What am I missing with all the ultra-wide wheels & tires?

[G-Man]

from Texas, we can 100% overheat tires. single driver maybe on your 5th run if its hot(100+) out, have a co-driver and spraying them down after each run you will get 3-4 runs each before they go.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Vdub

The wide ones definitely look better, but they weigh (and cost) soooo much more!

My 17x9's w/245's (RPF1) weigh less than my OE set of wheel/tires, Tirerack will ship 'em to you mounted and balanced for <$2k, other vendors can beat Tirerack's pricing on the wheels and they pop up used all the time.

As above it's an autocross setup.

Like mentioned elsewhere in this thread, for a general performance setup on an NA 86 7.5" and 8" wheels are going to do you good but I'd only do that if you wanted to run a 225 tire, 215 fits great on a 7" wheel and it doesn't need to be stretched imo and you can save more money by sticking to a lightweight 7" (I'm doubled down on that opinion after seeing a new BRZ with 7.5" wheels and stretched OE 215 Michelins, I drive another car with 225's on 7.5). I'm sure some will disagree on that.

Also as above MPSS are good street tires that hold up to abuse better than most but they're not some magic transformative thing that'll turn your car into a Lotus level corner carver. Pretty much no tire above 200TW is.

What are you actually going to do with your car OP? The tl;dr is yes, the wider wheels/tires are bought by people who want the traction for track/autocross OR for looks, totally unnecessary for just driving around. (As a tip, it's pretty easy to tell based on the tire they're running, Bridgestone RE71R, BF Goodrich Rival-S for autoxers, Dunlop Z2SS, RS3/RS4, RE11, Rival (non-S), Nitto, etc. etc. for track. Anything with lots of little tread blocks: just for looks)



Based on the questions I think you're overthinking it, just grab something that looks good to your eye, <20 lbs, if you go with 7" stick with OE tire sizing, 7.5 and 8 jump up to 225's, and don't put 225's on 7" wide wheels and you'll be a happy camper (caveat being for competitive autox 225 w/ 7" is worth losing the steering feel).

Also, don't go staggered (wider in the back)

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

I don't think there is enough time to overheat a tire in auto-x. A narrower tire with same compound should provide almost same grip. Maybe you have better results because the axle track is a bit bigger and the suspension geometry is altered.

If the course is big enough and it's warm out you can totally overheat 200TW tires, and fade street pads/OE fluids. Did both on Saturday, on a tiny course, with a cold breeze, in a different car

I can see it being the case that it's hard to get up to temp (I struggled for awhile getting heat in my Bridgestones last year) especially in colder regions and with short <40s courses, but that's definitely not universal, tire sprayers are common at competitive events out here for people to cool off tires between runs.

[Clipdat]

Hey I DD 245/40 RE71R!

But I'm also a moron.

Originally Posted by strat61caster

What are you actually going to do with your car OP? The tl;dr is yes, the wider wheels/tires are bought by people who want the traction for track/autocross OR for looks, totally unnecessary for just driving around. (As a tip, it's pretty easy to tell based on the tire they're running, Bridgestone RE71R, BF Goodrich Rival-S for autoxers, Dunlop Z2SS, RS3/RS4, RE11, Rival (non-S), Nitto, etc. etc. for track. Anything with lots of little tread blocks: just for looks)

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Hey I DD 245/40 RE71R!

But I'm also a moron.

Hey if you can use 'em up within a year at least you're posing hard.

If you're still running 'em next year and they're not bald you should be exiled to the old man car meets next to the Cadillacs with original whitewalls.

[Keenercarguy]

Originally Posted by imnotsureaboutbrz

I've put a set of 225/45/17 Michelin PSSs on the Stock PP wheels and they have been serving me great! They are only ~1lb difference between the 215s and you get 0.5" (6%) more contact patch and 225 is a better fit to the 7.5" wide wheel.

**Also food for thought since you are shopping the PSS: Contact patch gain vs rotational weight gains

size weight tread width
215/45 21 lbs 7.7"
225/45 22 lbs +1lb 8.2" +.5"
235/45 22 lbs +1lb 8.2" +.5"
245/40 23 lbs +2lb 8.5" +.8"
245/45 23 lbs +2lb 8.0" +.3"

You're forgetting one extremely important fact: the sidewall height. For example a 235/45 is significantly taller than stock and that elongates your gear ratio, so you accelerate slower and therefore feel very noticeably heavier. 245/45 would be awful.
I run a 235/40 (can't get PSS in that size tho unfortunately) for this reason: light, wide, and a better rear end gear ratio. The car felt instantly lighter going to them from 225/45/17 PSS despite the combo actually weighing .5-1 pound more.

[Wise]

Some people do it because they plan to go forced induction in the future and in some states in Australia having a wider wheel and tyre for the increased torque and power makes it easier to get the car engineer certified so you can drive it without having to worry about getting pulled over by the local police and slapped with an unroadworthy certificate.

[Stang70Fastback]

I went with 18x9 wheels with 255/35 tires for my daily setup. I did that because I loved the look of the 18s in black (I think lighter colored wheels look too big in 18s on our cars, personally.) I went with a 9" width because they didn't offer anything narrower, and I'd heard good things about how much grip you could get out of some 255s. That setup "only" weighs 3.9 lb more than the OEM setup, despite being significantly larger, but I'm okay with that for my DD setup.

For autocross, I have a set of 17x9s with 245/40 tires. That was the "best" width for autocross according to just about everyone I talked to, and everything I read. That setup is also quite a bit larger than stock, but weighs only 0.4 lb more than stock because of the lighter wheels.

[go_a_way1]

I don't understand why people think wider is better. I run 225's (nitto NT0'1s mind you) and can put down 300whp no problem.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by go_a_way1

I don't understand why people think wider is better. I run 225's (nitto NT0'1s mind you) and can put down 300whp no problem.

Straight-line power delivery isn't the only thing wider tires are good for.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by go_a_way1

So its pointless in a car meant to be driven ;P

What?

[go_a_way1]

Originally Posted by Stang70Fastback

What?

No idea what I am talking about I am drunk apparently lmao!!!

[Gunman]

Surprised the question about the larger contact patch hasn't come up....is it larger, or just a different shape with the wider tire?

/pot stirred

[Silver Supra]

Originally Posted by Gunman

Surprised the question about the larger contact patch hasn't come up....is it larger, or just a different shape with the wider tire?

/pot stirred

If you lower the pressure, it is larger. Otherwise, it just changes shape.
( I guess there might be some slight differences at very high lateral g's).