Here is the story.

Two week ago, I bought 4 P275/40R17 Eagle F1 GS/D3 as replacement of original Eagle F1 GS's on my 2002 SS baby.

Now I have to admit I just can't get used to them : roads are quite bad in province of Quebec so car keep going left or right but never straight ahead.

We worked on paralellesim, tire pressure, and so on, but without any noticable result.

I got the idea to replace front tires with P245/45R17, keeping taken off 275's as future replacements for the rear.

I remember former Trans-Am's and Camaros I owed had 245's all around.

Do you think it'll help? Would that affect the car handling badly?

Any comment, positive or negative, and any additionnal idea would be appreciated.

Thanks folks!

 

simple answer? yes, you can do it.

couple things to consider though..

1. 245's are normally put on 8 inch wide wheels, you put them on wider wheels and they look funny to most people and provide little to no lip protection for the wheel.

2. rotation could be done, but it would be silly.(but you covered this with your backup pair of 275's)

3. you could do other tire combo's instead of 245's... maybe 255 or something like that.. which tires you choose also dictate the actual tread width.. some brands have more of a squared off shoulder which probably wouldnt be good for what you are trying to do.

4. finally, that tracking problem you are talking about can be different with different tires, so check reviews and ask around on the board for 275's that don't track(or as much).

 

I agree with the responce that a 245 will look very odd on a 9 inch rim. I had 245's up front on my ZR1's (Dunlop SP 5000). I absolutely hated the look of the streched tire and honestly it didn't track really any less than with my 275's up front.

 

it probly has more to do with the tire than the width of it, ive got 245 up front on mine and it still tracks badly (when im not use to it) sometimes ive been worried ild get pulled over for being drunk because of it . also noticed it seems worse at some times than others *shrug* but from my experience i couldnt really say going down to a 245 would help if you got the same kind of tire. just going on what i know from my tires. hope that helps you

 

Wow , you want to go smaller , why ? The bigger the better . You need to get a differnt tire that tracks better thats all . More meat for the street , especially if the rim is made for it .


Rob

 

I agree with all the above - the brand of tire is going to change the feel and tracking more than 245 vs 275.
245's might even end up being worse, due to the way they would be stretched.

You could experiment by adjusting the air pressure a bit (within a safe range, of course). Might improve tracking, but might also cause uneven wear.

Unfortunately a little bit of tracking/wandering with our F-bodies is pretty much unavoidable on rough/uneven pavement... C'est la vie!

 

[QUOTE=Dave '97 Z28 M6



Unfortunately a little bit of tracking/wandering with our F-bodies is pretty much unavoidable on rough/uneven pavement... C'est la vie![/QUOTE]


Thats what a solid rear vs inpendent is all about . I dont mind .