Brand: Michelin, Tyre Diameter: 16 | Testarossa 512TR & F512M

Ferrari Testarossa, 512TR & F512M

Ferrari's 80s flagship caught the decade absolutely right in hindsight. It took the preceding Berlinetta Boxer's basic design, and made it bigger, more comfortable and more practical. Then went completely Tonto with the styling, but in such a swaggering, self-confident way that it captured imaginations. A huge swoopy wedge, with distinctive side vents and a big, powerful flat-12, perfect for Miami when launched in 1984. The 512TR replaced the Testarossa in 1991, but was more of an extensive facelift, fixing some of the issues, and updating everything else. The F512M of 1994 updated the styling (losing the pop-up headlights among many other changes) and further improved the engineering of the car, but it was nearly the end for the flat-12 mid-engined flagship and production ended in 1996.

Tyre choices are a little difficult for the early Testarossa. The early cars had a centre-lock wheel set up, to which were fitted Michelin metric wheels, which was fine until the rear tyre to suit this was discontinued. Replacement wheel (16-inch diameter) and tyre packages for these cars are available (see the listing with the tyre items below).

From 1986 the wheels were changed to 16-inch diameter, and 225/50VR16 front, and 255/50VR16 rear tyres were fitted. From 1989 the centre-lock wheels were replaced with 5-lug examples, as the hubs and suspension were altered.

The 512TR went to 18-inch diameter wheels, with 235/40ZR18 front, and 295/35ZR18 rears, which remained standard for the F512M.