Oh no! (Tire content)

Well, just out of curiousity, i checked TireRack and DTD to see if Hankook had released the RS3 in my size yet.

Imagine my surprise when i saw that my total choices between the two sites gave me:

1) Continental ContiSportContact (No thanks)
2) Fuzion ZRi (HELL no.)
3) DOT Competition slicks (not doing me any good on a street driven car)

Uhhhhh...... E36 M3.

What do i do? Looking for 245/45-16 (245/40-16 would be ideal, but doesn't exist, apparently.) I have RS2s now, i don't want to go backwards at all. Buying a new set of wheels right now is not in the cards, and i'd prefer to keep my set now for at least another few years because i like them.

Just buy something close... it's not the end of the world!

kb58 wrote: Just buy something close... it's not the end of the world!

Well... like what? Nothing in:

235/45-16
225/45-16
255/45-16

And i dont want to go to 265/45-16, tire is too tall for comfort and i run an 8" wide wheel.

I can't be the only person running 245/45-16s.. i used to be able to get RS2s and RT615s in that size, now they're gone.

Toyo. R1R comes in a 225/45-16. Definately faster than the ol' Kooks.

STS_ZX2 wrote: Toyo. R1R comes in a 225/45-16. Definately faster than the ol' Kooks.

So basically i'm completely boned in 245/45-16, huh? I was really wanting to stay with that width. If i jump down to a 225, it's just going to be a continual slap in the fact that the car isn't ST legal anyways.

T1R comes in that size. Not quite a top-shelp autocrosser--too much void, but makes a nice rain tire. I had them on a B6 Passat--ran a season in GS Street Tire in 2006--took some laps at Road America on them too.

The R1R in a little narrower size would still beat the T1R in the slightly wider size. The T1R might not be too far off of the RS2s--I never liked those as autocross tires. I had them on a STS Focus and used them as dailys...

I'm just not too psyched about losing almost an inch of width.

I'm almost contemplating getting my wheels widened by an inch, taking the hit on diameter, and running the Kumho XS 265/45-16s. (Or can i safely run those on a 16x8?)

This sucks.

I think the problem is that it's a car that had a factory diameter of 23.9". There's hardly anything out there.

RA1's FTMFW.

I have that same 23.9" problem on my ZX2SR. I run a 23.1 Hoosier for track days.

Bobzilla wrote: RA1's FTMFW.

This may end up being my best bet....

iceracer wrote: I have that same 23.9" problem on my ZX2SR. I run a 23.1 Hoosier for track days.

Yeah, i can find slicks that work, but it's a street car mainly at this point, and autox will be the only competition it sees this season.

I'm more worried about the future, though... this is the last season it'll have this weaksauce motor in it, and i'm going to need all the tire i can get next season.

Those Kumhos are 25.4"--an inch-and-a-half taller than OE is quite a bit.

For the cost of widening your 16's--How about getting some gently used 17s and looking at 245/35-17 R1Rs...??? Its a perfect fit diameter wise.

STS_ZX2 wrote: Those Kumhos are 25.4"--an inch-and-a-half taller than OE is quite a bit. For the cost of widening your 16's--How about getting some gently used 17s and looking at 245/35-17 R1Rs...??? Its a perfect fit diameter wise.

Because i spent over a year searching for the 16" wheel i have now, and i just got them a year ago, and moving to a 17" puts me in the same boat. Not much available. I'd consider moving to a 17 if there was more than just the R1R available. I may be convinced to move to a 17x9 and run wider, but that's going to take a fair bit of searching for the offset that i would need, and some more bodywork in the back.

Takes a long time to find a 16x8 +35 5x100 wheel

245/40-17 is quite common...but about 3/4" taller than the 35 series. I do feel your pain--I'm in the same car as iceracer. Fortunately there have been a number of new wide (>205) offerings in the 23-24" range that are pretty good choices--was not the case 2 years ago.

16's are kind of overlooked...noticed that when I had teh VW.

if you are willing to accept the diameter change to go to a 265/45 but the wheel widening is an issue would you be ok with the same diameter issue for a 245/50 series tire? not ideal, but could buy you some time.

93celicaGT2 wrote: Takes a long time to find a 16x8 +35 5x100 wheel

Not quite what you're looking for, but here's my advice -- take it for what you paid for it

Wheels are out there -- that's basically the same size wheel that fits pontiac Fiero and PT cruiser. Subaru and VW also are possible candidates to search under.

Fitments in 16" are harder and harder to find. When I needed wheels for my Fiero I looked over the Tire Rack and DT websites. I found a wheel I liked (17 x 8) under the PT cruiser section. It took a few tries, but I found someone at Tire Rack that would listen to me and sell me wheels with the intent of NOT putting them on the car that they said they were intended for. Bottom line is that I found the 17 x 8 wheel that would work........and a 255-40 fits quite nicely out back.

BTW, Also look at 1010tires.com for their fitment calculators and tires that fit once you narrow down your selection. They seem to have a large database of tires on their site.

hth,

-jeff d

itsarebuild wrote: if you are willing to accept the diameter change to go to a 265/45 but the wheel widening is an issue would you be ok with the same diameter issue for a 245/50 series tire? not ideal, but could buy you some time.

Yiii... i don't know... this all sucks. I'll probably just end up buying the RA1s.