I have 215/45/17 Yokohama tires and i've noticed that almost all of you have had 225 instead of 215. i was wondering what the difference is? what does the 225/215 stand for and how does the 225 look different from 215 (if it looks different at all)

 

if ur using 7 inch rims, it is recommeded u use 225.. thats the width from the inside of the rim(area under car body) to the outside(where u look at the rim from the side of the car) in milimeters.. 225mm and 215mm, 225mm being wider. hope this helps.

 

I know this is what Azn meant to say, but just to make it clear for you, 225 is what they recommend as the WIDEST you should use for a 7" wide wheel, you can use thinner. heck, you can put wider on a 7" wide wheel if you want, but the manufacturers dont recommend it.

 

215/45/17 is way too small. You should use 235/45/17.

 

If you are running 215/45-17 tires on a 96 SE that had OEM 215/60-15 tires, then your speedo and odometer are off by 2.14% (the tire is 97.86% the size of the original). That means that when your speedo is saying 70 mph, you are actually going 68.5 mph and for every 10,000 miles that you drive, you odometer is actually moving 10,219 miles. Not a huge deal, but 225/45-17 or 235/45-17 would be a better fit.

Plus, the wider tire will slightly improve your handling.

FYI this is how tires are sized, for your 215/45-17 tire

215 is the width of the tire tread in millimeters.
45 is the profile (the "height" of the tire from the edge of the rim, to the edge of the tire) of the tire in percent of the width, this means that you tire's profile is 45% of 215 mm, or 96.75 mm.
17 is the size of the rim in inches.

 

well crap. its too late now. but i have 8 inch wide rims. not 7. so are my speedo and my odometer definitely messed up? (96 SE that had the stock alloy wheels)