Anyone looking for excellent summer tires, I just put on 235 45 17 Kumhos on my 17" factory rims. It feels like a whole new ride. Very sticky, good cornering, and smooth ride for 100 bucks a tire at tire rack. There's my $0.02

 

Excellent.
I'm glad to hear good reviews on the Kumhos since I'm looking to get them myself. Keep them coming.

 

D@mmmn, from the title of the post I though you were speaking spanish there for a sec...

 

i have nothing but good things to say about them. hpw wide are the factory 17's?

 

Do a search on these tires. Been discussed before. Lotsa info here and the www.tirerack.com

 

The factory 17s are only 7" wide. This is .5" under spec for the average 235, but the tire rack guy said they'd fit and they do. The only disadvantage is that they feel a little softer in the corners, but the sidewalls don't roll over and they stick like crazy.

 

I know that they are much more expensive, but the Pireli P7000SSs have been simply amazing also, I have flung the car several times at almost triple the posted speed limit around tight corners ~60 in a 20), and not even a squeal from them. Excellent wet weather traction also.

 

Isn't your speedo and stuff going to be incorrect now. I know it won't be much....just wondering if you considered that.

 

yup. it's off by about 1.5 to 2%.

 

that's good to hear.

 

I can also vouch for them as I have them on the my other car and they are great! Can't beat 'em for the price!

 

I'm curious as to why you chose 235/45's instead of 225/45's. The stock tires are 225/50's. The difference between 225/50's and 225/45's wouldn't be that great and the 225's would be a better fit on 7" wide rims than the 235's.

 

Uh, 235/45's are closer to stock size. That's reason enough...

225 would fit better, but how many choices do you have in 225/50? Not many.

 

You're correct, brianw. But 235/45's are not recommended for 7" wide rims (regardless of what a tire salesperson at Tirerack might say) while 225/45's are. So even the though the effect on the speedometer might be slighly more exaggerated, I still can't help but wonder why anyone would choose an out-of-spec tire geometry when an in-spec tire geometry exists.

 

I believe that 235 45 17 on 17x7.0 wheel is out of spec. There will be a chance of the tire flying out of the wheel. The 235/45 17 requires the rim to be at least 17x7.5"

 

You are correct, LoveSick. And it's out of spec for EVERY tire manufacturer I've investigated, not just Kumho.

 

If anyone's interested, there's an excellent tire size calculator at:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Based on this calculator, 225/45's will produce a speedometer reading 3.42% faster than the stock 225/50's while 235/45's will produce a speedometer reading 2.05% faster than stock. To translate that into real world terms, at 70 mph you'd actually be going 72.394 mph on 225/45's and 71.435 mph on 235/45's. That's a difference of less than 1 mph at 70 mph. In my view, that's not enough of a difference to justify purchasing the out-of-spec 235/45's.

For those who prefer to push the envelope, here's some info from Tirerack.com:

Some vehicle manufacturers and tire companies have permitted rim widths that are not within the tire's original approved rim width range. For example: BMW has combined 235/40R17 sized tires on 17x7.5" rims (which are 0.5" less than the narrowest 8.0" wide rim listed for the size) on certain M3 models; and Chevrolet has combined P255/50R16 sized tires on optional 16x9.5" rims (which are 0.5" wider than the 9.0" wide rim now listed for the size) on certain Corvette models. While these applications have received the approval of the vehicle and tire manufacturers, staying within the approved rim width range helps assure that the tire's internal stresses are within its design parameters.

At a minimum, I'd recommend that you consult with the MANUFACTURER of a tire, not a retail salesperson, if you want to exceed the manufacturer's recommendations.

 

You guys are all correct. I originally went with the 225s, but was contacted by one of tire rack's "specialists," and was advised to compromise between the spec and the length of the tire. In addition to throwing off the speedo, a shorter tire will increase # engine cycles, causing increased wear per mile. On the flip side, I have 2.05% more torque. Anyway, I did get a second opinion from some tire guys near my house, and my set have not flown off yet. I've tried to get them to a couple times....

 

All this talk of tires makes me want a doughnut ummmmmmm..
Anywhooo, has any one had a problem with supply from the retailers? I'm still teetering between them and Yok's.

 

I am going to purchase Kumho's when I get my 18's. For the price you can't beat them.

 

Everything I am looking for in my tires. Great