What exactly would happen to the Max if the above set-up would be used for a daily driver? I know it would look weird having wider tires in front but aside from that what are the Pro's and Con's of it?

 

if the tires were the same brand and the width/aspect ratio were played with....the actual size difference of the tires might not be that apparent...from a distance.

What would concern me:

1. How 'far out of the wheel well' the fronts would be compared to the rears
2. Pain in the butt for a good tire rotation pattern...i.e., there isn't one, except side to side
3. Since the OEM wheels don't have a 17x7.5 size, this concept would mean purchasing wheels...and unless the person is to ride around with two totally different wheels all the time...if a purchase takes place anyway, why not get all 4 17x7.5's?

On a related note of different tires on a front drive car, one of the funniest things I ever saw was back in the 80's....someone had actually mounted larger wheels out back, BFG wide mama tires, jacked up the rear, AND put wheelie bars....on a YUGO!!! I swear, you had to see it!

 

1) I don't know, 0.5" perhaps? (i may not be understanding the whole width concept correctly though)
2) Given the way the Max spins out frequently, chances are a real rotation would make the car uneven given the two front tires are definitely more worn out than the rears.
3) I know some would say it's not safe and i don't necessarily recommend doing anything but people have been able to put 7.5 on their stock SE rims.

About that Yugo... you wouldn't have a photo of it by any chance would you?

 

I was thinking, make fronts wider for more traction and rear stock inorder to keep drag/friction/however you call it at a minimum.

Same reason Drag racers have wider tires on the driving wheels and narrower(smaller) for the other two.

 

It was late one night back in Ohio. It was one of the early edition Yugo's in white, you remember...the ones which had the backuplights acually mounted to the bottom of the bumper like someone forgot to build it that way and tried putting little fogs on the rear bumper instead!!

I had to go around that block twice that night to make sure I wasn't hallucinating!!

As far as #3...oh, didn't realize you were referring to just the tires...sry...

If we use Michelins as an example:

225 50/17's have a section width of 9.0" and diameter of 26.1"

235 45's 9.3" 25.6" (.5" SHORTER TIRE, BUT CLOSE TO SAME WIDTH)
245 45'S 9.5" 25.9" (.5" WIDER TIRE, BUT CLOSE TO SAME HEIGHT)

Either way, and I agree with comments on front tire wear...if a person's fronts were worn out before doing this swap...the difference front to back may actually be coming close to .5" anyway, just due to wear...

 

Maybe this will help. See the discussion under RIM WIDTH in the following article:

http://www.dunloptire.com/tiretech/?...tire_width.txt




That may not necessarily be true if you've been rotating your tires front to rear on a regular basis.



I'm not sure I understand what you're saying, soundmike. Perhaps you meant to say that some people have been mounting 235/45R17 tires on their stock 7"-wide SE rims. If that's what you meant to say, you're correct. Some people have done that and I, for one, wish them luck. As you know, the minimum acceptable rim width for 235/45R17 tires is 7.5". So you're wise in not recommending that anyone else mount 235/45R17 tires on their OEM rims unless, of course, they're willing to go against the advice of every tire manufacturer in the world and possibly void their auto insurance policy in the event of a tire-failure-related accident.

 

John, you're originally from Ohio? I've always wanted to visit that place. Watching all the Drew Carry shows really got me curious about the place.

About the Michelins, not exactly sure what ur point was but are you saying it's going to even things out?

y2kse, sorry for the confusion... still learning about wheel dimensions heheeh. but yeah you got my point right. i've been following your crusade lately and rest assured i've taken your points into consideration.

as for tire wear, i only have 6k miles on the odometer but let me tell you the difference in tirewear in the front and rear wheels is quite obvious.

 

That's great news, soundmike. When it comes to safety, discretion is the better part of valor. Remember, the life you save may be your own.

 

... and then some.

 

RE: Michelins...yep, pretty much...just wanted to show that a tire CAN have close toe the same appearance but have different dimensions...

One more thought...as far as traction goes...the wider tires in back on a number of high performance/race cars is to take advantage of the natural dynamics of a rear wheel drive car...on launch they squat in the back...more squat and more width=more traction...for us front drivers, the situation is different in that when we launch, the tendency of the vehicle is to lift the front (due to weight transfer upon acceleration)...there would have to be some PRETTY HUGE tires up front to have a notable impact...

Just my opinion...

 

Ah understood. (michelins)

Hmm... if you had a full aftermarket suspension set-up and control arms (is that what it's called? it attaches to the front underbody to minimize wheelhop) as well as those trailing thingies that go behind the car (as in dragsters).

would *that* make having wider wheels up front work?

i'm positive were it not for wheelhop/spin the 2k2 could easily break 13's w/o a sweat.

 

if the difference is so small, why bother.....
i have 18x7.5 wheels and i have 235 tires on them...
you might as well just go 235 on all four tires...

 

Good point, a33. After all, if you're going to purchase two 7.5"-wide rims to stay in spec with 235/45R17 tires, you might as well purchase all four rims at the same time even if you decide to keep the Potenza RE-92s on the rear wheels for awhile.