215/45R17 Tire Fitment

[slowpokemd]

I've seen some information scattered around over whether or not 215/45R17 tires fit, especially on cars that are lowered and/or have aftermarket wheels. I'm on Eibach prokit springs and picked up this set of Team Dynamics wheels yesterday fitted with Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 tires. The wheels are 17x7 with about a 42mm offset (I cant guarantee this as there is nothing noted on the wheels and the previous owner did not know). The tires are well worn but I've been driving on them for the last two days. Under normal conditions I don't have any significant rub but on very large bumps, especially when turning, I get a small amount of rub in the front on the fender to bumper connection. If those are shaved down I'm sure it will clear. I have yet to see any evidence of rub in the rear on the felt liner. But, with needing tires anyway I will be going to 205/45s. I like the look and ride of the larger profile tires as well as the wider array of tire options than the stock size. I'm afraid that when the car is more loaded down or during aggressive cornering the rub may get worse with 215/45s

I'll report back with my results on 205/45R17 tires in the next week as well as what the measured offset on these wheels are.

 

[RAAMaudio]

A 205/45/17 is a better fit than a 215/40 or 45 on a 17x7 wheel, you will have better feedback and overall grip using the car for what it was designed for, going around corners fast

I run that size combo on my all season setup which I am putting back on today, getting to cold for my summer tires now, I have the Mich PS3 AS and they are amazing for an all season tire but pretty costly.

I was just reading the lastest reviews and BFG Comp-2 AS is really a great option for much less money, I might sell my 17s and go to 16's and run them!

 

[Kip2MyLou]

A 205/45/17 is a better fit than a 215/40 or 45 on a 17x7 wheel, you will have better feedback and overall grip using the car for what it was designed for, going around corners fast

I run that size combo on my all season setup which I am putting back on today, getting to cold for my summer tires now, I have the Mich PS3 AS and they are amazing for an all season tire but pretty costly.

I was just reading the lastest reviews and BFG Comp-2 AS is really a great option for much less money, I might sell my 17s and go to 16's and run them!

If you were to go 16s what size would you get? 205/50?

 

[slowpokemd]

I was going to order 16s before these came up for sale locally. I was planning on going with 205/45r16s. The 205/45s are a little smaller than stock while the 205/50 are a little larger than stock. The 205/45s are going to be a little more responsive and I prefer the look of the 45s over the 50s

 

[RAAMaudio]

I would probably get the 45's as well unless you have really bad roads the 50 will give more rim protection.

 

[TheGreenOne]

Well at least this answers my question as to whether 17x7.5 wheels will fit with 205/45r17 tires.

 

[RAAMaudio]

Best to always look at the specs like section and tread width, diameter, weight, cost and what the tires was made for and how well reviewed and what you need from it as well as search forums for those experienced in using them in more extreme situations, autocross, HPDE, TT, rally cross, heavy rain, ice, snow.....then figure out which size is best for the wheels you want to run.

 

[Young L]

Now all tires do fit a little bit different. My toyo snowprox are 205/45 and im lowered on H&R springs and I get a slight rub on the wheels when the suspension is getting loaded up. But you can get the Dunlop ss2 in 215/40 on tirerack soooo maybe that would be better

 

[RAAMaudio]

As I mentioned on another thread you really need to take a close look at the specs on each individual tire as the size numbers used by manf are not always exact, they round up to and down to the width and aspect ratio as well as diameter is not always the same between tire sizes even from the same company.

A 205 is not always a 205, 215 not always 215, 40, 45 series, etc is not really even a measurement it is a ratio.

The 205/45/17 Mich PS A/S3 I have are a case in point, 8.1 section width, 7.5 tread width and would be better on a 7.5 or 8" wide wheel than the 7's I have them on. The 215s are only 7.6" in tread width, not the 10mm it would seem they are.

I have 225 race and street tires on 9" wheels, will work on 8's but faster on 9's, I had some 225 Hoosier race tires that had to be at least 240 if not 245 wide and I could not fit them on the back of the car but the other 225's fit just fine(my car is highly modded to fit 9" wheels in the rear)

 

[slowpokemd]

Update:

I got the new tires on last week. 205/45 BFGoodrich Comp-2s. Haven't had any rub under hard cornering but had one small instance of it coming through Baltimore a few days ago. A very large dip in the road and had a tiny bit on the fender/bumber mount but not anything I'm worried about. Also, I measured the offset and came up with a measurement of approx. 45mm. That measurement may be off by a few mm though, it seems to fit more like a +42 to me.

 

[bradst]

Looking good.

Love to hear your opinion on steering response, ride, and overall assessment of the larger diameter set-up on the road/interstate, now that it's been a couple weeks since you posted.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I just installed Pirelli Sorrozeto III 215/45R17. There is no issues for clearance on the front including the extra 5/8" the Rally Armor flaps and nuts take. The rear has 3/4" between the tire and the liner. Really just one spot where there is a knee in the liner for a brace/mount of some sort. May gave some issues over big bumps but really no more so than a 205/40R17 on a lowered car. I will keep an eye on it and will think of a better fix next year as the liner moves quite a lot.

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[BrokenSVT]

I ran 214/45 17's all last winter. The fitment was fine, with only an occasional rub over a bump. The issue I did have, was the noticable change in gearing and turn-in. The car simply felt more sluggish all-around, as might be expected from a larger/heavier wheel and tire setup.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I ran 214/45 17's all last winter. The fitment was fine, with only an occasional rub over a bump. The issue I did have, was the noticable change in gearing and turn-in. The car simply felt more sluggish all-around, as might be expected from a larger/heavier wheel and tire setup.

After a good drive this morning I did not notice any sluggishness but a more gripy pull. Seems the stockers a little on the slipperide compared to the snows. To be honest I will likely run only 91 all winter as extra torque/power does not ys help in hazard conbditions so a little more sluggishness won't be an issue for me.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I ran 214/45 17's all last winter. The fitment was fine, with only an occasional rub over a bump. The issue I did have, was the noticable change in gearing and turn-in. The car simply felt more sluggish all-around, as might be expected from a larger/heavier wheel and tire setup.

After a good drive this morning I did not notice any sluggishness but a more gripy pull. Seems the stockers a little on the slipperide compared to the snows. To be honest I will likely run only 91 all winter as extra torque/power does not ys help in hazard conbditions so a little more sluggishness won't be an issue for me.

 

[slowpokemd]

Looking good.

Love to hear your opinion on steering response, ride, and overall assessment of the larger diameter set-up on the road/interstate, now that it's been a couple weeks since you posted.

After a few weeks, I can say the steering response feels like it has slowed by a small amount but nothing concerning as it's still incredibly sharp compared to most cars. Last weekend I had a small backroad blast and they felt great. The ride is definitely better but it has highlighted what I was blaming on the tires was partly due to my suspension. I have Eibach springs on stock struts and although it seems like a better match than the stock springs, it still doesn't feel ideal. More than likely I will be going to coilovers in the near future for a better match for damping.

 

[BrokenSVT]

Well I should probably amend my post by saying that, sure, the car still felt great. I'm not sure that you could totally destroy the handling and pep that this car has with something like tires. However, it was a noticeable difference in gearing, as in I could feel the weight of the tires in accelerating and cornering.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Now this morning I did hit a nasty pot holes and it was the only time it rubbed. Speed humps, speed bumps and the likes had no issues. There is a little rub on the rear fabric liner so I will end up tacking/glueing it a little higher.

 

[BrokenSVT]

Pot holes and speed bumps were definitely the up side of the larger tires. I never once worried about messing up a wheel while running them.