i got about 25k out of mine, could have got more but my alignment settings are kinda aggressive.


Great daily driving tire and great for semi aggressive canyon running. No need to drive on tires with bricks as a sidewall. Even the RS3 , one of the fastest street class tires have soft sidewalls.

 

This was incredibly helpful. I'm just getting to know these ratios and numbers for the first time.

Right now, I am running the following:

225 50R17 Front
235 50R17 Rear

I went by Pep Boys, and they said the width on the front rim is probably 7.5" and the rear is probably 8.0".

So I am on Tire Rack, and I just found some 7.5" width rims:
https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Whee...3&autoModClar=

I just don't see a match for this one in the 8" width.

How important is it to run different widths on the rim? Another way of asking that question would be am I ok to run 7.5" width rims front and rear?

 

You COULD, technically speaking - meaning, "they'll fit" BUT....

A Z-car can take a much larger wheel and tire setup than a 7.5.

Looking around this site, you'll find that the most common set-up is running any of a number of the following combinations:

8.5/9.5 F-R, respectively
9.5/9.5 F-R, known as a square setup (front and rear wheels are the same, sometimes with the same size tire all around to facilitate tire rotation)
9.0/10.0 F-R
9.5/10.5 F-R

Of course, all of this is dependent upon the offset of the wheels. And there will be all sorts of other square and non-square setups (smaller and larger) but these are the most popular.

If you are shopping for wheels for performance and/or looks, I'd recommend upping to 18s as tire availability is best in this size and you can gain some performance by going to a lower sidewall tire to increase response.

You should mention how you drive your car - street/commute, mountain runs, track, etc. AND where you drive your car (dry only, wet/dry, have snow, etc.). Those will all influence what tires you should get.

 

OK this is what I was looking for! Thanks.

Here's the plan: take the OEM stock rims off and put some racing tires on the stock rims for SCCA Street Category. Those will be for auto cross days, and I want to stay in the unmodified street category.

The purchased rims are just going to be for daily driving on good old I-10 on the way to work here in Florida. So I want them to look good, but they are really just going to be daily drivers. So the idea of running square for daily driving really appeals to me. I could conserve tires / limit wear by being able to rotate.

My only follow up question - if I am running square, say 9.5/9.5 rim width on 18's, if I show up to auto cross and put my 17's with 7.5/8.0, is that going to be an issue? Are there settings that change with the bigger rims?

 

Smart to treat your "race tires" and "street tires" as completely different entities.

For your use - which appears to be generic driving - you "could go square"*. If that's your choice, go with a 8.5 or 9.5 square with, take your pick:

17" Sizes
225 50% 17 25.86 Stock Reference Size
235 50% 17 26.25 Stock Reference Size
These are just for reference to show you range of size you an choose.

18" Sizes

225 45% 18 25.97 Stock Reference Size
245 45% 18 26.68 Stock Reference Size

245 40% 18 25.72 Front-Alternate
255 35% 18 25.03
255 40% 18 26.03 Front-Alternate
255 45% 18 27.04
265 35% 18 25.30
265 40% 18 26.35 Square alternative-right between your F&R stock sizes.
275 35% 18 25.58
275 40% 18 26.66 Rear-Alternate
285 30% 18 24.73
285 35% 18 25.85
285 40% 18 26.98 Rear-Alternate
295 30% 18 24.97

* IMPORTANT NOTE - HOWEVER.... note I said you "COULD GO SQUARE" - be careful if you have a Touring Model or any model with VDC (vehicle dynamic control) as this system is based off of wheel speed and if the vehicle is equipped as such, the delta between the front and rear wheel speeds MUST be within 3% of one another; NOT THE SAME as the ECU is set to anticipate this delta. Same speed F&R will cause a VDC fault....not fun when you're trying to get to work.

If you have VDC, would recommend you stay with a staggered setup and choose your tire sizes accordingly.

Again, should you choose to go stagger (the most popular thing to do), go 8.5/9.5 (+20 to +30 offset) or 9.5/9.5 or 10.5 R (same offset) but stagger the tire sizes accordingly.

You should not need to worry about making any modifications with an upgrade in sizes if you are going to run the car stock. Just go ahead and put your UTQG-200 rubber on when you head to the Solo wars.

 

Not ro highjack your idea but if you want to run stock wheels for autocross to stay in a stock catigory your best bet is to find a set of rays track wheels and use them... Then just put whatever daily driver tires on the 17s...

 

And that's a really good idea!! Hmmmm, why dint I tink o'dat???

Oh, right, someone posted up about margaritas around lunchtime and I took it as a directive.