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Wheels and Tires


kaliturbo
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Hey guys, looking to get new shoes for the Murci. I have two questions for you gurus.

 

1: we all know the typical wheel sizes 19/20 combo is 8.5x19 and 13x20. Any issues going to a 12.5x20 in the rears instead of the 13"?

 

2: for those who has gone RWD conversion. What size tires are you running and what brand. The "typical" AWD is the Pirellis at 345/25/20. With going RWD the tire ratios arent as important as AWD so Id like a stickier set of tires. Ive had great luck on MPSS but the sizes doesn't look like it fits right on the Murci.

 

Any input?

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Hi 12.5" is fine. My second set of wheels are that size.

 

345.25.20 is as big a profile as you can fit without serious modification. A 19" with bigger profile will give better traction. I run 345.30.20 but that is an absolutely massive tyre and required a lot more modification than most are comfortable with.

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Hi 12.5" is fine. My second set of wheels are that size.

 

345.25.20 is as big a profile as you can fit without serious modification. A 19" with bigger profile will give better traction. I run 345.30.20 but that is an absolutely massive tyre and required a lot more modification than most are comfortable with.

 

Honestly if someone is buying rims for a murcielago (custom), I'd point them to do a 18/19 setup, if you TRULY want the best ride/handling characteristics. Those 19/20 setups make an already brutal ride even worse. Also it makes it so you are more likely to bend a rim or blister the tire on pot holes/bumps. Trust me, I am very well informed on tires for these cars, spending many days doing REAL calculations with front and rear differential ratios AND gear ratios. Ideally you'd do it all on 18's but the tire selection you need/want for best performance is actually only available for 18/19. God I wish they still made a 345/30/18 or 335/35/18 those would give the most flexible sidewhile while maintaining the large foot print. Then you could run a 255 or 265 up front.

 

Again thats all hypothetical now, as those 18' rears no longer exist :(

 

What does exist is a 345/30-19 and thats EXACTLY what I would build my tire selection/wheel selection from.

 

But yes, 12.5 is fine, even 12.0 is fine. (both actually are better then the 13, as they dont 'stretch' the tire to get it to fit on a 13 inch rim.

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  • 1 year later...
Honestly if someone is buying rims for a murcielago (custom), I'd point them to do a 18/19 setup, if you TRULY want the best ride/handling characteristics. Those 19/20 setups make an already brutal ride even worse. Also it makes it so you are more likely to bend a rim or blister the tire on pot holes/bumps. Trust me, I am very well informed on tires for these cars, spending many days doing REAL calculations with front and rear differential ratios AND gear ratios. Ideally you'd do it all on 18's but the tire selection you need/want for best performance is actually only available for 18/19. God I wish they still made a 345/30/18 or 335/35/18 those would give the most flexible sidewhile while maintaining the large foot print. Then you could run a 255 or 265 up front.

 

Again thats all hypothetical now, as those 18' rears no longer exist :(

 

What does exist is a 345/30-19 and thats EXACTLY what I would build my tire selection/wheel selection from.

 

But yes, 12.5 is fine, even 12.0 is fine. (both actually are better then the 13, as they dont 'stretch' the tire to get it to fit on a 13 inch rim.

 

Not to resurrect a dead post here, but what tires would you run with a 18/19 setup?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Not to resurrect a dead post here, but what tires would you run with a 18/19 setup?

 

Pirellis will always give you the best result on an AWD Murci.

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The only issue is the Pirellis in the 345x25x20 configuration has a load bearing rating that is lower than the stock tires so the tire shop won't mount them.

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The only issue is the Pirellis in the 345x25x20 configuration has a load bearing rating that is lower than the stock tires so the tire shop won't mount them.

 

Interesting. I am sure the shop where it currently is will.

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Honestly if someone is buying rims for a murcielago (custom), I'd point them to do a 18/19 setup, if you TRULY want the best ride/handling characteristics. Those 19/20 setups make an already brutal ride even worse. Also it makes it so you are more likely to bend a rim or blister the tire on pot holes/bumps. Trust me, I am very well informed on tires for these cars, spending many days doing REAL calculations with front and rear differential ratios AND gear ratios. Ideally you'd do it all on 18's but the tire selection you need/want for best performance is actually only available for 18/19. God I wish they still made a 345/30/18 or 335/35/18 those would give the most flexible sidewhile while maintaining the large foot print. Then you could run a 255 or 265 up front.

 

Again thats all hypothetical now, as those 18' rears no longer exist :(

 

What does exist is a 345/30-19 and thats EXACTLY what I would build my tire selection/wheel selection from.

