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Full Version: Wider Tires On Stock Rims?
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The stockers I have on the car (Perelli P6) are starting to bite the dust at 18k miles. Plus they suck for autox (yeah, solo2 on stock tires FTW!).

I want to get something new, and possibly something a bit wider.

I've been hunting around, and can't find anything regarding the width of the rims I have. They the standard '05 16" rims. I'm guessing maybe 6" width?

So if they are 6", can I run something like 215/50R16 tires on them without any problems? Was looking at the Azeni 615s or something similar. I don't think the extra width would cause any rubbing issues.

I need to rob a bank or something, because i'd ideally like to have a dedicated set of tires for autox.

OH HELL I PUT THIS IN THE WRONG SPOT! Can someone please move the 'tard's post?
You'd have to do the math to see how much you'd be knocking off your speedometer reading. They SHOULD fit, but the sidewalls may "tub out" or bulge a little.

Ahh, here we go. Play with this.
torradan,Jul 28 2006, 10:13 AM Wrote:So if they are 6", can I run something like 215/50R16 tires on them without any problems?  [right][snapback]199504[/snapback][/right]

Short answer is "yes" to both ... the stock rims are 6" wide and 215/50/16 fit fine.

I did this on my 2002 ZTW (stock suspension) and it looked a lot better (both in terms of filling the wheel wells and the width of the tire) ... obviously the circumference will be more than stock and the speedo will read a bit slow ... but the difference is minimal and I didn't find it made any practical difference on the road.

EDIT: according to the calculator NOS mentions, your speedo will show 60mph while the actual speed is 61 mph.
I stand corrected :)

I wonder what the grip increase would be like, or on the other side - mileage decrease due to increased rolling resistance? Larger contact patch and all that.
The steering response will be worse, and the car will plow through the turns.
NOS2Go4Me,Jul 28 2006, 04:41 PM Wrote:I wonder what the grip increase would be like, or on the other side - mileage decrease due to increased rolling resistance? Larger contact patch and all that.
[right][snapback]199615[/snapback][/right]

I noticed a nice improvement in ride and handling - but that was probably due to the replacement tires being new and much better than the stock ones they replaced.

To put things in perspective ... we're talking about a 4.9% increase in tire width, a 5% increase in sidewall (0.2") and less than 2% increase in circumference.

Even if you replaced a brand-new 205 with an identical brand-new 215, I'd bet the difference you could actually feel would be very subtle ... the difference in tire brands and wear will likely provide the biggest changes in handling.
When I went from 205/60R15s on my old Focus to 225/50R17s the biggest difference was a rediculous increase in grip, mind you I went from stock Firerocks to some Conti Extreme Contacts. the other major difference was the car really started trying to follow ruts