About a year ago, I made an immature impulse purchase and bought a set of used Volk wheels on eBay. Long story short, seller was a POS and scammed me on its condition and now I am stuck with them... First, I need to figure out the situation with tires (there is also a dent on one of the wheels - I will need help on that later)...


Front Wheels Size: 17 x 7.5
Front Tires: Pirelli SuperSport P7000
Configuration: P215/45/ZR17
Tread life remaining: 70%
There's no problem with the front ones.


Rear Wheels Size: 17 x 8.5 (an inch wider)
Front Tires: Pirelli SuperSport P7000
Configuration: P255/40/ZR17
Tread life remaining: Both are completely worn out. The rear tires need to be replaced but its almost impossible to find P7000 in 255/40/ZR17 size, even used, as Pirelli has discontinued them a while ago.


I just noticed a couple of reputable sellers on eBay selling these tires, but my ONLY options are either in size 245/45ZR17 or 235/45ZR17.

I don't know much about aspect ratios and all that stuff. I just would like to know if either of these tires will fit my rear wheels (17 x 8.5). If so, which one of these configurations is better and are compatible, with the way the front ones are? To me, safety first - but I can adjust to ride comfort or other issues.


Thanks!

 

They'll both fit fine. Unfortunately the front's 215/45 size means that neither 235/45 or 245/45 are very viable options for the rear (they'll confuse your ABS rotating at a different speed). The 235s come in just under 3% larger rolling diameter (which is the generally accepted threshold for acceptability), so I'd go for those. 235's sidewalls will be stretched ever so slightly, it should be about on par with what the fronts look like.

 

Which Volks did you get? There are people looking for the staggered setup here, maybe you can sell them and get what you really want.

Jae

 

These are Volk LE37T...

 

These Pirelli's will only be used during summer/rainy season... I have dedicated winter tires for the snow season.

About the ABS issue that you pointed out, I just want to make sure that I won't be hurting any electronic/computer components in my car if I go with 235s. I also want to make sure that ABS will still function when needed.

If necessary, I wouldn't mind replacing all 4 tires if it is strongly recommended... I mean if there is any possibility of frying some computer chip because of this, I would rather purchase all 4 tires in correct size - even if it means tossing away two good front tires that I have now.

Thanks for your reply!

 

I can honestly say that the only bad thing about dissimilar tire sizes is that when you reach a certain speed, the difference in RPM's of the tires will be large enough to cause the ABS to shut off.. Until you turn the engine off and restart. That happened with me when I had my doughnut on with my 18's. I'd go with 4 all new tires that'll fit front and back, if possible. You can always sell the good ones...

 

Under 3% and you should be okay. Even if it was 10% difference or so, it won't fry any sensors, your ABS light will just stay on and your ABS will be deactivated.