I bought the car (03) used with the BBS rims and Goodyear Eagle F1's 225 (Fr) and 245 (Rear). Now rears are shot, fronts about 60%. Tirerack suggests a 205 (Fr) and a 225 (Rear) for these rims. My question: should I replace with Tirerack's suggestions (narrower) or stick with the sizes that are on the car (wider)?

Also offsets for these rims (F +48, R +55) don't match the suggested offsets listed on this site for the larger tires (225, 245 17's; Recommended: F +53, R +45). Is this difference significant or just a cosmetic variation? I've notoced no rubbing with the originals.

I've done business with Tirerack before and will buy from them again.
Thanks.

 

You're talking in two different diameters, I think. In the initial statement, you're talking about 16" tires, right? Then you later mention something about 17". What do you have, not that it really matters in terms of offset.
First of all, many people run 225 and 245 tires on 16 OEM rims. This is not a problem.
Next, those sizes that TR recommends is only for the OEM tires. Sizing for aftermarket is different, especially for the rear.
As per the wheel fitment guide, you don't mention anything about the width of your rims. One must assume that you have adequate width, so with this in mind, a 225 front tire needs 53mm offset, so with your 48, you should only go a 215 tire. And for the rear, your 55 offset would say you could go a 265 tire (if you have a wide enough rim), so a 245 is fine.
If you wanted to duplicate the OEM sizing for aftermarket tires, you would go with a 205 front and a 245 rear in the proper aspect ratio. But a 225/245 combo is acceptable.

 

Actually this is for 17" rims, not stock 16's. I checked out the Tire Rack specs on new 17" BBS LM's for offset. The widths (Sorry-I forgot to say) are 7.5 in front and 8.5 in the rear. Tire Rack recommends the 205's and 225's even for these aftermarket 17", wider rims.

 

See, this is where you confused me .......................
Those are 16" OEM tire sizes.


Those widths are fine for your intended choices. In fact, those are good enough to run 225 (even with the less than optimal offset) and 255 tires on them.

I think you've been searching TR incorrectly. I just searched and they stipulate the 215/245 tire size. When I punch up those BBS LMs, I get those tire sizes.

 

Running 225/45/17,and 255/40/17 on CE-28,with slighty different offsets,lowered around 1",with no rubbing issues;you shoul be O.K.