I notice when going with big back rubber and smaller fronts there is not as big a size selection. Using the Tirerack chart I see you frequently need to drop down several sizes to get a height match. What happens if your rears are 25.7 and fronts 26 " high? Will .3" have an adverse affect on handling?

 

it shouldn't be a problem unless you have ABS.

 

i second that, its fine unless you have ABS.

its probably not good to put 4 differnt hights on all 4 corners too

 

As long as the tires match on the respective ends of the car it's okay. But DON'T put different rubber at all four corners.

 

Whats wrong w/ putting dif heights on the front and back if you have abs?

 

the abs will think your front is going faster then the rear and the abs will turn on.

i doubt .3" will do much though..

hell having new tires on the front and old on the rear of the same size will differ more then that.

 

What tire sizes?

 

Looking at 315 35 rears and 255 45 fronts on 17" to fill up wide body fenders.

 

Some new front engine RWD cars including the 99+FD, and Honda S2000 use a narrower tire with a taller profile on the front. I don't remember the FD's size, but the S2000 has 205/55/16 front and 225/50/16 rear. I read it gives the driver more "feed back" on turn in.

Unless you have some majior HP, or do some majior suspension work I think your car will understeer badly with 315's on the rear, and 255's on the front. I would be more worried about the huge difference in tire width front to rear than the higth, again assuming you arn't wildly modded.

How are you going to use the car? street, drag, auto-X, road race?

 

I am looking at mostly street use. The front/rear tires on a Viper are 275 35 and 335 30 so there is about 2.4" tread difference and on a Porsche 225 40 and 285 30 so about 2" there. I think maybe a 2" difference sounds right for a small car like an FC.

 

Keep in mind the viper has about 400lb/ft of torque, and the Porsche is rear engined, thus needing much wider rear tires.