rexer200

I'm currently toying with the idea of swapping my standard 2009 17" wheels on Bridgestones (215F 245R) for some very light OEM JDM BBS 16" wheels with 205/50 front and 225/45 rear AD08R's.
This combination gives a smaller overall diameter and narrower tyres front and rear but the wheel and tyre combination will save around 5kg per wheel.

I know most people fit larger tyres but to me my 2009 S feels a little heavy and over-tyred.

I'm not after ultimate grip, I know this will probably go down, however I am after higher agility, better composure over bumps and just trying to get rid of that big tyre feeling, especially on the rear, that it currently has.

Any comments, experiences of this setup, good or bad?

GreenmanS2000

It will throw your gearing, speedo and odo out,

jimmyb1978

Just prior to fitting 17's a number of years ago I fitted a set of smaller side wall tyres to my 16's just as an experiment, they looked awful as they didn't fill the arch

lovegroova

I'd fit the correct size tyres with those lovely wheels. The JDM BBS are very light and do make a considerable improvement to the ride and steering. Whether or not they will work on a later car which is designed for the larger wheels, I'm less sure but someone in the know may be able to make a more informed comment.

rexer200

My thoughts with the lower profile tyres was because they would be a bit lighter than the standard size but I guess the trade-off is not worth the small weight improvement

GreenmanS2000

remember also your insurer might deem non-standard size tyres a modification - with all that entails

rexer200

That's a really good point but when I phoned them in the past they've only been concerned if the wheels are bigger

GreenmanS2000

that maybe because it is rare to fit smaller wheels and tyres...

surfer_crx

I have that wheel and tyre size on my track car and it puts the speedo out by about 14mph at a gps recorded 100mph

Also it doesn't improve the ride quality as you still have a similar sidewall height, I only went for this option as I wanted 16" track tyres and not many companies make them in 16" to fit the S2000.

Also as mentioned it does take a bit of getting used to looks wise, however I don't really care about that personally.

rexer200

Ive just got a set of these wheels from Japan. I've decided to go with Lovegroova's advice and fit std. size RE002's.
Looks like I'll be saving 16kg's total of rotating mass vs my std. 2009 wheels and tyres.

...they say rotating mass is worth 4 x static mass, so I'm going to be losing the weight of a passenger :-)