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The tire and wheels I took off, see pictures earlier in the post, were 255/30-20 front and 285/30-20 rear. They fit fine but didn't have enough grip to keep the rear end from spinning in third gear. The factory GTR tires are 255/40-20 front and 285/35-20 rear. Currently, the front and rear both rub. I only have the 20mm wheel spacers in the front. Even under mild acceleration the rear dips enough to cause the tires to rub; damn hp.

I don't have any suspension mods yet. Please explain what you mean by lowering the car? There already isn't enough clearance. I was thinking stiffer springs to reduce rubbing. I don't see the DONK look but maybe I am not cultured enough to appreciate DONK.

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Marcoyan,
What size tires are you running on your GTR rims?

Done Deal DR

iTrader: (5)

I understand that you do not have a spacer in the rear and grip shouldn't even be in the equation, as you have the same widths as before. All else equal, a taller tire won't necessarily aid in traction.

You need to roll the rear fenders if not done already, and lower (proper) profile tires will help both rubbing and the look. I don't know if you realize it, but a 285/35/20 is 4.21% larger than the factory 245/45/18 that came equipped on your car. The front is 7.35% too large. I don't know how knowledgeable you are on tires, but your tires are way too large which will hurt acceleration and your speedo will be off, up to 5mph at 60 mph (going 60 but speedo reads 55). It effectively changes your overall gearing... and looks ridiculous.

I'd suggest going to a 15mm front spacer.

Lowering will generally help due to stiffening up the suspension (depending on the products you choose), and will definitely help the look. If you roll your fenders and drop down to a 10mm spacer with stiffer suspension, you could probably fit 265/30/20 or 275 and 295/30/20 tires and you'll have more traction and no rubbing.

As for the "donk" look, I'm not a fan either but the way your car sits now is borderline as I understand it.

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I understand that the GTR tires are larger; I found http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html to be a great resource when comparing sizes.

I have been looking at Toyo Proxies T1-R 265/30-20 front and 305/25-20 for lower profile and more grip. Eventually, I plan to get the SLP suspension kit but need to save up first. I checked the clearance on the front and there is close to 10mm between the rim protection lip on the the OEM tires and steering arm. I'll wait until the new tires are mounted before changing out the wheel spacers.

Thanks for the input.

Done Deal DR

iTrader: (5)

The tire calculators are a great resource as you pointed out and I'm glad you're aware of their benefits. Most people would be surprised that almost all the information can be found by comparing their current tire size to possible changes using a tire calculator. I'm assuming you're talking about SPL, in which case they make great products. I'd love to upgrade with their suspension products when the funds are available.

My 275/30/20 and 295/25/20 work pretty well, although in my case I would have rather gotten a 305/30 rear, but a deal came about that enabled me to get all 4 for about $500 new so I couldn't pass it up. Unless you get a deal like that, I'd recommend keeping the rear a 30 series to maintain a larger rear tire than front. I don't have TCS/VDC systems (base model) so for me it's not a giant problem, but more so a concern of changing the handling dynamics to an unknown quantity. If you have TCS you'll definitely want to make sure you have a larger rear than front. With a rolled rear and 30 series, a 305 will probably work without rubbing.

Good call on checking suspension clearance with your current setup and only changing spacers once you change tires. From the sounds of it, with a 265 in the front, a 15mm spacer is as small as you'll be able to go but can't say for sure until you get to that point.

Off to a great sart 220! PM me if you have any questions, we are running pretty similar wheel and tire set ups.

DB8

iTrader: (3)

Learned a great deal about this setup on this thread........good job

I am on the fence in replacing my 19" Enkei GTC-01 with the R35 GTR wheels

I found a set locallly with 255/30/20 & 295/25/20

However, I do have TCS / Slip on the car, reading the above note make me think that it will give me issue since the rear tires are 25 series (which is thinner than the 30 series up front).

Care to confirm this for me?

car is 04 Black, running on Tein Monoflex