as well. But certainly not while driving around in weather anywhere near 55 degrees. You're in NJ as well, would be happy to give you a demo of both some time.
 

Myusername

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9tmaree - no not a track pack. It's a base gt but It's got boss wheels and boss adjustable suspension. The pzeros that come on the boss wheels are not that good in my opinion. I have had the conti dw summer tires before and loved them. It doesn't get too cold here in Florida so I am never going back to a all season tire.
I didint even think about filling the wheel well more, so I guess that would be better with the slightly taller tire.
 

noldevin

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In a straight line yes, the BFG's hold better in most cases. Obviously NOT talking about cornering grip where the MPSS's would have a huge advantage. Perhaps once the Michelin's are nice and hot they would have an advantage in straight line grip as well. But certainly not while driving around in weather anywhere near 55 degrees. You're in NJ as well, would be happy to give you a demo of both some time.

I will not argue at all that at lower temps the all-seasons will eat the summer tires. However, I had the chance to compare these tires at mustang week. I drove the BFG s550 v6 in their autox competition and forfeited my winning lap because I was used to the grip of my MPSS and slid through the stop box. They were using COMP-2 A/S tires.
 

TheVikingRL

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Again, no argument when corner carving the MPSS would be miles ahead. Sounds like a fun time though regardless.
 

9TMAREEE

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OP, Agreed, the pzeros my car came with from the factory where not sticky at all. I would be burning rubber all through first and second gear especially after my bolt ons. if you want something slightly taller then go with the 275/40 pilot supersports like I have, these suckers hook even from a dig and they do fill the wheel well up a bit better too
 

Eng90

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OP, Agreed, the pzeros my car came with from the factory where not sticky at all. I would be burning rubber all through first and second gear especially after my bolt ons. if you want something slightly taller then go with the 275/40 pilot supersports like I have, these suckers hook even from a dig and they do fill the wheel well up a bit better too

I have a boss 302 with bolt ons and looking for rear tires which hooks on road drag racing...

So r u sure my car will hook on 1st and 2nd if i go for 275/40-19 ?

Im looking for best street tires to hook though not much tire options available here ... im between mpss, ps2 and some contis
 

noldevin

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Street tires probably aren't going to dead hook in 1st no matter what. And since the boss comes with 3.73s, probably not so much in 2nd either unless it's really warm out. If it's below 70 degrees I spin through 1st and 2nd. You're going to have to manage the pedal in first gear even with the best summer tires. Instead I'd recommend a drag radial, toyo r888s, or maybe an extreme performance summer tire like RE-11s or BFG Rivals.
 

Eng90

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Street tires probably aren't going to dead hook in 1st no matter what. And since the boss comes with 3.73s, probably not so much in 2nd either unless it's really warm out. If it's below 70 degrees I spin through 1st and 2nd. You're going to have to manage the pedal in first gear even with the best summer tires. Instead I'd recommend a drag radial, toyo r888s, or maybe an extreme performance summer tire like RE-11s or BFG Rivals.

The thing is i dnt want to put 305 width on my 9.5 wheel and we have no wide range of tires to choose here in my country... im between the 275 pss and 285 ps2 ... im really upset cuz it will take to damn much to ship tires here
 

noldevin

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Width isn't going to help your forward grip much. Sidewall and compound will. That's why the 275/40 is better than 285/35 for forward grip.
Most of the "max performance" summer tires we're talking about are a 300+ tread wear compound. If you really want noticeably more grip you'll have to make the jump to an extreme performance 200 tread wear tire (or lower, if you go drag radials). These are usually also worse in the rain and cold.

The MPSS will be a decent tire and definitely an improvement over stock, but they probably won't hook in first too well. I've been running 275/40r19 MPSS on a 9.5 for over a year now. They handle FANTASTIC and actually last quite a long time, but I definitely can't hook 1st gear
 
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Eng90

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Width isn't going to help your forward grip much. Sidewall and compound will. That's why the 275/40 is better than 285/35 for forward grip.
Most of the "max performance" summer tires we're talking about are a 300+ tread wear compound. If you really want noticeably more grip you'll have to make the jump to an extreme performance 200 tread wear tire (or lower, if you go drag radials). These are usually also worse in the rain and cold.

The MPSS will be a decent tire and definitely an improvement over stock, but they probably won't hook in first too well. I've been running 275/40r19 MPSS on a 9.5 for over a year now. They handle FANTASTIC and actually last quite a long time, but I definitely can't hook 1st gear

Will it hook on 2nd ?? Considering my boltons and 3.73 rear ?
 

noldevin

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If you give it a hard shift into 2nd you'll probably still spin part way through 2nd unless you manage the pedal. If you roll into it on a warm dry day you'll probably be ok. Unfortunately the 3.73s make grip a struggle bus without DRs. I plan on dropping back down to 3.31s when I boost.
 
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