Hi Alan, Hi Constant
Alan, do you by chance have any photo's showing the difference between the two cars with different tyres? Personally I think the 15" rims give the car a more classic look, but I do like the aesthetic of the 16" rims. The wheel arches do look 'fuller' with the 15's though.
Constant, regarding your question of difference in tyre diameter, take a look at the following website:
http://www.rochfordtyres.co.uk/tyrecalc.asp Per their calculator, the 255/50/16 has a diameter of 661.4mm (circumference of 2077.85mm) whereas the 295/50/15 has a slightly larger diameter of 676mm (circumference 2123.71mm)).
The website suggests that you should try keeping the tyre radius within 2.5% of the original. The 295 tyre is 2.21% bigger than 255 tyre, indicating that the tyre is within this range, making it a suitable alternative.
I do believe that the diameter will not be a problem when switching from 16" to 15" as there is plenty of space under the wheel arch. However, I wonder how the turing circle will be affected by the wider wheel rims (current 16" 7/8 front/rear rims versus the 15" 7.5/9.5). Alan, I look forward to reading your conversion advice.
Regarding my tyres.... I don't know how to benchmark how hard I'm pushing my car. It's normally pretty quick and I enjoy using the full range of power when suitable conditions / surroundings permit. One reference point was taking the CRS around the Nurburgring yast year. Despite two laps of the track as fast as I could (lots of tyre screeching and a few 'moments') the tyres were barely warm. I parked up, jumped out and put my hand on the tyre; the rubber didn't have any 'softness' to it and had the same temperature after being parked for 20 minutes. This is vastly different to the michelins on my motorbike which get nice and sticky after a bit of action.
Does anyone have any advice on suspension setup? Where could I go / who could I speak to about checking that my car is correctly set, as I sometimes feel that there is not sufficuent feedback through the suspension telling me what the suspension and tyres are doing.
Thanks for the tips on checking the tyres age; I'll check them tonight. I'll also check the tyre pressures, although from memory I am probably using about 2.5bar in front and rear (about 36psi).
Cheers
Bruce