My wheels I have now which are Mille Miglia 17" HT3 wheels rub like crazy with some 245/45/17's on the back. I guess the offset is just all wrong with them. So I am looking at getting some AP1 wheels with tires. A member here is selling a nice set of wheels, somewhat locally. The only thing is that the wheels on the back are 225's. How bad or even dangerous is running the smaller width tires in the rear? Tires are a bit pricey so would have to take that into consideration when paying for these if I gotta get new tires right away. The tires the seller claims to have about 90% treat left, so maybe could sell the tires or something and get new ones.
Let me know what your experience has been with 225's in the back or just any suggestions. Thanks. ---Ryan.

 

if you arent going to be pushing the car around turns you wont notice a difference.

 

What kind of tires would be on the AP1 wheels you're looking at? I've never had any real grip problems with 225/50/16, 300 treadware tires on my car, but I dont even try to drive full out on public roads. While 245/45/16 seems to be more recommended, thats not reason to discount 225/50/16. I'd much prefer the 225/50/16 Bridgestone RE-01R tires over 245/45/16 Fuzions (nothing against Fuzions, but, despite being a little wider, they're not going to outgrip the Stones).

 

ive tracked on both 245 (crappy yoko es100) and 225 (s02) and didnt notice a difference on a tight track, but s02's likely made up for the width with a better tire.

i am going to 225/50/16 Re01R all around this spring with a smaller rear sway bar and hope my camber/toe settings will make up for the rest:>

 

Well the S02's although they are listed as a 225 are actually a 245 tire. That is why I am a little nervous to go with a 225 because any time you go with a different tire in the back you are supposed to get a 245. I think I might try it since it is only 350 for the wheels with tires that are at 90% tread left. Seems like a good price to me. --Ryan.

 

^you dont have to stick with "any time you go with a different tire in the back you are supposed to get a 245"


non staggered can work very well, but it comes down to setup.

 

225's on the rear is not a problem in and of itself.
Of far greater importance is tire make and model and whether or not they are appropriate for your usage. And of course DRIVING SKILL. If the back end starts to come out and you abruptly LIFT off the throttle, you're likely to spin whether you're on 225's or 275's. Also note that in many traction-challenged conditions, wider can be worse for grip rather than better.

I've tracked on 225/50-16F 245/45-16R, 205/45-16F 225/50-16R, 205/45-16F 245/45-16R, and 205/50-16F 245/45-16R. The overall front/rear balance of the car did not change appreciably.

On the street, I've driven on low-perf all-seasons in 205/55-16F 225/50-16R, Hankook RS2's in 205/50-16F 245/45-16R, and now on Dunlop WinterSport 3D/M3 in 205/55-16F 225/50-16R. Again, the F/R handling balance hasn't changed appreciably (but grip levels in different conditions has changed dramatically!).

Long/short, you don't have to get 245's for the rears. In fact, for most usages the best tires are only available in 225/50 anyway, so you very likely could end up sacrificing grip by insisting on 245's.

Setup changes (front/rear roll stiffness distribution, camber, toe) will have far more profound effects on f/r handling balance than 225 vs. 245 rear tires.

 

I think the tires that are on those wheels are Yokohama Turanza's? Thats what it looked like from the pictures. The guy said those were on the front and the rear had Bridgestone's on it but he didn't say which model. Are Turanza's any good or is that even a model of Yokohama?

 

Turanza's are the cheaper, lower-performance Bridgestone tires. There are several totally different tires called "Turanza". You can pretty much rest assured that the performance is not commensurate with the S2000's!
Their more performance-oriented tires are all called "Potenza", but again there are many different Potenza's as well, and not all are what I would consider true performance tires.

The specific tire model will have an additional designation beyond "Turanza" or "Potenza" (or "Eagle" or "Firehawk" etc. etc.).

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/bridgestone/bridston.jsp