Will 215/50 R17 tires fit on the '03 Max SE rims? If they do, are there any benefits or downsides besides a little less width than the stock size(225/50)? The reason I ask is because Continental Conti Extreme Contact tires come in this size and are around $80 per tire. They are far cheaper than anything else I have found on the net, have an excellent wear rating and the user reviews have been excellent.

 

anyone?

 

They're not just narrower, they're shorter too. But they'll work OK.

 

Why buy an SE and then put non sporty tires on it? IMO you should go a little wider than stock not narrower. I understand that price might be an issue, but I would spend the money on a decent set of tires.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with you. But the customer reviews have been great and I'm still trying to figure out if the handling will go down that much if at all. I figure at $80 per tire it's at least worth asking the question(for free). The next least expensive tire that I found is the Turanza EL42($120 per tire) and the customer reviews have been horrendous. After that price level, it seems I'm going to have to spend quite a bit more to get something good. If there's not a world of difference between 225s and 235s, should I expect a world of difference between 225s and 215s?

 

What I can tell you for sure is that there is quite a noticeable difference between 215's and a good set of 235's. And I can assure you that those customers who reviewed the Continentals did not downgrade to 215's. If anything, I'll bet most of them upgraded from smaller OE tires or just maintained the same OE sizes.

 

If the 2003 OE wheels can take 235, go with 235/45/17
Think about it, you spent a decent amount of money on your car. Don't cheap out now by a few hundred bucks. Make sure you validate the dollars spent on your car by optimizing the performance of your car by getting good 235/45/17 tires.
However, 235/45/17 tires need 7.5" wheels minimum. If the stock 2003 OE wheels are 17x7, you'll have to get 235/50/17 instead of 235/45/17.
In all three cases (215/50, 235/45 and 235/50) you're within the 2% speedo error so you'll be fine on that count. (235/45 has the biggest speedo error of 2.1%, close enough to 2%).

 

The stock rims are 7.0" wide. If bigmaxx wants to run 235/45R17 tires on them, he'll be out of spec. Whether or not he wants to run out of spec is up to him. I'd suggest he check out the tire posts in the FAQs before he makes up his mind.

 

I DID check the FAQ before posting this question. The FAQ only dealt with putting larger tires on the 17" rims. I purposely asked this question to address going to a slightly smaller size. I'm left with 2 questions.

1)Is there a difference between being 'out of spec' and a tire just 'not fitting' the wheel?

2)Can I assume that it is totally safe to put 215/50 R17 size tires on my car and that there will a slight loss in handling/grip?

 

I'm afraid you didn't check closely enough, bigmaxx. If you had, you'd be able to answer your own questions. The key lies in reading the Tire & Rim Association Contour (Rim Width) Charts. And yes, they're in the FAQs. Do that and then come back and tell us if it's safe to put 215/50R17 tires on your OEM 7.0" wide rims.

 

I feel like I'm in the 5th grade again.

 

Hear, hear !