Differences between 205/50/15 and 225/50/15 on my e30

[ekdemos]

For my past two track events I have run 225/50/15 V710's. They were a bit too worn out for this event. I now have a set of 205/50/15 V700's on the car. It is a E30 325es. How much of a difference will there be with smaller tire? Will my car handle worse, better, or no difference? The v710 seem a bit sticker than the v700 as well. However, the v710 does get a bit greasy sometimes on the track. I wanted to try the 205 because that is the spec tire for NASA spec e30 class.

[ekdemos]

I guess I stumped everyone with this?

[egk2]

Why don't you just track it with the 205's and report back to us?

You will answer all your questions.

[ekdemos]

I guess I will have to. I will be at The Glen for the next two days. I will let you know what I think when get back.

[Jim@tirerack]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. It will be hard to tell you how your car is going to handle because you have different tire designs, width and height. The V710 is a stickier tire than the V700. The shorter tire is going to change the gear ratio a little and would have less flex in the sidewall.The V710 has the bigger contact patch so more rubber on the road. I guess you are going to have to tell us which you think is better. I would just say they would be different.

[ekdemos]

I am back from the glen and the v710 are sticker, but the v700 do get greasy like the v710's do if you get them too hot. I like the smaller tire and side wall it felt a bit more responsive. On tuesday The Glen was overcast and drizzle (on and off). The v700's were ok. It took a while to get them hot whick I expected because these are used and sat a while. On Thursday when the sun came out and the track was warm, they became very sticky. Honestly I could not notice the difference between the 225 and the 205 width wise (contact patch). I might have to bring up both sets to Pocono and do back to back runs with the different sizes. I might like the 205 better for my car maybe.
2:40 at the Glen in a 325es on old 205/50/15's is not bad.

[igyloo]

For my past two track events I have run 225/50/15 V710's. They were a bit too worn out for this event. I now have a set of 205/50/15 V700's on the car. It is a E30 325es. How much of a difference will there be with smaller tire? Will my car handle worse, better, or no difference? The v710 seem a bit sticker than the v700 as well. However, the v710 does get a bit greasy sometimes on the track. I wanted to try the 205 because that is the spec tire for NASA spec e30 class.

This isn't exactly the same example, but my brother had 225/50/15 V700s on his VW GTI and ended up cutting 2. I gave him my 2 of my 205/50/15 V710s so he didn't have to buy new tires. Funny thing is, when mounted, the V710s were almost as wide as the V700s. The V710s were mounted in the front and V700s in the rear. The GTI became a oversteering monster as the V710s were significantly stickier in the smaller size.