I would say neither and put on Michelin Pilot Super Sports, the best street high performance tire out there right now. Use standard size on the front and GTO size (315/35 20) on the rear. The MPSS was introduced on the 599 GTO.
I have changed the wheels on mine to 21" front and 22" on the rear, Novitec NF4 wheels. So running 295/25/21, 335/25/22 respectively. Pirelli dont seem to have any stock of these sizes in Europe at the moment, and no plans to make any, so having to use Continental, so see how these perform. I find the Pirelli's very noisy, and reading the posts on here, the MPSS seem to be much quieter too. Image Unavailable, Please Login
285/30/20 front and 305/35/20 rear. However, 315 rears fit nicely like Terry mentioned for extra traction.
+1 Neither. Use Michelin Pilot Super Sports. I did, and it changed the whole character of the car. The others are way too rough.
How did the character change? I've seen this change in character after buying a woman a new pair of shoes. And I think of my 599 as a sexy lady...so pray tell!
Lew- Reports are that even though the MPSS tires offer superior braking and handling to their competitors, they also ride better and are less noisy than the Pirellis. The latter is the part that changes the character.
What do you recomend for tires on the 599 HGTE? It seems specs call for Fronts 245/45ZR20 1/2 inch wider at 8.5 inch and back at 305/35ZR20. Thank you in advance.
The MPSS will fit and are highly recommended. You'll have to go with 315s in the rear but they fit and look cool. Terry has it right. These tires not only perform better (stop and go and cornering) but also their ride quality is better. Its a win all around except that they are a bit pricy but I think you get what you pay for.
HGTEs used the same tire sizes as standard 599s, even though the front wheels were 1/2 inch wider. 245/35 20s are OEM size and what I would recommend for the front, plus the GTO size 315/35 20 for the rear.
I always thought HGTE used wider tires in the front? Or am I confusing that with the GTO? EDIT: Nvm, just googled it. Same tire sizes as the non-HGTE.
Roupin- With the GTO, which has 9.5" wide front wheels and requires wider wheels. Stock 599 tire sizes were used on the HGTE.
Which pressure do you use in Michelin PSS? The owners manual in Germany only describes Pirelli P Zero tyres with 2,2 bar front and 2,0 bar rear. My dealer don't have any Information about Michelin PSS on Standard 599. I followed your recommendation and ordered 245/35 r20 front and 315/35 20rear.
In the owners manual are different tire pressure for different tire brands For example: 305/35 20 Pirelli 2,0 bar, Goodyear 2,5 bar. same for front tires. Pirelli 2,2 bar, Goodyear 2,5 bar.
The GTO uses 35 psi (2.4 bar) up front and 32 psi (2.2 bar) rear with PSS tires, but has much wider front wheels and tires. If it were me, I would start with 32 psi (2.2 bar) front and rear. If too much understeer, raise front pressures gradually and max out at 35 psi. For the average driver, a bit of understeer is a good thing in a Ferrari that can induce power-on oversteer with a light poke of the throttle.
I use 32psi front/ 30psi rear. Its not truly scientific, didn't use any kind of pyrometer- just got there by trial and error.
