block

my parents might get me new tires for xmas. I've heard good things about michelin and dunlop. these are the two brands I'm looking at most. anyone have any opinions on these to share. whats the widest I'm gonna want to go? my car will be lowered 1.75 inches

FAST4EN

Rims: Binno California 970-CB 17x8" Rims with a Polished lip. Cost: $800.00 They are discontinued but still sell the 17x7.5" ones for like $636.00. They got here pretty fast too.
http://www.binnocalifornia.com

Tires: KumHo Ecsta Supra 712 Tires. 235/45/ZR17 Cost: $110 each from the tire rack.

Before the KumHo's: Pirelli P-Zeros' 235/45/ZR17 COST: $237 each from a local dealer in Omaha.

chris92gxe

I've got somw dunlops on my car. THey are sweet *** tires. They are fairly cheap too. They are W-10 sports. The tread pattern is great and they handle awesome in the rain and definitely when its dry. I got 225/40/ZR18's on my car and they seem to be perfect. I know that others have 235's on their cars and dont have a problem. But I do know a guy that had 235's and they rub in the wheel wells when he turns. I guess the option is up to you. You offcourse need to get some aftermarket rims for any of these tires to fit. The stock rims are only 6" wide. Mine are 8" and most others are 7 to 7 1/2".

92GXE, touring wing, 18” racing wheels, Port&Polished intake, custom intake, custom yellow interior, racing seats, back seats taken out and replaced with subs and amps, NOS kit, Suspension tech. Lowering springs, custom grille, soon to be custom painted and have the whole engine rebuilt for big shot NOS and custom SC and tranny converted to 5-speed.

FAST4EN

Yeah mine rub when I turn all of the way. Maybe I should try 225's if they'll fit on an 8" wide rim. I donlt think so though.

flyry110

i've got dunlop SP4000's that are 215/50/15 these are the lowest widest tires i could find for the stock 15" rims. eventually i'll take a pic of them. but man, they are WIDE. they don't rub or anything and they lowered my total ride height by about an inch. only prob is my speedo is off now

Bryan91SE

On both the SE rims and the GXE rims, I've seen 215/60's work well. My neighbor had some Pirelli's on his 89 GXE and I've had the Dunlop D60A2's on mine for about 4 years now. I'm on my second set and am happy with them. They can get a little slick in the rain, but other than that they're a good tire. They won't throw off your speedometer either. If you want to see how they look, go to my website, they're on every picture of my car you see there (both maximas).

chris92gxe

225's will fit on an 8" rim. Thats the same width as my rim and I have 225's.


92GXE, touring wing, 18” racing wheels, Port&Polished intake, custom intake, custom yellow interior, racing seats, back seats taken out and replaced with subs and amps, NOS kit, Suspension tech. Lowering springs, custom grille, soon to be custom painted and have the whole engine rebuilt for big shot NOS and custom SC and tranny converted to 5-speed.

flyry110

I'VE NEVER SEEN A 225/50/15" TIRE. IF YOU KNOW OF A COMPANY THAT MAKES ANY LET ME KNOW.

Bryan91SE

Go to this site, it lists 19 different tires with this size in the 15 inch rim.

Dunlop, Yokohama, Bridgestone, BF Goodrich, Sumitomo, Kumho are the ones listed.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Search...rk=1&do=Search

I don't know why you'd want the 225 though. Stick with the 215's for sure. The 225's, while being wider, will make you tire have a bigger diameter, and I don't think you want that. Remember the "225" is not only the width in milimeters it is also a ratio of the height of the tire off the rim, which corresponds to the "50." Tire Rack explains it well on their site.




