Hi all,

Im looking into getting some new rims/tires on my car and am wondering if this would be a "down-grade" in the rubber department. The car has 225/50 16 and the new tires for the new rims Im looking at are 205/45/17. Am I loosing too much rubber?

 

you're going lower in rubber width and also lower on profile.

the numbers you state... 205/45/17 =
205 = section width of the tire, the tread width in mm
the 45 = 45% of the tread width
the 17 = rim size

so you will be going from 225 to 205mm
your sidewall will be going from 112.5mm to 92.25mm

your decision really. How much is too much?

 

Does this sound like a stupid idea?

 

Unless you drag or autocross daily I would'nt worry about it.

 

I'd go 215/40's at least.

 

Dunno much about this except that less rubber thickness means better handling b/c of less flex, but also decreased ride comfort from less bump absorption. If it's really narrow you could bend your rims when a bump makes it flex all the way in. Maybe someone will give you a better answer or you'll be able to figure it out yourself now.

 

Doing this would bump me up to an 18in rim, and I really dont want all the extra weight.

 

Justin?

It depends what you want to do with the car. 205s will put less drag on the car but reduce overall grip due to the smaller footprint. The shorter sidewall tire will have less distortion under load but still doesn't cancel out with the grip you'd be losing. I'd stick with the 225s.

What kind of tires are on the 17s? If they're sticker than the 712s you probably won't notice it.

Edit: Also you can put 215/40s on a 17 inch rim..

 

Hey man, yeah its me. I would like to still have a good amount of grip, do you think i should go with the 18's?

 

Does anyone know any rims that I could run a 245 in the rear? Any good sites?

 

Like I said if the tires on the new wheels are sticker than the 712s you're running now you won't notice much so it all depends on the tires. I would also check how wide the wheels are, you're limited to 225s with the stock wheels and if the new wheels are wider you can fit more rubber later when you change them. I don't know if you're daily driving the car but 18s with low profile tires (-35) won't be very pot hole friendly either.

I've seen 245s mounted on the stock 16x7 S5 TIIs, but 245s can be used on 8" wide wheels.

 

Bigger rim usually means heavier wheel (i.e. rim + tire) weight...

Even if everything was less weight, I doubt YOU could tell the difference.

215 / 40 / 17 is already 5.5% smaller than the stock 205 / 55 / 16, so 205 / 40 / 17 is even smaller than that.
Having that kinda rubberband tires will cause harsher ride and possible damage to your rims when you hit a nasty bump or pot hole...


-Ted

 

17s are perfect in my opinion. Great for looks and performance. I went with 17x8, 225/45/17, and the fronts sit perfectly flush with the rears in slightly.

 

huh? What do you mean the new tires for the new wheels? Are you looking at a package deal or something? You can choose what tires you want to run. Those are not the only tires that will fit those wheels. What are the specs on the wheels?