tire questions

[bikeman1]

Winter Tire Guy and others, you have finally got to me -- I am pondering getting a set of oversize wheels for my 09 for summer tires and putting snow radials on my steelies. I have some questionsFirst, I have located a really good deal on ebay for the exact wheels I want, but they only come with a really tiny Hankook tire (K102) in 205/40/17. I was thinking along the lines of a 215/45. The K102 is almost 5" smaller in circumference than the stock 16's, and there is not much sidewall there. The vendor has 2 different tires to put on but they are all seasons and he wants a lot more $$. But for what he is asking for the package, its tempting. What are a set of tiny thin tires like this likely to ride like?Second, what is the effect of going with a wider or narrower tread on fuel mileage? I assume the more rubber on the road, the better the performance but the more rolling resistance. I am trying to get a feel for the factors in choosing a tire size for the new 17 wheelsKeith and WTG, what do you think? You have the most experience.

[kowell]

09s OEM 17s are 215/45R17

[Sublimewind]

Lol.. WTG... I laugh every time.. Ok, first off.. the 205/40 won't offer much rim protection... you deal with a lot of logging trucks and crappy roads right? short sidewall tires won't offer protection..You would be FAR better off with a 45/50 series sidewall tire.. I live up north, we have speedbumps on the highway... I run a 225/45-17 on my subie and won't go any smaller.. You also have to understand that the sidewall hight is a ratio.. so it's 40% of 205mm in your case.. Wear as with me, it's 45% of 225mmAs far as the difference in a 205 and a 215, it's in mm, so you are getting a 1cm or 10mm difference in width, not much for the difference in cost.. In terms of fuel mileage, well, it's negligible.. Yes, you would have more rubber on the road, but if you got 5mm/sq more rubber ON the road, I would be surprised.. lol.I personally would do a 225/45-17.. on a 7.5" wide rim (or 215/45-17 on a 7" rim).. a lot of tires also now come with a "rim protector" that is a lip of rubber that helps protect the rim lip.. I DON'T know if I would purchase through Ebay, if you are worried about anything... The prices are better, BUT, if you have any issues, what happens after is what's KEY..

[bikeman1]

Excellent commentary WTG. You don't disappoint! I am surprised you dont have WTG vanity plates, you'd get an escort .....you are right about the roads around here. We got coal trucks, limestone trucks, hot steaming fly ash trucks. A lot of the roads are just two deep grooves with a serious acne problem. In fact I got a great photo I'll post for you demonstrating that...watch the Lounge later tonight....On the 225's are there clearance issues on the Vibe in the wheel well (in combination with the offset, which I think was 48 mm)? That is really a pretty similar size profile to the stock 16's in terms of cushion, just with about a 4% increase in circumference and 20mm more rubber on the road. I suppose the sidewalls are stiffer. Kowell hit on the other preferred options. I hear you on ebay. I am looking for ADR rims and there don't seem to be a lot of people carrying those. This is one of the dealers who has a storefront. I'll keep looking though, as he has zero choice in tires (except for a 215/45). I think he is trying to unload the tiny tires.BmanQuote, originally posted by Sublimewind »Lol.. WTG... I laugh every time.. Ok, first off.. the 205/40 won't offer much rim protection... you deal with a lot of logging trucks and crappy roads right? short sidewall tires won't offer protection..You would be FAR better off with a 45/50 series sidewall tire.. I live up north, we have speedbumps on the highway... I run a 225/45-17 on my subie and won't go any smaller.. You also have to understand that the sidewall hight is a ratio.. so it's 40% of 205mm in your case.. Wear as with me, it's 45% of 225mmAs far as the difference in a 205 and a 215, it's in mm, so you are getting a 1cm or 10mm difference in width, not much for the difference in cost.. In terms of fuel mileage, well, it's negligible.. Yes, you would have more rubber on the road, but if you got 5mm/sq more rubber ON the road, I would be surprised.. lol.I personally would do a 225/45-17.. on a 7.5" wide rim (or 215/45-17 on a 7" rim).. a lot of tires also now come with a "rim protector" that is a lip of rubber that helps protect the rim lip.. I DON'T know if I would purchase through Ebay, if you are worried about anything... The prices are better, BUT, if you have any issues, what happens after is what's KEY..

