235/40/17 ??

[Mike86]

i am thinking about putting this size of tire on my frs just wondering if anyone has tried and this and if it changes the car alot

i tried searching but i couldnt find much

thanks mike

[leon78]

If were talking stock wheels...225 is prob as wide as you should go.

[grodenglaive]

That's what I was thinking. It maintains the same tire diameter as oem. Tirerack recommends at least an 8" wide rim though and the oem wheels are only 7, so we'll need an upgrade there. My only concern is a greater likelihood of hydroplaning with the wider tire when the treads are worn down a bit.

[Mike86]

So technically speaking it would work? Only danger is hydroplaning when worn cause i cant seem to find any 225/40/17 which is smaller than oem?

[industrial]

Why not just stick with stock size? There are 215 tires out there that are significantly sticker and wider than stock. You don't pay the xl load rating weight penalty either.

[Mike86]

^ yeah i might just do that i just wanted to get the most grip possible out of my tires!

[NickFRS]

<3 my 235 hankook v12's

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by Mike86

^ yeah i might just do that i just wanted to get the most grip possible out of my tires!

if you want the most grip available to your car, you can smash a bunch of rubber under there. mechanical grip might go up that way but you will suffer a boring, dull, unresponsive ride.

if you want the most grip of your tire, mount them on the widest rim recommended.

[ParangWala]

I would suggest what @industrial said since it would give you a bench mark of how well the car runs as close to stock so that if you move on to something bigger you can see what kind of difference there really is.

I've had mine since June last year and I've only recently moved on to the Enkei RPF1s in 17x8 partnered with the Dunlop Direzza ZII's at 235/40R17's and I'll be honest it changes the characteristics a lot...an inch wider on the rim with roughly 20mm wider on the tires you do notice this change even though the rest of the car is currently stock....

I'm by no means an expert but I wanted to share my findings with you since you asked about the tire sizes I currently run...just my 2 cents...

[Mike86]

Originally Posted by ParangWala

I would suggest what @industrial said since it would give you a bench mark of how well the car runs as close to stock so that if you move on to something bigger you can see what kind of difference there really is.

I've had mine since June last year and I've only recently moved on to the Enkei RPF1s in 17x8 partnered with the Dunlop Direzza ZII's at 235/40R17's and I'll be honest it changes the characteristics a lot...an inch wider on the rim with roughly 20mm wider on the tires you do notice this change even though the rest of the car is currently stock....

I'm by no means an expert but I wanted to share my findings with you since you asked about the tire sizes I currently run...just my 2 cents...

Changes the characteristics in a good way handling wise or?

[NickFRS]

I have 17x8 Enkei PF01's 17.8lb a piece wrapped in 235/45/17 Hankool v12's. What did I notice? There was way more grip but the tire still liked to spin. I then put 25mm front sway bar and 19 mm rear sway bars on the car and H&R super sport springs. and now the car is like a go kart. Hugs every corner on half throttle. Full throttle after my tune and power mods (185WHP) will whip the rear end out in a nice controlled drift.... Soon be putting RevWorks headers on my car and changing the front to 235/40/17 and the rear to 240/40/17 Hankook v12's. Love my build and wider tires with lighter wheels.

[ParangWala]

Originally Posted by Mike86

Changes the characteristics in a good way handling wise or?

I got similar results to @NickFRS, emphasized the go kart feel. I can make turns more aggressively than before and not have to worry about my back going out that soon. Don't get me wrong the tail has gone out when there was some dirt on the road as the street cleaners had gone through recently and if I really pushed it then of course it will still go out but with the wheel tire combo I've chosen I found that it takes a lot more effort to try to bring the tail out than before which was what I was aiming for since I believe it will allow me to handle the car easier and make those aggressive turns.

I got what I wanted out of the change which to me is good however there is always trade offs.

The Dunlops do make a fair bit of road noise at high speeds like in the highway, reminds me of my Dunlops on a previous car. You could care about this or you could not, I personally did not care because I was used to it from my previous car.

The ride quality when driving over stuff was more or else the same, bumps and cracks on the same road I've driven on for the last couple of months with both wheels and tires felt a more pronounced with my new combo however it was just as tolerable as stock also you get a sense for all the texture on the road unlike before which I thought was neat.

Other than that it's mostly been positives for me. Hope this helps.

[2point0]

Just to be clear, 235/40-17 is not the same as stock diameter. 245/40 is spot on (2.5mm difference), so you'll have a slightly shorter tire with 235/40 and a slightly taller tire with 225/45. Not much, mind you. I had 235/45 on mine that were take offs from my STi, but I felt they were too tall. That and heavy wheels made the car feel sluggish. Light wheels and some good 225/45s should be great, good grip and very close to stock gearing.

FWIW, the tires I'm getting jump almost $200 when going from 225/45 to 245/40. The speedo isn't that accurate anyway, and that money could go elsewhere.

Regarding hydroplaning, 1-2cm is not going to be that huge of a change. The tread will make a bigger difference.