ryan1112

I am researching new tires and I have a question. Will my RPMs jump way up if I go from the stock 235/55/17 to 245/45/17? It is really hard to find a 245 or 255 wide tire that has a 50 or 55 side wall. Would a 245/45/17 look really small in the wheel well? Anyone have any pictures of what that would look like?

don_w

I run Nitto450 255/50-17's up front.

ryan1112

I've heard some bad things about Nitto like they have very low tread life and they will have to be replaced only after a year of moderately aggressive driving. How have they been for you? If people on here have had good experiences I have no problem getting them.

Redfire 05Gt

The diameter of a 245/45-17 is 25.68" which is about 1.5" smaller than the stock 235/55-17 at 27.17". That's 3/4" all the way around...I think they're going to look small.
I don't think I would go any less than 255/50-17 (27.0") or a 275/45-17 (26.74").

don_w

I have 16K miles on the fronts and there is plenty of tread life left. As far as the rears go, I raced with mine quite a bit before I got the DRs, so they saw plenty of smokey burnouts. That will definitely reduce tread life... hahah

ryan1112

I am thinking that at a bare minimum geting a 26" diameter. I will get a 27" as long as the tires that I want will come in that size. The main thing is that I don't want the RPM's to jump up really high. I already have 4.10 gears which bump it up about 200 - 300 RPMs on the highway.
Oh, and I just want to make sure that it's ok to go with a 255 on an 8" rim. I think that 255s will be fine.

don_w

IMO, 26" is pretty small for everyday use with 4.10s. Here is a comparison of rpms at 75mph in 5th (OD):

26" = ~3000
27" = ~2900
28" = ~2800

Keystone

The 255/50/17s work pretty well for the rear tires. It's not the most common size but if you look you should be able to find them. I kept the stockers up front for now. If you go the the tire manufacturer's site and click on the technical specs for the tire in question they should list recommended rim sizes. For the Potenzas it's 7.0 - 9.0 for the above size.

ryan1112

255/50/17 sound like a good idea. Has anyone heard of Fuzion ZRi tires? I have seen a lot of great reviews, anyone had any luck with them?

traffic142

If you lower your car, the size is not really a factor. The tires look small with the factory gap that exists. I went with Nitto 555 255-45-18 in the front and it looks great! I did 285-40-18 in the rear that was recommended here by others. I kind of wish I got maybe a 285-45-18 size, but I am happy with the way it looks.

True_HP

I went the other way....
255X35R20's in front and 285X30R20 in the rear... I never noticed a difference... My personal opinion is that wheels should fill the wheel well. Its all about the stance of your car.... To small and it looks like a toy...Too big and it looks stupid and its not funcional.

05CapePony

If you stay with in the 27" dia. on the tire you won't throw off your rpm's or mph. Also they will be very close to stock dia. and fill the wheel wells about the same as the oem tires. What the 255-50-17's give you is a fatter more aggressive tread. Looked for months at tires and finally went with the BFG from Discount Tire. They fit great on the rim and handle great. Run them at about 38-40psi.

ryan1112

Well, I've been thinking very seriously about just using my 17 bullits for winter and getting these 18 x 9 inch wheels for summer and using 255/45/18.

slowjoe24

This is a great tire size web site!!!

http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp

I also want to go with the 255/50/17's and I have a friend who loves the Fuzion FRi tires. Very aggresive tread and they seem to wear okay....he has a heavy foot and his have lasted faily well for the price!!

Anbody have pics of these on the car???

slowjoe24

Bump!

SixtySix

Yup, pretty much.

ryan1112

Just as an update, I did end up getting some Sport Max Racing wheels and bf goodrich tires.
I got 255/45/18 all around. 18x8.5 inch rims in front and 18x9.5 in the back. I ordered 18x8.5 all around but they came in staggered. I will just get some 285/40/18 in the rear the next time I buy tires.
I had another tread about this but I just wanted to post on this one as well.
The car was pretty dirty when I took these pics.