Falken Azenis RT660 215/45-16?

[green_henry]

I think I have one track day left on my Bridgestone RE71s and am considering replacing them with Falkens. The RE71s are 205/45-16, and the Falkens are only available in 215/45-16. The FiST is mildly lowered on Swifts. Am I going to be ok with 215s? Also, Falken's website says that both the 660s and 615s perform better when cool, which is never going to be the case at Thunderhill (where it's normally in the 90s and often in the low 100s). I would normally buy Hankook R-S4s for this reason, but they're hard to find right now (other than tirerack).

Thoughts?

 

[Erick_V]

You should be ok. I raised the front a little bit after taking these pictures and I don’t rub anymore. I’m somewhat low too. Haven’t had a chance to run it at autocross just yet but I haven’t rubbed since raising the car, even on pretty big dips. These are 215/45/16 on a 16x8 Dekagram

 

[green_henry]

Whew, that's close. I have Enkei RPF-1 16x7s. Looks good!

 

[Dpro]

ya I probably would not rub if I put 215/45 RT660’s on my Dekas as I did not rub with my Feddys. The 215/40/17 is a taller tire which is why I ran into some rubbing.

 

[Erick_V]

ya I probably would not rub if I put 215/45 RT660’s on my Dekas as I did not rub with my Feddys. The 215/40/17 is a taller tire which is why I ran into some rubbing.

The RT660’s are THICK compared to the RS Pro’s. They’re bigger in every dimension and it really shows once they’re on the car. Should try them with your S280, I’m hooking second on a FBO E30 car. I would roast second on RS-Pro’s unless they were hot lol

Whew, that's close. I have Enkei RPF-1 16x7s. Looks good!

Only rubbing I had was on the plastic fender liner. I surprisingly wasn’t hitting the nub for the bumper bolts which is what I originally thought would be the case. I wonder how ballooned it’ll look on 16x7’s. IMO they look perfect on 16x8.

 

[Dpro]

The RT660’s are THICK compared to the RS Pro’s. They’re bigger in every dimension and it really shows once they’re on the car. Should try them with your S280, I’m hooking second on a FBO E30 car. I would roast second on RS-Pro’s unless they were hot lol



Only rubbing I had was on the plastic fender liner. I surprisingly wasn’t hitting the nub for the bumper bolts which is what I originally thought would be the case. I wonder how ballooned it’ll look on 16x7’s. IMO they look perfect on 16x8.

Well ya the RS Pro’s were like almost 215’s and the RT660’s are like almost 225’s. I have 215/40 17 RT660’s on Titans now the Dekas are currently sitting though I am thinking of ripping the RS Pro’s off them and selling them and getting a set of RT660’s for the Deka’s. I could spin the Pro’s a lot with the S280 I am just plain hooking with the RT660’s to the point that I have more torque steer lol. Ya its time for a better passenger side engine mount and a LSD.

 

[M-Sport fan]

The 660s are substantially wider in tread width than the 615s, which I never really liked due to how narrow they are for any given size.

I am not sure of the size he is using, but Woods247 posted back bumper pic of his car with some size 615+ on it, and they look like a 185 to me, in tread width.

 

[ronmcdon]

You should be ok. I raised the front a little bit. These are 215/45/16 on a 16x8 Dekagram

This is great info! Was looking to run 225/45/16 Dunlop Z3’s on my (16x8 +38 RPF1) to replace my existing 205/50/16 Dunlop Z3’s.

Really good to know it doesnt rub outside fenders as that’s what I was worried about. If I can avoid getting fenders rolled or flares put on asap will def save me money for now

 

[foodtruck]

The 660s are substantially wider in tread width than the 615s, which I never really liked due to how narrow they are for any given size.

I am not sure of the size he is using, but Woods247 posted back bumper pic of his car with some size 615+ on it, and they look like a 185 to me, in tread width.

Narrow thread is probably my only complaint about Indy 500's I'm running right now. I'm looking forward to trying 660s next... Hopefully 215 is not too wide for 7" rim.

EDIT: Interesting, TR quotes 660 thread width as 7.5" and 615k thread width at 7.6"... both for 215/45R16

 

[M-Sport fan]

Maybe it's just the very square shoulders/outer edge blocks of the 660s that make them appear to be much wider in tread width than the 615s?

 

[Dpro]

Narrow thread is probably my only complaint about Indy 500's I'm running right now. I'm looking forward to trying 660s next... Hopefully 215 is not too wide for 7" rim.

EDIT: Interesting, TR quotes 660 thread width as 7.5" and 615k thread width at 7.6"... both for 215/45R16

615’s do run wide as well.I remember because Koozy put them on his Dekagrams with ST springs and Bilsteins and they rubbed. He went coilovers so he could adjust ride height.

For a comparison a Dunlop ZIII Direzza 225/45 16 has a section width of 8.9 and tread with of 7.9 so basically its just 2/10’s of inch more section with and 3-4 10ths of inch tread width.
So basically it should be very doable on an 8 inch 40 offset 16 wheel. ....but if you want stickiness with a close to 225 size for less money than a RT660 is the ticket.