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E36 M3: Tires

Land Shark <[email protected]>  ASKS:

I'm about to put new wheels and tires on my car...

The wheels are from an M3 CSL, the forged 5-spokes (Thanks Joe U.!!)

And I'm trying to decide on tires .. and SIZES too...

If I remember correctly, the CSL came with the same 235/40R17 MXX3's as
the "normal" M3 .. even on the 8.5Jx17 rear wheels ..

But NOW, BMW is using 225/45ZR17 on the front and 245/40ZR17 on the rear

Someone who knows .. enlighten me :)

Also, let's talk tires .. some of the ones I'm looking at are:

Michelin MXX3 (now that the price is somewhat better)
Yoko AVS-I
Yoko A032R  (Yeah, I know .. track tire .. BUT .. I might run them on the
street)
Falken

PARTIAL ANSWER:  According to the YOKO rep, the A032 with it's 8/32 molded trad
depth was designed so that it could be used as a street tire also.  I have been
using them on my E30 race car (still waiting for chip) and they do generate some
very  serious grip.  The tread pattern has been designed "to improve on the wet
performance" of these tires.  As to tire sizes, by using the 96 M3 tire sizes,
the existing understeering tendency of a stock M3 suspension will be enhanced
and that now becomes a personal decision.  Personally I would stay with the same
size on all corners for both vehicle dynamic balance and the ability to rotate
the tires, understanding that the tires need to be remounted in order to do
this.  

Hope this helps
Bob  Ofest Registration #88
Many BMWs