Hi there. I'll be buying a whole set of tires soon and was wondering what's the biggest I could do on front and back for the crossfire. I have an 04 coupe with 225/35/18 & 255/35/19 Bridgestone Potenza S-04 currently, what do you guys recommend? Thanks

 

225/35/18 on the front 275/35-19 or 285/35-19 the 285 rub on some cars if your tire is not centered in the wheel well (rear) it could rub also going over a bump and over 120 mph when the car squats and it will rub. jim

 

concur with amx1397. I run P224/40/18 on the front and they will scuff the plastic inner fender liner on occasion; The P285/30/19 I run on the rear have never rubbed as far as I have seen.

 

Thanks for the info! Also, I think I may have heard in another post that we can not rotate tires (for the obvious reason of size and thread difference) but can we rotate the left front tire with the right front one and so forth with the back set of tires as well? Does it make any difference?

 

Good to know! Do you think that such difference on the thread and tire thickness (225 to 285) makes the handling of the car better or would it be the same as if you were running 265's or 255's in the back? Thanks

 

As long as your tires are asymmetrical like your Potenza's, and not directional, you can swap sides yes. Difference yes; better tire wear.

 

I bought the 285 mainly for the sporty looks as it is more tire than the limited crossfire needs as to rubber on the road. Those are Michelin Pilot AS3+ as a daily tire all year and they work very well for me in SE Alabama. I also have another set of rims with Portenza r-11, but the rears are standard 255. I have slide with the 255s on the rear, but never have with the 285. The slide is very controlled with the Portenza so it is no problem at all so long as you know the limits. Would Portenza 285s slide? Probably no more or less than the Michelin 285 with my way of driving.
As to rotating your tires it depends completely on the tire make/model that you decide on. As Dinasrt said above; Directional tires will have a rotation arrow branded on the tire's sidewall. The arrow indicates the direction in which the tire should turn. So you can not rotate those tires. They will be specific to location on the Crossfire as our rims are different sized front to and rear, and the rotation would be wrong if you moved them from left to right side. Some tires are not directional, but do have a inside and outside orientation on the rim. You can move those tires left to right on the car. Directional tires will have an arrow on the side wall indicating the direction of rotation, while the tire that should be mounted with a specific side to the outer vice inner will so state on the side wall. Most tires can be rotated, just read the info on both sides of the side wall of the tire you purchase for the specific info.

 

you can rotate directional tires ,your front or rear BUT as i do you have to brake them down reverse the tire on the rim THEN they will go to the opposite side of the car. If you have a tire, lets say is wearing on the inside, flip it on the rim and now the wear is on the outside mount it on the other side of the car and the rotating direction is the correct direction

 

What I do, unmount and flip and remount, then put on the opposite side, so on the directional tires, what was in the inside is now in the outside.
but can not do on the continental dws they have a in and out instead of direction.

if you buy and install the tires at at shop that offers lifetime rotations with purchase, tell them, to rotate they have to unmount and flip and remount and balance, I would do evan if they where not directional tires with the high camber.

I have michelins 285, but also 19x11.5 rear wheels, do not use a 285 runflat on stock rims, they are not wide enough and will have problems seating.
if on stock rims heck ratings on tire to see if you can run a 9" wide wheel.

 

I think the na crossfire would benefit from a wider tire at the front. Wider tires at the rear will increase understeer. 255 is already a lot for 219hp.

 

alot depends on the tire.
for me the wider tire is more suited to what I need.

 

I agree. People on this board don't seem to go over 235. I want a wider tire at front as well.