when I turn, they rub every now and then. when i bottom out, i hear the tires rubbing the top of the car.

just an update

also, there is NO way 235s would fit on the car. 225s have about 5cm from the strut base.

 

What's the offset of your rims? which rims do you have?

 

stock 4th gen SE rims

 

I got 235-45-17s on mine. Mr. Rose was running 245-45-17 for a short time. It all depends on the wheel's offset.

 

what are stokc SE offsets? and what offset will allow me to run larger tires wihtout rubbing?

 

Same size here and mine rub occasionally too. Don't have the bottoming out problem cuz I have Eibach's.

 

I have the 98 SE wheels as well and they rub sometimes with hard turns, no bottoming out though.

are sprints that cheap? I have the intrax and aside from a slightly stiffer ride then the eibachs, I have had no problems with them.

What about sprints though? are they a relatively good brand?

 

i run 225/55's now too...no rubbing here...

 

225 55 15's here as well with no rubbing. ST springs.

 

i forgot you were running those on your 15's....crazy foo

 

i thought that's what you had?

 

nope ...

*cough* mine are 16 *cough*

 

what rims do you have? i thought you had the stock SE wheels at the meet. did you get new ones or did i just not notice.

 

hehe i got new ones as of wed. night...pics to come in a week after the meet in NY

 

245/45/17 here. Had them under the fender too. HAd several BIG people sit in my car to get it to lower. Fits very snug under the fender. Now I will be doing some serious wrenching in the next month. watch close for updates on project "MAXBRA". Upgrading to a Kumho 235/45/17 next. Less sidewall flex with a 235/45/17. http://home.satx.rr.com/jasonr/wheels.html

 

you could go down in profile. that would help more than making them skinnier. go to like a 40 or 35 series.

 

that's a bad idea...it throws off your speedo, and will wear your tire faster.

 

ok 245/35/17" tires have an overall diameter of 24.7, the stock size on the maxima has a diameter of 25.5. (unfortunately these were different brand tires, but you get the idea. diameter might be different for different brands) your speedo will be off, but it won't be too signifigant. and i would also like to know how a smaller profile will increase tire wear? i'm not flaming, i just don't know. a 35 series profile will be a high performance tire, so the treadwear will probably be softer, but other than that. . . . also, i did see a 245 40. . . that might help a little.

 

oh btw, using the same tire 235's are undersized by .3" and the 245's are oversized by .4" so a 245 35" tire being off by .8" is a small price to pay for the width of the tire.

 

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
for tire sizing. I go by a 205/65/15 stock, then I compare the plus size. This website tells me that the 235/45/17 is the closest I can get for an 8" rim.

 

hmmmmmm yeah i dunno if a 245 will fit on an 8" rim. . . .certain tires i know will, it just depends.

 

245/45/17 is the flush sidewall size for an 8" wide rim. 235/45/17 makes the sidewall roll/curve back tworad the inner of the wheel. The thing we need to remember about calculating the overal height of a tire/wheel combo is the percentage the side wall roll/curves outward or inward. That's why we use a tire size calculator equation, that percentage is built in; rather than converting mm to inches on paper.

 

The generally accepted rule is to keep the tire height within 1/2" of the stock combination. Any more or less gets into the territory where gearing and speedo's are thrown off. A combination that is .8" off of stock I'd stay away from. My first set of tires was .4" under and my current ones are .1" over.