Bruno350z

iTrader: (1)

I'm hoping we can just skip the flame part and go to direct answers lol
Anyways, when it comes to tires I'm pretty clueless.
My current setup is 225 45 18 in front and 245 45 18 in rear. My rim size is 18x8 and 18x9.5
I want 245 in front and 275 in rear, but honestly I have no idea what that 45 means or what it should change too. Also what kind of tires are good season round?
Atm I have milestar tires, never heard of them before and everyone I ask never heard of them either. But they are horrible, I suggest no one buy them. Going onto the freeway friday morning it was raining and the car gave out and pretty much drifted 3 lanes, I'm just glad there were no cars around.

So to sum it up, what kind of tires and what sizes can/should I get without rolling fenders? Not looking to spend anymore than around $200 a tire
Any help is appreciated

Update-
I checked this site
http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp
And it says 275/40/18 will not change the speedometer and will fit in the rear + my rim, but the front says the speedometer will be off by .08% if I change it to 245/40/18. Is that bad or what do I change it so it will read the same on the speedometer?

SQuaLZ

To answer your first question, the 45 is the thickness of the tire. I would stay with 45 unless you want to go lower and get a low profile tire, but that would take away from the ride quality.

As per which All-Season tire I would recommend, I have heard great things about the Bridgestone Potenza RE970AS, and they are right at your budget. Tire Rack has all 4 for $800 for the stock sizes. I am sure it would not be much more.

Don't worry about the speedometer, unless you dramatically change sizes, such as like 22s then it will barely affect the speedometer. Being 1-2mph is nothing.

Maiidz

I feel you bro, we're in the same boat.
I believe the middle number is how much tire will show.
Higher # = more tire.
You're welcome to look in my thread as well!
Hopefully someone can help us both out ;P

Bruno350z

iTrader: (1)

Thank you for that, at least my knowledge on tires are a bit better now lol
Performance wise, what tire size (xxx/xx) would be best?

at least i'm not the only one lol
Everytime I find a thread helpful it's always a different rim size, I think I'm the only one with a 18x8 front and 18x9.5 rear lol

Maiidz

I'm looking to get 18x9 and 18x10 with the same tire size.
They told me 245/40/18 and 275/40/18 was good.
I just need to figure what offset is now lol.
Everyone starts somewhere right!

Bruno350z

iTrader: (1)

That's why I want 245/40-275/40 but everyone who has that has a 1" difference rim wise, mine is 1.5" and idk if that makes a difference or not lol
I have no idea on offset, I guessed on mine and got +20 offset and it worked so idk

pss350z

iTrader: (6)

If you google miata wheel offset calculator you will find a nifty tire and wheel offset calculator. Also google 350z factory or oem wheels and there will be a page that lists all the oe 350z and g35 wheels with their respective specs. You can use this to match up your current setup and adjust for the new wheels you plan to get. i suggest with 9" and 10" wheels go with +20 offset as this should allow the 275 tire to clear the fender in the rear and not look too sunken in.

pss350z

iTrader: (6)

If you roll your fender you can go much more aggresive with your offset.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

YOur not on stock wheels right? If you posted the right wheel specs you can easily run a 245/40 front and 275/40 rear.

Bruno350z

iTrader: (1)

No I have TSW Mallory rims
Ima go for the 245/40 and 275/40
Just need to decide on some tires now, narrowed it down to a few brands but going to make the overall decision at americas tire in a bit. Thanks guys

VMRWheels

Check out the Continental ExtremeContact DWS for an all-season. It's one of the most popular choices available right now. Go with 245/40 and 275/40.

scotts300

iTrader: (46)

The second number (245/45) is the SIDEWALL of the tire. If you take 245 (millimeters) and multiply it by .45, you get the height of the sidewall. And the total height of your tire is TWICE this amount (sidewall on top and on bottom) plus 18" after you convert all to inches.

I'd go 245/40 275/40 with your 8/9.5 set-up.

Bruno350z

iTrader: (1)

I just went and bought Hancook v12 with the 245/40 and 275/40 setup

Yeah that's exactly what I did, thanks for the explanation I appreciate it

VMRWheels

The Hankook Ventus V12 is a very solid and affordable summer performance tire. Had a set last year and liked them quite a bit!

pss350z

iTrader: (6)

Tell me you don't find the car feels extremely sloppy with these tires now.... I bought them and found them to be absolutely horrible, the sidewall is waaaay too soft.

Spike100

Bruno350z, Most tire buyers have the same confusion and questions you are asking. Buying tires for a FWD passenger car is simple; buying tires for a performance car you operate in changing weather conditions is very complex.

===============================
Here’s a quick course on tire sizing:

The metric tire sizing system represents a tire size as:
[section width (mm)] / [aspect ratio] - [rim diameter (inches)]

For example: a tire size 225/45-18 is 225mm wide, has an aspect ratio of 45 and fits an 18" rim (wheel).

The aspect ratio (the second number) is not a measurement. The aspect ratio represents the tire's sidewall height as a percentage of the tires width (section height divided by section width). In the example above, the sidewall height is 101mm (101/225=45).

The aspect ratio is important since that (along with the wheel size) determines the overall diameter of the tire allowing you to match your stock overall tire height (diameter). For example, a 225/45-18 tire's sidewall height is 101mm, and a 245/40-18 tire's sidewall height is 98mm.

So, both tires have nearly the same overall diameter.
=======================================

But, back to your question:An excellent tire size for your wheels is what you thought: Front 245/40 and Rear 275/40. This gives you wider and taller rears, and exactly matches the Z’s tire specification.

As VMRWheels mentions:
I am running Continental ExtremeContact DWS (an all-season tire) right now on my car. Although I really like this tire (I believe it to be the best all season tire you can buy, and a great all around tire for the Z), I should mention that it is not meant as a replacement for a summer performance tire (for aggressive summer driving) or a studless snow tire (for winter driving). I’m in a very cold climate with plenty of snow and ice. I run studless snow tires on dedicated wheels during the winter months.

I’m certain you have more questions, so ask away…

--Spike

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

I had no problem with mine. I ran a 255/40 front and 275/40 rear, but they were mounted on a 9.5 and 10.5 inch wide wheel.

Bruno350z

iTrader: (1)

Well.. I had milestar tires before that came with the car, I'm 100% sure any tires are better than those lol
But what do you mean by the sidewall being way to soft? Never heard that expression before other than today and yesterday as I was reading up on tires lol
You pretty much explained everything needed to know about a tire, didn't expect that clear of an answer man thanks It pretty much solved everything tire size wise. But for brand tires and such is it just all personal preference?
I live in california, so I have no need for a winter driving tire as it never snows here. I was going to get an all season tire until the salesman explained to me that they are useless in california and I should just get a "california tire" as he explained it, then recommended the hancook v12. I just took his word for it and now hoping for the best since apparently pss350z has issues with it?
I wanted a 9.5/10.5 but the rims I have didn't come in that size :/ How long did the tires last you? Because this guy said I should get about 10k miles on them by the looks of my last tires, but average is right around 40k. But when I first got my car the thread on the tires were 70%, 5 months and 10k miles later it was at 50% lol

VMRWheels

The sidewall is very soft on the Hankook but I didn't think it made my car feel super sloppy. If Hankook came out with a reinforced sidewall version I'd buy them again though.

pss350z

iTrader: (6)

These tires cause the car to be much less responsive to steering inputs. Every time I see a thread w someone mentioning these, I can't help but bash them. They belong on minivans. Hopefully you'll be happier with them than I was, I had them for about 2 months and practically gave them away with my RPF1s.