I just got 17x7 inch Enkei RSE rims and was wondering what the best tire combo that would fit on the rims would be? Thanks for the info!

-David:icesangel

depends on what your looking for. Tread wear? Traction? All season? Price range. Biggest tire you can fit on there are 235/45/17's. Look at tirerack, and discounttire. You also might wanna post this under the wheel/tires section

I would put 225/45/17, but thats just me.

bp2ooo wrote:depends on what your looking for. Tread wear? Traction? All season? Price range. Biggest tire you can fit on there are 235/45/17's. Look at tirerack, and discounttire. You also might wanna post this under the wheel/tires section

depends on what your goals are. let us know how you use the car and what you want out of the tire and we can help you more.-chet

the widest id go on a 7 in wide trim is 215, 225 may be possible though.

91nis240 wrote:the widest id go on a 7 in wide trim is 215, 225 may be possible though.

What?? And this is from what source? 225s fit fine on OE 16x6.5s, 215s would be a total waste of money. Might as well put Schwinn tires on it so when you corner it will rollover better. Go with at least a 235 for grip.

R240NA wrote:What?? And this is from what source? 225s fit fine on OE 16x6.5s, 215s would be a total waste of money. Might as well put Schwinn tires on it so when you corner it will rollover better. Go with at least a 235 for grip.

MUHAHAHA good to see you havent changed man. I have 225's on my 6.5's, so Id go 235 as well on a 7".

I am running 235/40's on my 17x7's now in the back, I am very happy with them, they perform well and definatly fill in the wheel well gap much better that my 205/40's did

You are not correct. 235 is too wide for a 7 inch rim. It will fit, but it will handle worse than with 215s or 225s because your contact patch will be reduced by using a rim that is not wide enough. Imagine a 235 on your Schwinn's rim, it will turn oval and have no where near 235 millimeters of surface area on the road.

Go to tirerack and check the specs on the exact model and size or at least exact size and see what rim widths will work, if you don't follow those specs, then wider is worse.

If you really want 235s knock your-self out, but if it's better grip you are after, then a set of 225/45/17 falken azenis would do you proper, and that's not the ideal width rim, but at least it is within the spec.

that

R240NA wrote:What?? And this is from what source? 225s fit fine on OE 16x6.5s, 215s would be a total waste of money. Might as well put Schwinn tires on it so when you corner it will rollover better. Go with at least a 235 for grip.

225/50/16s also fit on 16 x6 rims, but that does not mean $hit when your talken' bout 235s.

check tirerack

The tire manufacturers have engineers paid to research these things and you are obviously not one of them.

Go ahead and put tires that are too wide, but at least admit that it's just for show and not for grip.

looky here for rim width ranges on many popular 240sx tire sizes

R240NA wrote:What?? And this is from what source? 225s fit fine on OE 16x6.5s, 215s would be a total waste of money. Might as well put Schwinn tires on it so when you corner it will rollover better. Go with at least a 235 for grip.

sheadee240 wrote:You are not correct. 235 is too wide for a 7 inch rim. It will fit, but it will handle worse than with 215s or 225s because your contact patch will be reduced by using a rim that is not wide enough.

I agree,.. beside why small rims and big tires??

i have 215/40's on my 17x7's....fits perfectly. I would also recommend a shorter tire (lower aspect ratio; the second number, 40) to anyone: Shorter tire=less diamter=more car-to-ground torque. it also minimzes side-to-side play during hard cornering. Lite wheels definately help out with acceleration as well.

perpetual gyro wrote:i have 215/40's on my 17x7's....fits perfectly. I would also recommend a shorter tire (lower aspect ratio; the second number, 40) to anyone: Shorter tire=less diamter=more car-to-ground torque. it also minimzes side-to-side play during hard cornering. Lite wheels definately help out with acceleration as well.

Sorry, I have to disagree on this one.. 215/40 with 17x7 just not a good match on 240sx... if you talking about S13 i think tire size 215/45 17 - 17x7.0 +30 (front) and 235/40 17 - 17x8.0 +38 (rear) will be good size for it..

SR180SX wrote:Sorry, I have to disagree on this one.. 215/40 with 17x7 just not a good match on 240sx... if you talking about S13 i think tire size 215/45 17 - 17x7.0 +30 (front) and 235/40 17 - 17x8.0 +38 (rear) will be good size for it..

hey SR180SX. I'm curious as to why you would choose this setup. Can you please explain yourself? Thanks.

that's not my set up, but if you go for 17 that's how you should do it. Odometer will be off if you go 215/40 (not by much but will be off). Why that setup? because that's what people recommanded in japan for S13

What I'm concerned most about is performance, not the odometer reading. If you could give reasons as to why people in Japan suggested this setup, that'd be appreciated. otherwise, I can only take your statement with a grain of salt.

I am not try to argue with you... You can have whatever size you like...



Greddy, HKS, Nismo 180SX all used the similar setup I was talking about... they are performance shop aren't they?

225-45-17 all around, and you can get racing tires in that size easily. if you want a split setup you can run 225-45-17 front and a 245-40-17 or 255-40-17 rear. thats what I'm using. I need some sidewall to maximise road coars handling and protect the wheel a bit, and the contact patch of those sizes(with the correct wheel width) is more than enough for any driver.