 

But yes, 12.5 is fine, even 12.0 is fine. (both actually are better then the 13, as they dont 'stretch' the tire to get it to fit on a 13 inch rim.

 

Hi Jon

 

I understand that you have looked at all the Murci tyre combinations for the early Murci in 4WD configuration

 

Here in Aus it has been indicated to me that i can get the Pirelli Corsa sizes at 335/30/18 and the front at 245/35/18 the rears are directional and the fronts Bi, can you please answer the following questions

 

Am I missing something as you indicate that you cannot get the Pirelli tyres in this sizing in the States

Are the Corsa tyres better than the Rosso?

I found the Rosso to be unpredictable (no feel then they let go) what do you think

What other options do I have as a standard set up (wish to keep original early wheels)

 

What would you do in my position

 

Your feed back will be appreciated

 

Kipper

 

 

 

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Hi Jon

 

I understand that you have looked at all the Murci tyre combinations for the early Murci in 4WD configuration

 

Here in Aus it has been indicated to me that i can get the Pirelli Corsa sizes at 335/30/18 and the front at 245/35/18 the rears are directional and the fronts Bi, can you please answer the following questions

 

Am I missing something as you indicate that you cannot get the Pirelli tyres in this sizing in the States

Are the Corsa tyres better than the Rosso?

I found the Rosso to be unpredictable (no feel then they let go) what do you think

What other options do I have as a standard set up (wish to keep original early wheels)

 

What would you do in my position

 

Your feed back will be appreciated

 

Kipper

 

Jon appears to be discussing aftermarket, whereas your 18" tire selections are the OEM (Factory) sizing. Of-course there are aftermarket 18" wheel options that would allow you to re-use these factory-sized tires. And furthermore, given that they are the factory sizes, there will be no issue with the AWD and/or front differential.

 

Now as far as tires - the factory utilized Pirelli's. There are others such as Nitto and (occasionally) Michelin. But the Pirelli's are often difficult to find. Sometimes they're in-stock and at others the tires (mainly the rears) are out-of-stock for a year or more. Right now there are Corsa's but the Rosso's are backordered. Could change by tomorrow. Or a year. Or never.

 

It's nice to have exactly what you want and I appreciate your concern about the challenges that you've had with the Rosso's tramlining (following road grooves). But it's worse to have your car sitting on blocks and/or undriveable because you can't find tires, at-all. ;)

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Jon appears to be discussing aftermarket, whereas your 18" tire selections are the OEM (Factory) sizing. Of-course there are aftermarket 18" wheel options that would allow you to re-use these factory-sized tires. And furthermore, given that they are the factory sizes, there will be no issue with the AWD and/or front differential.

 

Now as far as tires - the factory utilized Pirelli's. There are others such as Nitto and (occasionally) Michelin. But the Pirelli's are often difficult to find. Sometimes they're in-stock and at others the tires (mainly the rears) are out-of-stock for a year or more. Right now there are Corsa's but the Rosso's are backordered. Could change by tomorrow. Or a year. Or never.

 

It's nice to have exactly what you want and I appreciate your concern about the challenges that you've had with the Rosso's tramlining (following road grooves). But it's worse to have your car sitting on blocks and/or undriveable because you can't find tires, at-all. ;)

 

Hi Double,

 

Thanks for your feed back, it appears i can get Corse tyres at the moment, Can you advise me as to whether the Corse are better than the Rosso? What i found with the Rosso's was they would not provide any feel and

when you hit the limit no warning they just let go.

 

Kipper

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Caveat: I'm biased. Yes, I'm a tire snob. There - I said it. Plus, I'm in the industry.

 

I think that the Corsa's are great tires. The trade-off? They wear very quickly.

 

Tires are a very interesting consumer product, because they contain so many different variables - many of which are at opposition with each other: dry traction versus wet traction. All-season ability. Noise. Wear. Prestige. Appearance. Endurance (road catastrophes). And of-course - price. It's difficult to find another consumer product in such high use, with so many conflicting variables, as automobile tires.

 

But most of-all: AVAILABILITY. Again, I'm in the industry. And we've capitalized on times - WHEN YOU JUST CAN'T GET ANY TIRES AT ALL IN THE SIZE THAT YOU NEED. Hey - that's capitalism. It's not gouging because these are want items, not NEED items like food/water/shelter. (because we're talking about luxury/specialty cars and not someone's daily-driver Camry).

But my point is - balance you're want, with your NEED.

 

There aren't many choices in this size. And sometimes, none at all.

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I have owned 5 Murci's. Personally, I prefer the Corsa's to the Rosso's. Stickier tires. However, they do wear faster than the Rosso's.

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