rebelMan

I currently have 215/35 on my rear bBist/Sportmaxx 962's, the wheels are 18x8.5 and i have the 10mm OTG spacers.

The reason that i have the 215's on there is because i used to be on air and with the rear all the way down, having these tires with a slight stretch would eliminate rubbing or having the fender cut into my tires.

I already cut out the fender lip and with these current tires with the suspension as low as possible I had under 5mm of clearance (but still had clearance).


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Anyhow, now I just have Tanabe df210's (red) in the back with the shorter Monroe shocks (not that this matters). I don't need the stretch anymore and would like to have a wider tire for a beefy-er look. My current tires are almost at 0% tread on the inside half (outsides have like 20% or so).

So what would be a good tire size to run for a squared look so to speak?

rebelMan

I need a response lol, my tires are almost gonzo:

Persocon

8.5 into a square will be 255 wide, that will give you a little extra tire so you don't curb your rims. 245 would be flush if you try hard, it will give way and curb your rims. I'd say 255

rebelMan

Sweet thanks for the info! I don't really care about my rear wheels since the lips of both of them are already f***ed up, the polishing peeled off and after that i haven't cared about curbing them lol (which is especially easy to do with the current stretched tires).

I think i'm going to try 245 just to give me the extra 5mm clearance on either side as opposed to having 255 ... they should still look sweet though.

joshboogie

I don't think the 245 is going to fit to be honest. I'd say go with 235 MAX. If you don't want the tire to wear so bad on the inner edge go with some Nitto NeoGen's. They made for camber up to 10 degrees.

rebelMan

Interesting, i'll take this into consideration. I most likely will however stay with Dunlop because the rear tires have over 25k miles on them and i think that's pretty damn good that they lasted that long! And now that i'm not on air, i don't think the camber wear will be as severe

Persocon

2008 Audi S5 19x8.5 wide 255/35ZR-19 Car and Driver Oct 07 issue page 52
2008 BMW M5 runs 8.5 wide in the front, also 255 wide tire.

joshboogie

That doesn't mean it'll fit on the xB. I'm not saying it won't fit the rim.

Persocon

he's already had his fender lips cut out and Tanabe DF210 doesn't lower it enough as long as he doesn't go too tall on the tire sidewall

rebelMan

^^ this is true, thanks for the input guys.

Another thing is for some reason now i actually have rubbing of the passenger rear tire, which i never experienced when i was on air, but the good news is that it's the top of the tire rubbing in one small spot in the top of the wheel-well. It only happens with passengers in the back (or a lot of random heavy things) and when i go over a moderate "bump" at highway speed.

It also happens sometimes when i do some hardcore on-ramp turning with just me in the car, lol but only during hardcore turns which doesn't happen that often.

I think i've decided to go with a 255 width and see how i like it, i can always go smaller next time

joshboogie

The rear passenger side it 5mm different from the driver. If I remember correctly when you are on DF210's it's like a 3 mm difference because the rear shifts. If it's slightly rubbing now with the 215's them I be it doesn't even roll with the 255's. Not even it you find a 25 series tire.

rebelMan

What you're saying about the 5mm difference on the passenger side is true, however i think you misunderstood what i was saying.

The top of my tire is rubbing the top of the wheel-well. The top of the tire meaning the actual tread, and it's only hitting one spot about the size of a quarter in the wheel-well. So even if i was to run a skinnier tire on these 18's or even skinnier 18's, it will still rub under the same conditions. Even so, it's something that happens maybe once a month if that. I rarely ever have 2 people in the back of the car, nor do i have a lot of heavy things in the back of my car, so i'm fine with that being the only rubbing i have. I'm sure that going wider will have more rubbing but it should be minimal (as in only happens under certain conditions, not an everyday thing), we'll see

hammer_time

i would go with 245 on an 8.5 rim but u def need to do something about the angle of u wheels a camber kit or something that is some horribly uneven tire wear

rebelMan

As i mentioned previously, i used to be on air and that accounts for the uneven wear. I have since sold all the air stuff and went back to just lowering springs and shorter struts/shocks. This being said, my next set of tires will wear a LOT more evenly.