What do you big power boys do for traction?

[Morat]

Seeing as I can quite happily get the back out with my standard M20B25, what do you lot with 200,250, 300 bhp do? Do you stick with standard wheels/tyres and drive like you're on ice or what wheel/tyre sizes do you fit on?
Do you bother increasing the size of the fronts?

Not that it really matters to me, but I'm curious

[buster]

hope and pray !!
Just got 245 's out back,helps a little

[Ritchie]

I grit my teeth a bit that helps.

[maxfield]

I hold on to the door very hard.

My dad does and holds on to steering wheel.

Was proper giving it some yesterday in the wet, some E90 driver looked at us in disgust

[Theo]

Throttle control is the best solution to traction problems I think. If you have the touch of a rapist then you will probably struggle.

[DRIFTBOY]

Throttle control, and lots of sideways action!

Wet weather is a bit of a giggle, I have to be very careful (or not! ) in first, second and third, and still a little careful in fourth sometimes!

It's not the quickest way to get around but it is a lot of fun!

Martin.

[ian332isport]

To be honest, I don't have any problems with traction at all. Even in the wet it's easy to drive. You can obviously provoke it, but it's never done anything unexpected on me.

I find the smooth power delivery of the S50 helps as well. It's so linear that it tends not to break traction unless you really give it a boot full.

Ian.

[DRIFTBOY]

Hmmm, maybe I should get some better tyres! ?

Martin.

[Turbo-Brown]

Only unexpected thing I've had happen is the car suddenly snapping sideways in 3rd gear just as I got to about 65mph After that I learned not to be so heavy on the throttle in the wet!

It's fine in the dry though if you're careful

Got 205 section tyres BTW

[scotty86d]

Throttle control is the best solution to traction problems I think. If you have the touch of a rapist then you will probably struggle.

LOL!!!!

[Morat]

but... surely this means that you're not getting any more acceleration out of corners than a standard car? I mean if the grip is the same between your car and mine, and we're both on the edge of traction then we must both be putting the same amount of power down, right?

OK, I realise that you'll be on the edge of traction in higher gears and higher speeds than me but down in first/second couldn't you do with some more rubber on the road?

[Jon_Bmw]

I think as long as you arn't a knob with the clutch anything up to 300bhp wouldn't have any issues on 215 wide tyres or less. A 300 bhp car doesn't have 300bhp at 2000 rpm you see...

[Speedtouch]

I just bought a heavier car! The E34 seems far better planted in the wet (particularly the back end) than my E30s ever did.

[Morat]

ok. interesting. I can see that you could drive the car around the power quite happily and not slide around like a scandinavian rally driver. But it seems you guys are saying that standard wheels/tyre sizes are fine for when you're giving it welly too?
So, those 9 inch rears with big dishes are purely for show and wouldn't benefit if you had 300bhp?

[Theo]

I think that the compound of the tyre needs to be considered rather than just the width. Something like a toyo r888 will provided a huge amount of added grip compared to out and out road tyres. Until it rains that is!

[dark_sounds]

9 inch wides will be going on mine, no bouncy suspension malarky, and careful control. decent rubber and youll be fine

[gareth]

i find that warming the tyres at the start of every trip helps

seriously though, throttle control and sensible gear choice can keep things totally safe - when you want them to be! my M30 conversion makes a very nice sedate daily driver when left in 4th most of the time with the heap of torque, you don't need to be screaming about all of the time.

decent tyres are an absolute must though. 215's are a sensible starting point