I would recomend 215-45-17 and 235-40-17 because I considered doing that myself, and keeps the OD between front and rear nearly the same, and will give you a slightly wider contact patch on the rear of the car....

blah. its 6am and Im going to class.-chet

sheadee240 wrote:225/50/16s also fit on 16 x6 rims, but that does not mean $hit when your talken' bout 235s.

check tirerack

The tire manufacturers have engineers paid to research these things and you are obviously not one of them.

Go ahead and put tires that are too wide, but at least admit that it's just for show and not for grip.

looky here for rim width ranges on many popular 240sx tire sizes

Gee sport, why you want to be an *******? You're basing your facts on tirerack? The 'performance tire specialists', who refuse to give offsets to any of their wheels and don't advise going above a 215 in any size. These are the same people who told me a 235 wouldn't even fit my car, regardless of wheel size. Great source of information, these guys are. Obviously, no, I'm not a tire engineer, neither is anyone of the 'salesmen' who read through a basic 'recommendation' guide written by someone else. I dropped over two seconds off my average autocross laptime by going to a 225 on my 6.5s, seems grip was enhanced. Why would I consider a larger tire show? Do I show my car? Have you even seen my car and know how I drive it?

SR180SX wrote:I am not try to argue with you... You can have whatever size you like...



Greddy, HKS, Nismo 180SX all used the similar setup I was talking about... they are performance shop aren't they?

I think so.

Anyway, I'm not trying to argue with you either....i'm one of those people who needs to know the "why" of everything. I don't just take someone's advice as being true just because they said it. Anyway, I will look into your recommendation further. I'm sure it's nothing a little research can uncover. Thanks bro.

i would go with the 45 profile it fills the wheel wells very nicely without any rubbing. I have a set of 17 X 7's on my 95 s14. Everyone always tells me they are the perfect rims for my car but I don't really like them.

On a 17x7" wheel, the widest I'd go is 215 with a 45 aspect ratio.

I found this page ( http://www.yokohamatire.com/utrimwidth.asp ). You can use it as a guide.

Just because you can fit a wider tire on a wheel doesn't make it right. I wouldn't be so concerned with performance...your personal safety should be number one. Just imagine your tire de-beading in the middle of one of those 'oh so fun' off ramps that we all love to take at 80+mph. It wouldn't be too good now would it?

And a little F.Y.I. Wheel diameter, wheel width, tire width, and aspect ratio all go hand in hand. As R240NA keeps telling everybody, his 225/50/16 work just fine on his O.E. 6" wide wheel...and they should...but that doesn't mean a 235/45/17 will work OK on a 7" wide wheel. Think about how much easier a tire could de-bead with a shorter, stiffer sidewall on a larger wheel. Especially if you are low on air and driving hard (a mistake one could easily make considering the fact that 3/4 of cars on the road today have at least 1 under-inflated tire).

If you say "at least 235s on a 17 x 7 inch rim then either you are not very knowledgeable or you only care about show (looks), obviously I was mistaken. You are just simply not very knowledgeable. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I never said that there is anything wrong with "225 on my 6.5s" I have actually recommended that setup (225/50/16) and quoted tirerack (your favorite place) by saying that you could actually squeeze them onto 6 inch rims (6.5 inch is even better and a 5 inch rim would be stupid!) but the "'recommendation' guide" that you speek of is actually a listing of tire specs supplied by the manufacturer. I was being an a$$hole, that's the ONE thing you are right about, but to tell other people that at least 235s on a 7 inch rim is best for grip is just silly!

I am truly sorry to be such an a hole, but at least 235s on a 7 in rim is just a really REALLY bad idea!

BTW it was a tirerack salesperson that sold me my 235/40/17s knowing that they were going on an S14 and they will give you wheel offsets over the phone ( I also wish the were on the web-site).

It is tricky for them to recommend wider tires, because they do not know what offset you have; and unless they have done the exact same upgrade with both tire size and offset on the exact same vehicle, then there is no perfect science to squezing wider tires under your car.

There are more knowledgeable people there and if you get stuck with another A$$ hole just tell him that you don't care about his recommendations and that you would just like to place the order.

Good luck

Now that I have been an a$$HOLE you probably will not listen to my recommendation, but the 225/45/17 Falken azenis sport is an awesome sticky tire that is the widest tire you should (based on manufacturer specs put onto a 7 inch rim.

discount tire 112 shipped will be my next tire

-SPORT

R240NA wrote:Gee sport, why you want to be an *******? You're basing your facts on tirerack? The 'performance tire specialists', who refuse to give offsets to any of their wheels and don't advise going above a 215 in any size. These are the same people who told me a 235 wouldn't even fit my car, regardless of wheel size. Great source of information, these guys are. Obviously, no, I'm not a tire engineer, neither is anyone of the 'salesmen' who read through a basic 'recommendation' guide written by someone else. I dropped over two seconds off my average autocross laptime by going to a 225 on my 6.5s, seems grip was enhanced. Why would I consider a larger tire show? Do I show my car? Have you even seen my car and know how I drive it?