I was wondering how much of a difference was the ride when you upgraded to 17" rims. I'm thinking of going with 17" 7 inch width with 205/40/17 and was wondering if the ride quality gets a lot worse or minimal change. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

Tryed to do a search but couldn't really find anything in regards to this tire size.

 

you are gonna have good ride quality and performance with this size. not a harsh ride. btw what wheels are you getting? thats the same setup i have..

 

The best thing it to get a nice lite wheel . my lava is on 19 and lowered and rides very close to stock . Id reccomend the nitto neogen and id probably go a little bigger than a 205/4017. Ive been doing scions lowered with either 215/4018 or 215/3519 the 205/4017 are just to small. If your set on 17's id go with a 215/4517 but the sidewall will look a little large.

 

I was looking into 20 inch wheels, but tire price could be a future issue. I don't have Cali roads in New England. LOL

Plus because of the different conditions here it's not a bright idea to lower your vehicle. For me, 17s are too small for my taste, I'd go with either 18s ro 20s if I could.

If I get these 18s, what tire size should I run to keep from having a bumpy ride?



They are similar, if not exact to the 20s I was considering.

Help here, my RS1 coming soon...

 

I was thinking of going with these Motegi RT5s in silver:

http://www.motegiracing.com/wheels/d...yle=2023&desc=

they list the weight at 19 lbs, which doesn't seem that heavy based on the wheels I have been looking at so far.

 

So your saying the actual tire manufacturer is a big factor also? I was leaning towards Falken ZE-512. I didn't think there would be a big difference in weight going from one tire company to the other. I knew there can be big difference between wheel makers.

 

the tires have only a small variance in weight. I own o wheel buisness and have sold the nitto product of 25 years and choose to put it on cars i set up because it rides so so well. We were given a set a falkens for my dads t bird and we had to rip them off the car because they road to bad.

 

I had those Falken 512's on my last car - TERRIBLE!! They had awful road noise and crappy ride quality. I went with Summitomo's this time - we'll see how that goes (RS is supposed to be here Friday 3-19).

 

i really dont have alota experience with tires but i can recommend nitto. i have nitto nt 555 on my mustang and i swear fo god those tires are the best i have ever seen. for the price. ordered nitto neo gen for my xb. its my understanding that the neo gen has a harder compound so we'll see how this works. all in all there isn't enought diff. in tire companies to cause problems with size. now when it comes to quality and performance the brand makes a whole lota diff.

 

Strictly based on diameter alone, the 215/40 r 17 is the absolute closest match possible. 205 40's are cheaper and are used more on "wheel and tire deals"

 

Thanks for all the input. I think I'll move up to the 215/40/17 and look into those Nittos. I live in Northeast so i have to make sure they'll be Ok in the snow but also considering that I'll probably keep the stocks rims and tires and put those on in the winter if necessary. It will make the tires last longer anyway.

Anybody have any experience with www.barretire.com? Thanks again.

 

IF I RUN AN 18X7.5 WITH 40 SERIES TIRES WILL THEY RUBB?

 

Check your own thread for my reply. First we need a lot more info.
40 series has little to do with rubbing you need to specify the important number which is WIDTH becasue 40 series means 40% as "thick" as the tread is wide.

a 205/40 and a 275 40 are radically different in height and width, but they are still 40 series
If you choose the right size tire and the right rim offset then there is no reason for them to RUBB or rub unless you get a ridiculous offset and/or drive like a maniac w/o swaybars!

 

A nice tire that I personally have had good experience with is the nitto 450.
Good all round tire, handle nice on the freeway, sand rain, should be ok iiin light snow during sring fall just before you change out to a winter tire.

Most don't like them because they are not a super soft performance compound or a harder touring compound. However they do last morethan a several thousand miles

I run them on my AWD talon because I don't lack for traction, but they ride nice and handle "predictably" in the wet. They also run real nice on sand
They are not the quietest or the loudest tire out there. Instead they are real nice right smack in the middle of every area tires, ie Daily driver tires
Neogens look real nice also but I have no personal experience with them inregards to handling vs ride comfort vs noise vs wear vs Price. (under 100 for 215/40R17)
450s are Good in all 4 areas 9I run 225/45/r17's on the talon.
If anyone has a better recommendation I will also be interested

Just my .02