[Sublimewind]

Well, a 215/45 wouldn't be bad, it would be just slightly less sidewall than a 225/45 The width isn't an issue, so don't worry about it too much..I don't know about clearance issues with 225's but I doubt it, someone was running some 10" wise wheels here at one point IIRC.. lol.. I think you would be better off sticking to the stock offset... Which is like +35 or something.. ADR huh... have you ever looked at Rota? They make ALL sorts of replica wheels... cheap too.. If you looked at SubieDude.com, I think you can get Rota packages relatively cheap, but I wouldn't hold me to that.. lol.. I think you are on the right path though, you just gotta make sure you can keep the tires on the rims.. and with your roads, a 205/40 would be scary.. I had that fitment on my VW and I seriously had about 1.25" of sidewall.. lol.. the first major pothole I hit, flat spotted the RIM... lol.

[vibolista]

I'm running a 225/50 17 on my Vibe. I think you can get a 225/55 17 in the wheel well without problems if the wheel offset falls between 35 and 40mm. My wheels have a 38mm offset. If you go with a really low profile tire, you will ding your new wheels as soon as you encounter a pot hole or any other rough patch of road. I'm with Sublime on the Ebay purchase. Buyer beware!

[bikeman1]

so listen WTG --explain to me again what the difference is between a 17.5" rim and a 17" rim(yes I know -- 0.5 inches!!)but you said"I personally would do a 225/45-17.. on a 7.5" wide rim (or 215/45-17 on a 7" rim).."this is I am sure all a matter of dimensions but it matters. Does this mean on a 7.5" wide rim the tire seats "flatter" and and on a 7" rim the same tire stands higher??Yes I know that sounds like a stupid question and the answer sounds obvious...but I might point out that after many years on this earth, it dawns to me that the answers to the really important questions are obvious!! So...the next > question --why have a wide rim (as opposed to a narrow rim) or vice versa??? or doesn't it matter (except the tire plays differently)Another question....I look at some of these rims and say "Jeez....are these as strong as the numbskull steel rims that came stock....." well are there any differences in strength of rims and if so, how can they be measured....sorry for the late response. I've been out of town. I still have a picture you're going to really enjoy....watch for it...BM1

[Sublimewind]

BM1,Must be a typo up there with the 17"/17.5"You have it about right, with the difference in rim width... With the slightly wider rim, the slightly wider tires tread stays flatter... You can put a 245 width tire on a 7" wide rim, you just crown the tread so bad it wears in the center faster and doesn't contact the ground as well... You can actually do a lot of handling tuning if you can select from a wide assortment of tires and wheels.. which most can't... So it's a matter of some over-analyzed topics I've read up on... lol... AFA wheel strength, well, most aluminum wheels are actually HEAVIER than the stock steel wheels on most cars AND not as strong.. It's all a matter of construction... A simple low pressure cast wheel is usually heavier, because it needs to have more, lower quality material, to make the strength requirements given to them by the DOT.. As you move up into the more exotic manufacturing processes, a LOT of weight can be shaved from a wheel, yet keeping the same relative strength... if not being stronger... Or maybe I should say STIFFER... steel will always be stronger than aluminum, all things considered.. NASCAR cars run steel, if i'm not mistaken.. I wouldn't really know though..lol.. The weight is the big deal here... My Subie originally came with some of the lightest factory aluminum wheels out there.. at 16lbs... Well, then I moved to a factory 17" that came in at ~18lbs... Finally moved on to my Volks, that come in at 14lbs, for a 17" wheel... In the end I shaved 4.5lb per corner from the car... All be told with rotational mass and unsprung weight of the wheels, I could have made up for all of the sound deadening I've done (to the tune of close to 200lbs worth) in theory... Yeah, it makes a difference... The things is though, the good light wheels are expensive... That's why a LOT of race teams run the Enkei RPF1 wheel... http://www.1010tires.com/wheel...48SBCThat's a 18x7.5 that comes in at 17lbs.. for 300$ per wheel... 18x7.5 Volk TE37... http://www.nyxracing.com/volk-....htmlThe difference, forged construction on the Volk, VS a special cast process on the Enkei.. Doesn't mention weight though, I would guess about 15lbs..