[Edited by Bryan91SE on 12-03-2000 at 03:36 PM]

Mr. Rose

I run 245/45/17 on the COBRA rims. No rubing.

flyry110

thanks man, but my speedo is already wayyyyyy off with my tires being so off stock height. it's at 1.1:1 now. so at 100 i'm really doin 90. it's a pain in the butt. If i went to a 215 50 then hopefully i'd be closer to stock ride height, and my speedo will be closer to where it should be. I'm not a big fan of 17" or higher rims. I like performance and big rims = loss of power in my opinion. it's just added unsprung weight. thanks so much for the link

FAST4EN

Mr Rose...are the Cobra rims like 9" wide? With the 225's I'll have to tey that on my next set of tires (after this winter/spring)

amax935

On stock wheels you are limited to 215-60-15. There are not a lot of choices in high performance (Z rated)tires. That was the main reason that I went to 16" wheels, there were many choices in 215-55 or 225-50. I have the Dunlop 8000s and they are great performers at a real decent price. I will realisticly only get 15K miles from them.

flyry110

i have 215 50 R15s on stock rims. Don't listen to the morons at NTB or Sears. they have spec stuff. if you go to some race shops they'll tell you different. i dunno. it depends on how cool the people at NTB are.

amax935

215 50s will fit, but they have a 4.2% smaller diameter than stock.

amax935

oops make that 7.96%.

flyry110

i figured it was close to that. when i drive i figured it was about 1.1:1 difference. jsut off my odometer and mile markers. thanks for the info. oh by the way, how do you figure that out?

thanks

block

So you guys are saying I should be looking at 215/60/15's for my stock 15's when its lowered 1.75". I want something that'll be reasonable in snow also.

Bryan91SE

I think the 215/60 looks good on the GXE rim, which is a 1/2 inch narrower than the SE rim. The tire looks good on both rims, as I've seen it on both. I think you would be happy with the D60A2's ability in the snow.

The Max

I'm using Dunlop Formula 901's

215/60/15 on stock rims

Grips like a bastard!!!

Mr. Rose

They are 17X8 actually.. I have some profile pics around here somewhere. Let me find them. Then you can see the width.

Mr. Rose

<img src ="http://www.geocities.com/jrose_78154/MAXBRAandJoe.jpg">
<img src ="http://www.geocities.com/jrose_78154/max1.jpg">

Sith

iTrader: (1)

Mr. Rose, How do those things ride? pretty bumpy or smooth?

Mr. Rose

The wheels? or the BFGs? when the BFGs were new on the COBRA I liked them alot. but since BFGs are the worst tire you can buy due to premature fatigue. I got about 12k out of them. They literally suck now. AS for the wheels and that much tire... I have a considerable amount of bump steer. but the look is good. righ now due to Bald BFGs I am back to stock rims with NITTO 450 touring. Now the NITTO is a sweet tire. did I miss anythig? LAteZ

Sith

iTrader: (1)

I'm just worried about Eibach's with 17"s
i don't want my wheels to tuck into my fender well.
And i dont' want really low profile tires to keep them from doing that and making the ride ****ty.

Mr. Rose

OH. WEll I have Tokico/Eibach combo and the ride is good. not harsh. Would clarify by saying that it is in the 30% range in improvement over stock new. Eibach is good. the 17s with that 245/45/17 wide tire has great clearance. But if your a speed BOY then the weight issue of these wheels and tires is relevant. In other words my whjeel tire combo is heavy. much heavier than the stock wheel tire combo.

Sith

iTrader: (1)

Ya i'm going the Eibach/Tokico route aswell.
i want the 17"x7.5" Enkei Katana's. I think there like 27lbs. each.
dont' know what kind of tire yet, i just don't want to low of a profile and nice n sticky.


And ya i'm a speed boy and 27 is heavy. but there sweet rims. -shrug-

Mr. Rose

I am told by dozens of owners that the KUMHO street tire is a NITTO killer. I my self will get these some day. I also encourage you to look at DUnlop SP 8000s. Pricey but a definate must have for the ultimate corner carving run.

Mr. Rose

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/se...ssag.large.jpg

Sith

iTrader: (1)

These do it for me.!!



