Profile selection?!?

[Comrade]

I have the G35 17x7.5/8" staggered wheels on my s14 with stock sized 225 and 235/50s mounted. The front tires are terribly worn but the rears are still good for quite a while (I don't have exact measurements). I absolutely must buy new tires today, but I have an issue. I'd like to end up with a 215/40 in the front and 225/40 in the rear, but don't have the cash to spend on four new tires (especially when the rear is still fine).

Is there anything wrong with a lower profile 225/45 up front while I keep the 235/50 in the rear?

I noticed the newer Euro lux/sports cars have a higher profile in front and lower in rear while keeping the same diameter wheel all around... why is this?

Or should I just get two "cheaper" 225/50s and then go with the 40 profile when the rears finally wear out?

And I did some searching, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for... however, I may have overlooked something.

[poshatch]

i guess it would be about prefference, i mean if you can afford the lower profile tire i would go for it since front clearance is an issue for me and there is also less sidewall flex, it really depends on your performance needs and your ride height if you can fit the 50's up front with no issues then go for that if you wnat 40 or 45s do that

they keep the same diameter wheel? thats odd usually they have a staggered set up with a slight stretch in the front from what ive seen around here

[Comrade]

My suspension is stock at the moment. I wanted the lower profile tire for the stiffness; plus, I may wind up with coilovers again by the end of the year if all goes well and I make up my mind [build the s13 or s14?!]. I hate the feeling of riding on balloons. I just didn't know if it would throw anything off if I ran a lower profile in front than in the rear for a while.

My brothers 330ci with staggered 17" M wheels (17x8f and 17x8.5r, I think) runs a 45 profile in the front and a 40 in the rear. I don't understand why a larger overall radius/diameter in the front is desirable unless it's a FWD drag car. But that could be my limited knowledge on the subject... it might be awesome -- his bimmer does handle pretty well despite its heavy weight.

[poshatch]

lol when you say that it sound backwards in my head

like i would run a 40 front and 45 rear if having the tyres and the wheels and presented with the same situation

i mean if you have a thinner wheel up front wouldnt you want to run the smaller side wall since the wider wheel in the back is going to "stretch" some of that sidewall out and make it look even, or have a hugely obvious front sidewall and a major stretched rear? odd to me

[Comrade]

That makes two of us. It just doesn't seem right to go taller in the front. That's what worried me about going smaller in the front with 50s still on the rear. I mean, if BMW and Mercedes does it...

[poshatch]

it wont make that big a difference overall i dont think

i mean i run what i can in the back haha

i got 205 45 16 front and 205 60 15 rear sooooo yeah lol

[Comrade]

Wow, yeah... I doubt my 45/50 dilemma will cause too many problems then. Thanks for the replies.

[ScrapnSidwayz]

hey man well the profile number of a tire really isnt just for profile, its called the aspect ratio.

heres a quick explanation of aspect ratio that i found on a website.
This two-digit number indicates the tire's aspect ratio. It compares the tire's inflated section height, which is the distance from the bead to the tread, to its section width (maximum). An aspect ratio of 65 means that the tire's section height is 65% of the tire's section width.

for example if you compare a 205/50/16 to a 225/50/16 then the 225/50/16 will be taller.

for another example i run 205/50/16 on the front and 225/45/16 on the rear of my car but the overall diameter is almost exactly the same. you said your brother runs a staggered 17x8f and 17x8.5r setup so im pretty sure he has a wider tire on the rear then he does on the front so he has different aspect ratio to keep the diameter the same.

lol im not sure if that helped. i expained it the best i could through typing.

[ScrapnSidwayz]

and to answer your question. no theres nothing wrong with running 225/45 front and 235/50 rear. it will probably just make the front of your car sit lower but its not going to damage or mess anything up.

[Comrade]

Ah! See, I knew it was a ratio of sorts, but didn't think was related to the width(I had thought it was an overall height ratio). So the German thing makes sense now. A lot of things make sense now. Thanks for the heads up.

[ScrapnSidwayz]

no prob man. im glad i could help.