howardtan

I have the stock OEM ap1 rims on my car. I was wondering what tire sizes is best match for the wheels and low profile. I am lowering my car but i don't want the tires to rub the fenders. Can someone chime in what sizes should i put front and rear, low profile. Any brand to take into consideration?

is it safe to go lower profile tires? Does it effect performance as well and longevity of tires??

AP2

just stick to the OEM tire sizes...I would rather roll fenders than run a lower profile tire.

JstnRyan

Using a lower profile tire kinda defeats the purpose of lowering doesn't it?

On top of that, you're just going to run into other issues, such as improper speed/odometer readings, increased wear on hubs, drivetrain.

ZDan

With stock-offset rims and tires narrow enough to fit stock AP1 rims, I don't think rubbing should be an issue.

As for lower profiles, you could run 205/50-16s fronts (0.8" shorter than stock) with 225/45-16 (1" shorter than stock) or 245/45-16 (0.3" shorter than stock) rears. IMO this wouldn't "defeat the purpose" of lowering, quite the opposite, it would lower the car further.

However, the best performing street tires (B'stone RE01R, RE050A PP, Dunlop StarSpec, etc) are only available in stock AP1 sizes. So straying from stock sizes pretty much means you eliminate the best tires from consideration.

FWIW, I am running 205/50-16 front, 245/45-16 rear Hankook RS-2's on my S (on 7" front, 8" rear wheels). Looks sweet, and no complaints for wet/dry road or track usage I skimped a little on tire model to save a few $$$. Buying three sets of tires (Summer, Winter, race) ain't cheap...
In these sizes, the Hankook RS-2's and Toyo T1-R's are about the only suitable Max/Extreme Performance tires available.

I don't see how increased hub wear could be an issue with shorter tires. At the same level of lateral grip, you have less moment acting on the bearings with short tires. For what it's worth, I've run my street/track 240Z with MUCH shorter than stock tires (225/50-14 = 22.9" vs. 25" stock) on Hoosiers at ~80 track days over the past 10 years and only swapped out the bearings once (as preventive maintenence). Same hubs as were on the car in August 1970 when it was built.

Speedo/odo readings will be higher with shorter rear tires. With 225/45-16's the speedo and odo will read 4% higher. With 245/45-16 rears, they'll only read 1.2% higher.

JstnRyan

I in no way disagree with you, but we're thinking on a different scale.

When the OP said "low profile," I thought 30 series tires, as opposed to 45-55 of the same width. That was probably my mistake, but when I hear people say "low profile" I think of the whole "riding on blades" trend that's so popular now, when "LOWER profile" is probably what was meant. Semantics..

Lower profile tires will get your car lower to the ground (negligibly) but they will, in effect, INCREASE wheel-fender gap. This is what I meant by defeating the purpose of lowering.

And finally, a lower profile tire (all other sizes the same) will have a smaller circumference and will make more rotations at a given speed. For all purposes this could be negligible, but also has the potential to be quite significant -- especially over long distances. The drivetrain/axle/hub/whatever wear induced by this might also not be an issue, but there IS the possibility.

All of this seems moot, though, as you're not likely to have any rubbing issues sticking to stock tire sizes when lowering, unless you're really slammed or have drastic changes to alignment.

ZDan

True, if the desire is to minimize fender gap, lower profile goes in the "wrong" direction, although it does lower the car a bit more.

Also true. Basically you're putting more "mileage" on the bearings. In my estimation this shouldn't be a huge deal, though. Maybe you need new bearings at 104k miles rather than 100k...

Agreed.

Personally, I went with 205/50-16 fronts to go with 245/45-16 rears to avoid having the rears being smaller in diameter than the fronts. Aesthetically, mucho better-o

But again, if you want the BEST street tires, you'll end up on stock AP1 sizes, as those are the only 16" sizes they come in

howardtan

Ok, well i made my choice. Did my research boys, thanks

Hankook Ventez RS-2 245/45/16 Rear, 205/55/16 Front
Will just lower the car on these tires, hopefully it will not rub, i am planning to go 5-6 fingers to the lip low, hopefully no tire rub.

ZDan

Shoulda gone 205-50-16 fronts!

Fronts slightly smaller-diameter than rears looks >> fronts slightly LARGER-diameter than rears.

JstnRyan

I'd argue whether you're REALLY going to see that difference. Otherwise I'd agree.

ZDan

It's pretty surprising just how visible the difference is.
Front 205/55-16's look noticeably bigger than 245/45-16 rears on the same car, even more so than the numbers (24.9" front, 24.6" rear) suggest.
And 205/50-16s in front definitely look smaller than 245/45-16 rears, again even more than the numbers (24.1" front, 24.6" rear) suggest.

Not a huge deal, but the difference in diameter is most definitely visible.