I don't like most 5 spokes, no offense to anyone, but i think they all look the same.
ooh well.
my opinion be it bad.

FAST4EN

I've got KumHo Ecsta Supra 712's (235/45/17) and they're "ok" I had P-Zeros from Pirelli earlier, but I only got about 10K miles out of them. Too much wear for that expensive of a tire. But they WERE awesome as far as performance was concerned.

As for the 712's, I got them at Tire rack for like $110 ea plus $30 for 2-day shipping. (UPS ground costed more...I don't know why). They are very crappy in the rain and perform the best when they are REALLY hot. They stick like no other when you push hard into a corner, If they're hot, otherwise, you will slide a little (feels like it). They do ride kinda rough though because it recommends 44PSI in them, So it's a little bumpy "steering-wise". As for straight line performance, not as good as the P-Zeros, but still they will hold rather well, unless they're cold.

I'm assuming since these tires are rated as Z for "Ultra High performance Radial" and that all of their advertising concerns racing, I'd have to say they were meant for the weekend warrior. You can drive to the track with them and race with them (Road Courses, not drag. Get slicks on the front for drag.) You really have to heat them up to get the best performance out of them. Up here in Omaha, when it got REALLY cold, but still no snow, I still had them on my 90SE and you could just give it a little gas (tires cold) and they would easily spin. Now I'm back on my snow tires because of this weird weather up here. One day you can be mowing your nice green lawn and the next day shoveling a foot of snow...j/k --Scott
'

Oh yea...I've never had nitto's, so I don't know what they're like...

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Mustang GT. 17x8 235-45-17.

before lowering. Trust me this is about perfect width and offset-wise. Mr. Rose would agree.
<img src=http://216.39.145.169/jeff/17.jpg>

davis449

One word: YOKOHAMA

amax935

205-65-15

205 x .65 = tire height= 133.25mm

133.25mm x 2/ 25.4 mm/inch = 10.49" + 15" = 25.49"

FAST4EN

235/45/ZR17

235: The width of the tire in MM
45: Th sidewall is 45% of the width of the tire
Z: 149+ mph spped rating
R: Steel Belted Radial Tire
17: Rim Diameter Size in Inches

Guest

I got the New Yokohama Paradas 225/40 ZR 18. They are 7.5 inches wide and has a wicked tread pattern. They kind a look like drag radials.

VE30DE POWER

iTrader: (3)

I HAVE 235 45 17 FIRESTONE FIREHAWK SZ-50 WRAPPED AROUND

SENEKA SNIPER WHEELS THAT ARE 17X9.

HANDLES LIKE IT IS ON RAILS NO RUBBING,SCRUBBING,OR ANYTHING.

Mr. Rose

I absolutely AGREE! and Jeff has the correct tire size too. it is a little less diameter than stock but close enough and better for you agressive drivers. The 245/45/17 would rub if you drive hard; EX: Xcross, spirited country driving, that unsuspecting huge DIP in the raod. But overall the 245/45/17 is nearest to exact stock diameter per a tire calculator.... http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Notice Jeffs 235/45/17 and how the tire rolls off the lip of the wheel; this is much better! I will be getting 235/45/17s when I get my INTRAX/KONI combo next summer. At the time I had no choice on the 245/45/17. Afterall it was stock on my COBRA.
Again 235/45/17 will be much better for you agressive
drivers.

Correction!!! 235/45/17 is .648% off.
and 245/45/17 is .741% off. I appologize. Jeffs tire is closer to the original size od 205/65/15. sorry.


[Edited by Mr. Rose on 12-05-2000 at 06:49 AM]

Mr. Rose

Pics please?

FAST4EN

Yeah really...how the HELL can you fit 9" wide wheels under the max? I had a hard enough time getting the 8" inchers to fit under mine with the correct offset. The offset on mine I THINK is +40mm, but might be +38mm I forget.

9" wide wheels, let's see these.. I'm not calling you a liar, but I will unless you have proof. (Mr rose will too :-) )