I'm wanting to run 275/35/18 Falken Azenis RT-615s on all four corners this summer, but would like to keep the stock rims. I'm looking for more grip in AutoX and like the wider look. I'm running on stock track rims meaning 18x8 up front and 18x18.5 in the back. This is outside of Yokohama's recommenations (max 265 on an 8.5" rim)

Has anyone successfully tried this?
Will I get more grip?
Is the bulge at the sidewall excessive... poor geometry? looks dumb?

Thanks.

 

If anything do the 265/35/18's. 275's are way too wide for an 8" wheel and will bulge, flex and give less contact patch than a properly sized tire such as a 255 or 245. Honestly even the 265 is pushing it on an 8.5" wide wheel.

 

You will get less grip, more flex and overall poorer performance than running a correctly sized tire

 

I'm running the RT-615s in 265/35/18 on 8" rims for autocross only. Yes, they are larger than the recommended size but they're not for regular driving, just for autocross.

No use getting the 275/35/18 because when you check the specs, you'll see that they both have the same tread width (10"). The 265's also have reinforced sidewalls whereas the 275's don't.

If you check the autocross forum, you'll find that 265, 275 and 285 width tires are commonly used on the 8" stock wheels.

Yes, you will get a lot more grip. No, the sidewall bulge doesn't look excessive or goofy.

 

Thanks guys.

Dave, I'm planning on driving around town on these tires too. Do you see any issues? From what I can see, my speedo will read about 60mph when I'm doing 58.5 mph and talking to some friends with the same size on front and back, traction and VDC still work properly. Thoughts?

 

I drove around town for two weeks on this setup to break them in before the first autocross and experienced no problems with VDC or TCS.

Last weekend we had a "test and tune" day. On the first couple of runs through the exercises, I forgot to turn VDC off and didn't even notice it except for one spot. I'm sure if you get the car way out of line, VDC will still be able to work but just not optimally.

Yes, your speedo will be off by a little, but at least it will be to the "safe" side.

 

At the track VDC's always off, but I like to know that it'll still work when it's on for street driving. Now I've just got to get over the price; at Vulcan it's another $50 per tire over 255/40/18s.

Thanks again.

 

When shopping around, I wound up going with DiscountTireDirect, free shipping more than made up the small price difference between them and Vulcan and EdgeRacing. I do see that the price has gone up about $10 per tire in the last month or so.

I agree, there is a big price jump when you start getting above the 245 widths. I laugh at some of my autocross buddies when they talk about buying a set of RT-615's and paying less than $400 for a set. Of course, they're using 16" tires on a Civic.