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HybridZ

Tire Help


rudypoochris

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I have 15X8 rims and am having a hell of a time finding a good performance tire in a 235-255 size to fit them. Does anyone know of a 235-255 good tire that will fit a 15 inch rim with a 35-55 aspect ratio, maybe i am just retarded. I want the 235's on the front (to keep steering light and crisp) and 255's (for the power delivery) on the back, does that make sense? thanks!

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Stick to 235's all the way around, 225's would also fit well. They'll fit the rim better than 255's, and there won't be as much lateral sidewall flex. Go for around 50 aspect, 35 doesn't have very much compliance and the 50 series will actually handle better as a result. Wider in the back doesn't make sense on a Z unless you're pushing some SERIOUS hp. Even then you can make an argument that the front tires should be the same as the rear.

 

Did a quick search at tirerack.com. Not sure if this link will work. Looks like there are no 235/50/15's, but a whole bunch of 225/50/15's.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp?width=225%2F&ratio=50&diameter=15&startIndex=0&search=true&pagelen=20&pagenum=1&pagemark=1&x=83&y=13&RunFlat=All

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I found a dunlop sp 8000 sport 245/50/15 Z rating, but they are $140 (i assume that means each) kinda steep. The reviews say it is a good tire though. I think i do not want to go to 225 that isn't very much meat and i think it will look overstretched on an 8" rim, is this true?

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"Proper" tire sizing that you'll find at places like autoxes and racetracks goes like this:

6" - 185

7" - 205

8" - 225

9" - 245/255

10" - 265/275

 

What you usually find on the street is people putting the biggest tire on a rim that they can, which means 255's on an 8 is not uncommon. IME the 225 will handle and feel better on the 8 than a 255. If you only care about drag racing you might get better stick out of a 245 than a 225, but then you'd get better traction out of a 60 series than a 35 series for straight line acceleration too.

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I'd say so. I have a NA with ~240 hp probably 200 ft/lbs, 225's work fine for me. Most VARA CP3 racers are putting down ~300 hp and they race on 225/50/14's. Your torque out of your turbo is higher than an NA engine so that might make a difference. If you want 245's that's not a totally crazy idea, I'd just put them on a 9" rim. Of course you'll find plenty of guys running them on an 8" too, so take my bias into consideration.

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225/50-15s on a 15 x 8" rim:

 

Probably the perfect combination for a 240Z.

 

 

4" backspace on an 8" rim = 0 offset??

 

Cool. Got a set of those in the garage.

 

That car is obviously lowered. I must have 4 inches of open fenderwell above each tire with my near stock ride height.

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Well... the rims in the picture were (are) custom built Monocoques and when you specify backspace to them (or Kodiak for my other sets of custom wheels) backspace is actually measured to the tire bead mounting surface. Backspace is not measured to the wheel lip when ordering custom wheels.

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