See that? That's a 205/55 tire on a 16x7 wheel. Pretty much unheard of these days on any sports car. These days, sidewall heights are shrinking away to nothing, seemingly limited only by the fact that they have to have some tread depth...
It's a shame, too. The Ferrari rides surprisingly well, gliding over imperfections the way only a lightweight car rolling on a decent amount of sidewall can.
Oldham thinks the dampers are worn, but I'm not so sure. The tires maintain contact without any skittery nonsense or extraneous oscillations. I sailed--and, believe me, I was moving--over speed bumps without any drama, too.
And that's another thing. There's actually very little chance of scraping the nose when entering steep driveways. The front overhand is a week long, but it's high enough to never pose a problem out in the real world.
Engineering Editor Jason Kavanagh @ 48,007 miles
patrickinny says:
05:15 PM, 07/ 2/07
This has been the first long-term test I've ever really followed consistently, especially because I've also wanted to own one of these since...well, I was eleven when this one was built, and that seems about right. It is enlightening, and usually encouraging, to hear the pros and cons and insights that relate to the whole experience.
And given all the conjecture and perception, any chance you could actually run instrumented tests (dyno, acceleration, lateral grip, braking, the usual) to find out just where this particular machine stands in the modern scheme of things?
SubyTrojan says:
05:20 PM, 07/ 2/07
A quick dyk: Many people who autocross their Subaru Imprezas (excluding WRX STIs) actually prefer 16-inch wheels/tires.
jkavanagh says:
05:22 PM, 07/ 2/07
We're debating it. On the one hand, performance testing will be informative.
On the other, well... it's an old car, and performance testing is hard on old cars. The risk of breakage is a real possibility.
Like I said, we're debating it.
carlisimo says:
09:59 PM, 07/ 2/07
On Miata forums, bringing up wheel size is as explosive as global warming threads in Karl's blog. It's taboo to get 17's or larger on 1st or even 2nd generation Miatas. I have 16s and the sidewalls look like the ones on the Ferrari... I'm sure that was very low profile for the day!
kevlang says:
06:04 AM, 07/ 3/07
just look at F1 wheels/tires - they use dinky little wheels and huge sidewalls
vvk says:
06:35 AM, 07/ 3/07
I LOVE reading about the 308. You guys really do a great job! Thank you!
Some day I will own one, too.
It is so smooth because of very low unsprung weight. Heavy wheels/tires are the most important contributor to a) poor ride and b) less than perfect handling.
moparbad says:
02:36 PM, 07/ 3/07
I'll second that. Wheels are getting too large and tires too small. Is handling improved? Sure. Is the imrovement in handling worth the tradeoff in ride quality and tire costs? Not for me. Not on the street.
rick8365 says:
03:51 PM, 07/ 3/07
While the low profile tires look pretty cool and I guess they're good for handling etc, the ride quality and curb rash make me wonder if it's worth it. My wife started driving a 328 in March and while washing it the other day I noticed a nasty ding / gouge on the edge of the right rear rim - and she's not prone to do this kind of thing. Also, if I can say anything remotely negative about the car thus far it's what others have said.... the run flats. Between the low profile and the RF aspect they can be brutal when hitting a bump or even small pothole. The shock that is transmitted back through the car is unbelievable. It feels like you hit the bump with a non pneumatic tire or even just the rim. Seems like it happens about every other time I drive the car - and I think I'm good at steering around stuff, just out of habit.
billymay says:
07:13 PM, 07/ 3/07
I have the standard 16 inchers on my 328. Anything else looks a little 'off' on these cars. I haven't scraped a wheel, but frankly I'm very careful driving it in tight quarters.
All you guys thinking about a 308 should really follow this series and check out Ferrari Chat (where Edmunds editor Ed Hellwig just posted). It's very doable assuming you can swing the servicing costs (which sting a bit).
kurtamaxxxguy says:
12:12 PM, 07/ 4/07
Thank YOU Jason!! At last somebody is suggesting that tires __need sidewall heigth__ in order to work properly as part of a suspension system!
At a Malibu clinic years ago, GM engineers were dissing the GM marketers for sticking 18", lo-pro tires on their "sports" version. They empathicly pointed out the lo-pros made it much harder to design a proper ride-handling balance. In the Malibu's case, they couldn't pull it off.
Meanwhile, Euro manufacturers are outdoing themselves as to who has the lowest profile tires. Can a solid tire on a flexible rim be next for them (Michelin has one in development)?
jkavanagh says:
04:19 PM, 07/ 5/07
kurtamaxxxguy-- the GM engineer who calibrated the Sky Red Line's suspension expressed a similar sentiment when asked why they went with 18s over, say, 17s. He looked sheepish, shrugged, and replied, "well, 18s are what marketing required... were it not for that requirement, we'd have preferred 17s."
As for 1st gen Miatas, the unsprung weight and rotational inertia of 17s make the cars feel like they're wearing concrete shoes. Just awful.