am in the process of getting my old tyres removed from my r500 rims and the new ones put on! my rear wheels are 8" wide and fronts are 6" wide. i have just bought a pair of soft compound a048's 205/60/13 but i already had a new pair of medium compound a048's which i picked up off ebay (£100 the pair)
would you advise putting the softer tyres on the rear and medium on the front or vice-versa? the car in question is s2000 powered mnr so the front end will be quite heavy compared to the rear if that makes a huge difference! cheers

Pardon my ignorance, but won't the actual tyre size have more of an impact than the compound?

all 4 tyres are 205/60/13. i should have stated that sorry. its just that with my rims being different widths its vital i do things correctly now!

Why are you putting the same size tyres on the front as the back (if you don't mind me asking!)?

With those rims you should be running 175 or 185 on the front and 205 on the back.

David

Hi Danial soft on front but you dont need soft for the road only hill climb sprint think about it you can warm your rears for a sprint but not your fronts you will shred softs on the road Ali

2 reasons for this are that i was recommended 13" wheels for a better ride but with the f20c lump being so tall and me not having the funds for a dry sump system every cm of ground clearence is vital!
and the mnr front uprights/wingstays are now a welded and powdercoated item that are made on a jig for 195/50/15 tyres,so with a 175/60/13 front there would be a huge gap between tyre and front arch

The recommended rim width for 205 60 13 tyres is between 5.5" To 7" so your rears will 'stretch' beyond the recommended limits.

^^^^ not exactly correct according to george polley motorsports guide which is what i used to calculate

Are their figures based on the manufactuers guidance?
all the only calculaters ive used recommend a 7" max, but the yokohama specs would obviously overide generic guidance.

I run 205 on my 8" rims and they are fine. Caterham do it too.... good enough for them

205 on a 6" rim at the front is really not a good idea. 175 or 185

205 on an 8" is not that good either really should be a 215 or 225.

so the other option is to sell the r500 wheels and buy some 7"wide wheels?
i would imagine a new set of minilites would cost less than i could get for my wheels!

6" front and 8" rear rims are perfect for a seven, as are 175/185 front and 205/225 rear.

Look at what Caterham use on their cars and you'll get a good idea of what you should be looking at fitting

ETA
I run 6" front and 8" rear rims with medium compound R888's, 185 front and 205 rear and its spot on. Neutral handling unless you want to play silly with it and loads of grip in a straight line too.

[Edited on 16/7/10 by flak monkey]

so will a 205 front make a huge difference over a 185 front?

Will tend to bias grip to the front, meaning it will oversteer if pushd.

this is exactly what i thought and is why i was gong to put the soft tyres on the rear and mediums on the front!