Tire size? And do I need coilovers?

[Guest ShelbyZ]

Well, after four months of waiting my new wheels finally came in! They are 16x8 w/zero offset. I have called several places "Discount Tire and Sears" and I'm getting different answers as far as the proper size-225/50 or 245/45's.

 

I am considering ordering two of each. I saw Bob Hal's wheels for sale w/225/50's. They fit under the fender with non-coilovers. I would like to have the 245/45's in the rear but, just wondering if coilovers would be needed to get the clearence between the tire and spring?

 

Ross, are ya out there?

 

I don't want to have to run spacers. I am going with the "ZG" flares and if needed will cut the fenders under the flares to get proper clearences. Has anyone done anything close to this as far as these tire and wheel sizing? I saw the pics of the white Z with the gray flares and wheels listed under "Woah my new favorite Z" and I like the look. I'm trying to get an idea of what the two tire sizes look like mounted. I can't get my Z to the tire shop to have a test fit done because my old wheels won't fit over my new brakes. And tires are a lot cheaper from "Tire Rack and Discount Tire" than the local tire shops. So I would like to get them online.

 

I also looked at the white Z with the "Monoque?" wheels on 9 or 9.5". Nice Z, and he stated that the 245/45's needed to be on this size of wheel. I plan on autocrossing and daily driver and limited track time. So if it ends up riding some what rougher on the street that's okay.

 

Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

Keep ZZZZZZZZZing,

 

ShelbyZ

[jeromio]

Keep in mind that tire sizes vary by make and model - sizing is no where near an exact thingio. For instance, my friend's M3 has 235/45/17 Dunlops and my Z has 235/45/17 Dunlops. But they are different models (mine are SP5000 - not sure what his were - more expensive no doubt) and are different sizes dimensionally. Mine are sort of round with less contact patch ( http://240z.jeromio.com/newwheels.html - you can see how they don't even look very wide whereas the M3 tires really look fat). His are much more square with the sidewall width being pretty much the same from rim lip to tread. My tires clear my coils (coilovers) just barely. If I had his tires, I think they would rub.

[blueovalz]

With the stock spring size on my 280, I had 16" X 8" wheels with 245/45ZR16 tires. The wheel backspacing was 4-7/16" which for all practical purposes, is centered and zero offset (9" wide lip to lip). I had about a "pinkies width" between the fender and the springs at the section width, and it never rubbed. The 245 fit very nicely on these wheels. According to the "245" width, I should have had a "bulge" of about 3/8" on both sides of the wheels, but in reality, the tires only had about 1/8" bulge past the wheels lips, thus I wondered how much validity the section width numbers really have. I have seen some 245 size tires on 8" wheels that appeared to be too wide for that size wheel. In my case I was using th Comp T/A tires, and it was a perfect fit.

[Guest ShelbyZ]

Jeromio, I noticed that too with the tire sizing. I was on Tire Racks site and was comparing the specs of what was suppose to be the same size of tire, but the actual diminsions were different. I'll have to check out your site again, thanks.

 

Blueovalz, I went to Compomotive's site and refreshed my memory. The backspacing is suppose to be 4.4" from what I can tell. That's about what your talking about, correct. So this should work. I'll check Tire Racks spec page on the Comp TA's to get the sizing and compare that to the other tires I was looking at and find a similar size. By the way I have a friend of mine that just drools all over the computer everytime he see's a pic of your Z. If your ever up in this area look us up.

 

Thanks again for the replys.

Keep ZZZZZZZZing,

ShelbyZ