Currently looking for a set of new tires. As of now I have 245/40/18 on a 9.5" ET44 wheel. Looking to get a nice full tire with squared shoulder, no stretch at all. My current tires are 25.7" tall with 811 rev per mile, I would like to stay as close to that as possible. Also, Im comfortable with my ride height and will not be going any lower.

My thoughts: Something Beefy
> 255/40/18 ?
> 275/35/18 ?
> 265/40/18 ?

Space available:

outside


Inside

 

The tires you have look great and should have tons of grip. Mine are the same size and I have yet to find their limit.. Going bigger on the tire is going to add more tire weight than the Tc can make use of the extra tread. Unless you are going to boost her, I'd stick with what you have. If you just want the look and don't care about losing power due to the extra weight, it's your ride. As long as you're happy I get it. I am just trying to let you in on the pros and cons. You already seem to know what fits, you just have to choose what sacrifices to make.
Your wheel offset of 44mm is going to limit your tire choices, unless you use spacers...imo more useless weight.
I'd say 255/40/18's would be your max...10" of tread. MAYBE a 265/40...
How much clearance do you have from the strut to wheel inner lip? Also what about your current tire to strut clearance? Remember the tires will flex a bit under cornering, you need some wiggle room.
I'd love to see a 275/35/18, but almost 11 inches of tread width I would bet they would not clear the struts.
BTW when you first posted the pics of your Tc with the new wheels and tires, it killed me. The stockers no longer would cut it for me after seeing yours! Thanks for making me spend almost 2 grand on wheels/tires!!
Disclaimer; I am no tire god! I am a tire builder..aka Bridgestone Rubber Monkeys.

 

Here is all you need:

http://www.tyrestretch.com/index.php

http://www.willtheyfit.com/

 

@ Blackedout011TC - The tires ride great and grip like a ****, its more of a visual thing that is bothering me. I do hate to add 6 lbs per corner with bigger tires. It would put me at being 3 lbs lighter then the stock setup. I will have to crawl under there tonight and check the clearances, I haven't checked that yet. Thanks for the kind words about my setup :D

@noskatehate22 - thanks man, willtheyfit.com is a pretty handy tool!

 

The Michelin Pilot Super Sport in 265/35ZR18/XL is designed for an 18 X 9.5 wheel and it has 822 revs/mile and it is Michelin P/N 34639. Mounted on a 9.5” wheel, the whole tire width will be 10.7” Costco sells them under Stock number 577022 for $267.99 each. http://tires2.costco.com/product.aspx?ItemNo=577022&SearchID=c0db03da-76b4-44dd-a3ac-bc23e87b5249

 

255/40/18 is the one thats closest to stock diameter. You won't be fooled by your speedometer because it is <1% off. I also recommend the Michelin Pilot Super Sport. (there is a rebate on them right now)

 

Wrong! The OEM tire is 225/45R18 and Michelin makes a Pilot Super Sport in that size too. It rolls 802 revs/mile…that would only give you a 2.5% error from OEM so that is well within 5% allowable.

 

THESE WEBSITES

 

whoops. I meant 255/40/18.



Both are within 5% but the 255/40/18 is a better fit. And is CLOSER to OEM. Also where I live (DC), you're hitting potholes on the daily. A 35 wouldn't survive.

 

Wrong again...a better fit is a tire on the designed width of wheel and not on the acceptable range of widths. A 265 is designed for a 9.5" wide wheel. Just like the 255 is designed for a 9" wheel but it is acceptable to put it on a 9.5" wheel...but it is by no means a better fit.

 

I don't think a 35 series tire would be good around here either. I'm thinking of getting a 255/40/18 with the largest section width I can find. I found one with a 10.4 section width (rim is 10.5 lip to lip), that should give me an almost vertical sidewall....right?

 

I rather have my speedometer be accurate. The tires are advertised as fitting a range of widths. So I guess we're at a stalemate. The 255/40/18 keeps your revs per mile as close to OEM as possible, and keeps the speedometer more accurate. Where did you pull that 5% from anyway?

