MITVRX

Hi fellas,

I'll be getting my F1N0R-Cs 17" on Tuesday this coming week, and I am settling for Toyo T1-S Ultra-Performance as my rubber.

My question is, "Whats the largest tire we could fit without rubbing the fender?" I've searched and have noticed some people are doing:

- 205/40/17
- 205/45/17
- 215/40/17
- 215/45/17
- 225/40/17
- 225/45/17

Keep in mind, everyone has had mixed reviews on rubbing the fender and what not.

Let me explain that this car will be doing the occasional track race or 1/4 mile, but mainly street driving. For nice cornering, which size rubber would you all recommend?

I'm thinking of going 215/45/17 or 225/45/17.

Suggestions? Comments? Reviews? Experiences? Recommendations?

Peace

otter

iTrader: (14)

If you're getting a 225, you need it to be a 225/40/17. 45 will have too big of a sidewall.

MITVRX

Thanks for that otter.

So in saying that, I assume if I was to step down one size, 215/45/17 will definitely fit without issues.

And the largest 225/40/17.

Probably go 215/45/17? What would you suggest?

lanzerralliart

iTrader: (15)

I'd goo with the 215/45/17, better to be safe than sorry.....

k3lv

iTrader: (12)

lowered?

MITVRX

Oh yeah, sorry.

Car is not lowered and won't be lowered. Maybe sometime later, springs or something but yeah.

DangerousDan

iTrader: (8)

you should use a tire calculator. 215/40 works, it's on my car, but 215/45 is taller and wider than the factory tire. 225 is "too wide" and some have experience rubbing with this size tire. I don't know of anyone with a 215 tire that is rubbing, 40 or 45 profile. 205/50/16 is stock, compare your height and width differences with this tire to get a better idea if it will fit. stock tire is 508.9mm tall. 215/40 is 517.8mm, and 215/45 is 528.55mm. see how much bigger the tire is getting? and if you look at a 215 mounted on the front of the car you will see why you are approaching the max size, it almost rubs the bottom of the strut assembly. 225 is out of the question, 225/35 won't even get you under the stock height, and since it's a centimeter wider that the 215 that almost rubs, it is most likely going to rub.

in case anyone was unclear what the first two numbers mean (the third is rim size) the first number is tread width in milimeters and the second number is sidewall height in percentage of tread width. a 205/50/16 tire has a tread width of 205mm, a sideway height of 102.5mm, and will fit a 16 inch rim.

Hope this help a little mitvrx, I don't think I have seen anyone actually explain why the 225 tire wouldn't fit in our wheel wells, and I didn't know until the other day when I had my 215's put on. It's tight

forgot to mention, if you go with nonstandard offsets for your rims(they stick out six inches ) you can probably get lot's of tire widths to fit

MITVRX

Thanks for that Dan!

My rim size is 17 x 7; 114.3 x 5; +42mm. I'll probably settle for 215/40/17. Should be good around corners. Saw your writeup on your new set of tires

I've been reading alot of reviews on the Toyo ST-1s and have found the pros and cons to be:

Pros:
STICKY (everyones first mention)
Handling in Dry and Wet.

Cons:
Price
Tread Wear

For those who want to read the reviews can go here

Probably take a look at the Bridgestone Potenzas and/or Michellens while im there then decide for sure. But should be good.

Eclipse2Lancer

iTrader: (1)

My last set of tires were the 215/40/17 Toyo T1S. To be honest with you, they were okay if they were just my street tires, but they were terrible for autocrossing. I tore them up in one summer/fall.
Depends on what you want to do. Sidewalls are a little stiff, but not THAT stiff. I could easily roll them over to the letters at 42psi during an autocross.

vboy425

iTrader: (19)

255 is way too wide for 7" wide wheel.

k3lv

iTrader: (12)

He wrote 225. It is a lot of 252522552225522525 in these threads I don't blame you.

btw I love your photos that you take

MITVRX

Hm, thats interesting. I mean, you would know because you do alot of Autox. So in saying that, tires would be something you specialize in

Hm.. anyone recommend any Bridgestone or Michellens?

DangerousDan

iTrader: (8)

If you can get them and they aren't too pricey you should try what I have. The BF Goodrich Gforce t/a KDW2 215/40/17's have been on my rims for about 200 miles, about 1/4 of what I expect to have on them at their peak performance, and I am already thrilled with them. Brand new out of the parking lot they were pulling with an uneven road surface because I was not used to having to correct for that much grip. I actually managed to surprise my girlfriend of 4 years, who I never seem to be able to surprise anymore, going around a turn we take all the time. I had them special ordered and waited a week, and I will do it again when these wear out. I expect to get at least 10,000 miles out of these, and if you've read any of my post on tire wear that's a far amount for a max performance summer tire and my habits

My buddy Bert runs these on both his BMW's and swears by them. He does both autocross and road course racing, and is an instructor for a few regional car clubs most notable of which is the tar heel chapter of the BMWCCA. I consider myself a pretty good driver, but he's hot shlt. Wth the goodyear eagle f-1 on his z3 coupe the tread started to roll because the tires were heating up too much. He never had that problem with the KDW's, and said they are only slightly less capable than the f1's in the rain.

otter

iTrader: (14)

+1 for the BFG KDW's. I've had them on my car for around 25k miles now, great tires. I should get at least 1 more summer out of them. They're a bit spendy, but their treadlife (which is pretty good for a performance tire) makes them worth it.

MITVRX

Sweet fellas! Should be awesome.

I'll ask about them. Also, how much was it per tire?