i don't know them, and i don't know how much stretch is too much. i understand that a small amount of stretch helps to stiffen the sidewall, which helps in drifting but i am lost about the rest.

i guessed because i got rims and tires free but i went with 17X8 Acura TL wheels, and 215/40/17 federal 595 tires.

did i do ok? and can someone compile a list of appropriate sizes?

 

appropriate sizes would be manufacturer specs on tire sizes.

theres no appropriate size when it comes to stretching. its what you want.

 

that wheel/tire combo your running is smaller than stock so your speedo is going to read wrong. alot of ppl dont care about that but I think your gonna have to drastically lower your car now. once you throw the wheels on your gonna be like Holy Wheel gap batman!

 

In the drifting world thats a very mild stretch. Its a good, realistic combination in my opinion. But like someone said earlier, youre gonna have to lower your car or its probably going to look ridiculous. Like "rubber band" tires.

And yes, your speedo will be off, but you will not notice a difference. You have to switch from like a 14 to an 18 in wheel for it to be noticable. I run 18's and according to the speed traps im about 1 mph off. Sometimes 2. So if you cant live with your speedo being 1 mph off, then dont do it.

 

and you should run spacers in the rears too to fill the wheel wells a little better. the TL wheels have really high offsets since its for a wrong wheel drive car.

 

I've run 8s, 9s, and 10s, and I've run all kinds of different tire sizes.

On the front, I like to keep a pretty square sidewall to allow for it to get some decent grip.

I've run an 8" and a 9" wheel up front. On the 8 I ran a 215, on the 9 I ran a 235. Neither of these were stretched at all.

On the rear, I've run a 9 and a 10. On the 9 I ran a 215, on the 10 I've run 215, 225, and 235. The 235 is still somewhat stretched, but not huge.

Hope that helps.

 

two sites i frequent often.

tire size calculator - http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
compare stock tire size to what you want to run, good for figuring out how off your speedo will be

wheel offset calculator - www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp
good for seeing how wheels will fit

often on tire manufacturer sites they'll list the "suggested" wheel size. i know 225/45-17's are "suggested" on 7.5-8 wide tire.

i run 17x9.5's all around on 225/45's, both front and rear tire grip is supreme, with a pretty good stretch. although i figure once i'll be making about triple the power ive been running i'll need a wider tire in the rear.

 

these rims were supposed to have 235 45's so i dropped it to a 215 40. the car is a track only car so i don't care about the speedo...

however, as a tire tech at a shop, i do feel the need to say that, any thing more than about an inch and a half changes the speedo exponentially. so be careful with that ****. and speed traps can be off by up to fifteen mph.

 

great links. thanks much...

 

the less tire you use, the lower offset you will need on your rims to keep it flush.
My favorite is 215/35/18 on a 9.5 with 80psi for looks ,but the problem is less contact patch compared to like a 225 or 235 and not enough grip=not enough tire smoke or entry speed control. I try to set the camber less on thatsetup.. Sometimes you can even use 255s on 9 with high tire pressure and get wheel spin with just stock 200hp, as long as you have camber, you can have wheel spin, because since the contact patch is small , no smoke.. and waste of tires..225s is the lowest ill go in the front, youalways need good tires up front...
I always like the aggresive look of negative offset and camber, but camber just takes away your contact patch[surface area to ground]..so you have to kinda figure out what youwant..sometimes worrying about fitment too much will bother the driving characteristics your after..alot of it is just preference in driving style and looks.. iono just my thougts

 

I usually compare stock size VS whatever size I want.

http://www.rims-n-tires.com/rt_specs.jsp

It helped me a lot. Hope it helps you too.

 

i could care less about smoke, i feel like drifting is a show of driver skill, not a carnival.

 

I think stupid stretches that require a psi that significantly above specs is unsafe and stupid. Statistically, they're fine but how often do you check your tire pressures? How often does the average person feel like checking tire pressures or remember to?

With your tire size and rim choice, you will be fine. You're looking into it waaay too much.

 

thanks, i was looking to stay well within safe limits.