Thanks to everyone who helped out in my last post about this tire. I've now decided to go with the 01Rs.

I am however curious about one thing before placing my order. Can anyone one who has 215 or 225 RE01Rs up front comment on how this changed steering feel? I think I'm going to go with the 215/245 option but am concerned about the change in steering feel as the tread width between the 050s and 01Rs in 215's is 1.5 inches... That is rather substantial and I'm concerned about ending up with a rather large dead spot or a significantly dulled steering feel.

Can anyone comment?

Also, has anyone tried going 205/245 with these as the 205's even have an inch extra tread width on our stock 215s?

Thanks for your help!

 

I have the 225/45 and 245/40 set up with my works.

The steering wheel is fine. The car does seem to understeer less. Probably because of the bigger front foot print.

 

My car is exactly the same as yours, my recent purchase from Tire Rack was the SSR Type crs wheels with the RE-01R tires. 225/45's up front and 255/40's in the rear....... in a word......Superb !!! By all means DON'T go with a 205 up front !!

 

twitch, any more pics? Are you lowered?

 

I am considering those tires too, but in the F215 R255 flavor rather than F205 R245. Maybe Jim could chime in regarding fitments issues on stock (2004) AP2 wheels and the thread contact path widths.

My major concern is in keeping the cars balance and sharpness as close to stock as possible and hopefully at the same time gain a bit more grip.

 

A 215 in the front and a 255 in the rear will cause you to understeer. Most staggered setups for FR is, at most, only 3 sizes away (i.e. Front 225/rear 255, front 235/rear 265, etc....)

 

Nope, other than wheels and tires the car is bone stock, with only 4800 miles on her. Never seen snow and only once was I caught in the rain !!

 

looks good.. but the SSR's in 17 look a bit small for my taste..

 

not really, given that the OEM 215 is really a 195 or 205 (tread width is only 6.7") and the rear 245 has tread width of 9".

the RE-01R 215/45 has a tread width of 8" and the 255/40 has tread width of 9.4", resulting in almost 1" less stagger than the factory setup.

 

You can play with the sizes on this tire. I have done both 215/45R17 and 225/45R17 in the front. The rear I have sold in either 245/40R17 or 255/40R17. You can dial in what you are looking for with the tires.
If I can help let me know.