The extra .4 inches you'll get from a 265 do not outweigh the risks of running a 35 tire. Don't worry grandpa, you're not going that fast anyway. Your autofail will never even make it to the racetrack.

Furthermore, for every 1000 miles you drive, your odometer will be 25 miles off.


I agree. Sizing varies across manufacturers, so just find one you like.

1stOne has plenty of rubber to put down. No need to run a 265, the car won't benefit that much more from it.

 

 

Look everyone, get that number out of your heads! It is just that, a number. And yes one is 35 and the other 40. But look at what we are all doing…looking for the same rolling diameter by looking for the number of revolutions per mile. If the diameters are the same, you have exactly the same amount of rubber above the rim! So what difference does it make whether the side of tire says 35 or 40? Just because one bad decision was already made don’t make another bad one. Two wrongs don’t make it right! You are stuck with an 18 X 9.5 because that decision was already made…work with it. The OP asked for the best tire...question answered.

 

Any time you get tired of your car, I'll race you in your car against me and my car on any road course for pinks...

 

you dont have many choices

if you dont like the stretched look at all then 255/40/18 you may not be satisfied with

265/35/18 will look the best but it reduces the sidewall height a bit

275/35/18 may rub....


I personally hate reducing sidewall height because of comfort/noise as well as higher chance of curb rush

you should really consider diameter deviation/comfort/noise/price/weight/performance/appearance and then make your choice between the 2

 

255/40R18 is the way to go. Speedo is the same as stock and you will have less of a stretched look than your 245's gave you. If I had the money to do it, that's the tire size I'd run.

 

Ok, so Im down to 255/40/18 or 275/35/18. 265/35 is just a little short for me.

I went to the Nitto website and got all of the exact dimensions for the tire I want to run. Also, I crawled around under the car and measured points of possible contact. Then I drew everything to scale! Seems like these 275/35's should work. How much "wiggle" room do you need for tire flex? Also I wanted 2tCornot2tC to look over my diagrams and see if i missed anything!

 

I’m running 255/30ZR19s on 19X9 wheels with a 40-mm offset. Their section width is 10.2”. Since yours is 10.8” that means that your wheels are 0.3 wider on a side but you will be 4-mm closer inboard with your offset or 0.16”. Add that to the 0.3 you’ll get 0.46”. When I put my wheels on, it seemed like the closest spot was on the rear at the drag link. That is on the forward side of the upright that goes to the chassis. If I recall right, I think there was only about ½” there clearance on my car. You’ve used that all up. Even with the wheels that I’ve got, on a good bump, I would still hear a rub…I can’t see any traces of a rub, but I can hear it. That is only when the suspension is bottomed out on a bump or hard in a corner. The car is lowered on TRD springs.

This is what you need to do. Take off one of your rear wheels. Lay it down on the garage floor. Get a straight edge or a 3-foot ruler and lay it on edge on the sidewalls of the tire. Measure the distance from the garage floor to the bottom of the ruler’s edge. This is the section width of your tire. Since the OEM wheel is 18” and you are replacing it with an 18” wheel and both have the same diameters, the high spot in the sidewall of your proposed tire will be in the same place. Let’s say you measured 8-3/4”. The new tire will be 10.8 so your difference will be 2.05”. Divide that by 2 and you have 1.03”. The OEM wheel has a 39 offset and you will have a 44 offset or a difference of 5-mm. That is 0.20”. You need to add that to the 1.03” for 1.23”. Put your wheel back on and measure the distance from the high point on the tire to the drag link. If you don’t have 1.5”, then the tire/wheel won’t fit. Even at that, you will only have 1/4" gap...if you are only going low and slow, that is probaly good enough. 3/8" to 1/2" would be much better. These are low profile tires...they don't flex much.

 

Well, it looks like I have some more measuring to do! I will take off the wheel and measure like you suggested, and check the clearance on the drag link.

I might just stop by a used tire shop and just buy an old worn out 275/35 just to see if it fits