I tried to do I search on this but didn't find the answers I needed. I know recommend is 205/55R16 front and 245/45R16 rear. But there's a guy who's giving me a really good deal for 205/50 fronts and 225/45 rears non oem tires. I was wondering what kind of affects this setup would have on the car besides it looking funny, using ap1 wheels as compared to stock.

Thanks everybody for your help.

 

I've been running 205/225 for 3 years now.

They don't look funny (oem s-02 looked funny) and the sidewall is perfect. The car is also tracked every month and it's all good.

You won't notice a difference between 225 and 245 on the streets, but you might even get better results if you go for a good set of tires (dunlop star spec, re-11, etc) vs a cheap 245.

 

Thanks LuckyDuck for your input.

I also was wondering about how the height of the tires will affect the handling. The tires I'm looking at are 50 front and 45 rear.

 

He did not say what aspect ratio he was running. The 205/50R16 is too tall for the car. If you are looking at 205/50R16 and 225/45R16 they are not going to work. Those tires are 2" different in height.

 

Shoot really? I guess I have to keep looking.

But if I were to have that setup what would happen? thanks

 

They'll work, but they will look funny (big gap between tire and wheel opening).

205/50-16 are 24.1", 225/45-16 are 23.7", stock diameter is 24.8".

 

Autocrossers have been using shorter/taller tires to "change" or optimize gearing for a long time.

So, going to 225/45-16 will shorten up your gearing and make your car accelerate quicker, but you run out of gear sooner, also it will make your speedometer read a too fast (you'll be going 50 but it may read 60) .

I just don't think I would do it on a street car, the gearing is already perfect, I mean, a few points of an inch, bigger or smaller not a big deal, but 1 inch or more, well...

 

What is the point in running less than 225 up front? I personally plan on getting another set of ap1 rears and running 245s front and back...why sacrifice grip up front?

 

What's the point of running 205s up front?
1. better fit on stock 6.5" front AP1 wheels
2. cheaper than 225s or 245s
3. lighter weight than 225s or 245s
4. No compelling reason not to on the street, or even at the track or autoX if you're not seriously competing (or have the competition well covered anyway)

If you're planning on running 245s all around, is that for track work or for the street? If street, what make/model tires do you plan on running? Grippiest street tires aren't available in 245 btw...

 

Really?

Have a look for yourself...there are several great street tire options

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchRe...er=16&x=15&y=12

...and unless you go to R compound, im pretty sure a 245 of any one of those tires will out grip any 205 tire you can find.