Tire +/- size guide for FR-S/BRZ

[SpeedR]

This PDF contains most of info needed to make a decision on how big or small you want to go on your tires. I tried to include every size that had tires available from 225/50/16 to 255/35/18.
Remember your tires are basically the largest gear your car has; making them bigger or smaller can have a significant effect on the feel of your car due to weight and gearing.
If someone wants to post screen shots so people don’t have to open the PDF please feel free. I ran out of time got to get back to work.

[Sport-Tech]

245s/255s? Get real. A Toyota engineer was quoted in a review saying that you can't go wider than 215s on the front. Sure you can toss fatties on the rear if you want an understeering car. Kind of defeats the whole raison d'etre for the Toyobaru though - low-limit tossability. And trying to compensate for the understeer through suspension adjustments (harder rear shocks/sway/springs) will cause the ride to suffer.

[Genomaxter]

Tell that to volk who put 245/40 on the front and kept it in the fender.

[colHolm]

Originally Posted by Scion FR-S

245s/255s? Get real. A Toyota engineer was quoted in a review saying that you can't go wider than 215s on the front.

Can you find a link for that?

[Sport-Tech]

Originally Posted by colHolm

Can you find a link for that?

It was in one of the posted reviews, unfortunately no easy way to search as I can't remember the exact quote to look for. But I remember it very clearly because it was a bit surprising to me, I thought that given the way they are touting this car as modder-friendly they would have accommodated for larger tires and rims in the design. We need a direct answer from the chief engineer!

[Crashoverride]

235F 8.5 and 255R 9.5 18's
perfect combo!!! Keep my stock ones for snow tires.

[Sport-Tech]

Originally Posted by Genomaxter

Tell that to volk who put 245/40 on the front and kept it in the fender.

And probably got a totally crapped-out turning radius as a result, despite extensive monkeying with the suspension. Not to mention numbed-out road feel.

[Genomaxter]

Then call up volk and ask them why after they measured their car with Aftermarket coilovers that they decided to make an impossibly large wheel in a 40-44 offset and slap them up for sale specifically for the toyobaru. I guess volk stopped being performance oriented.

My reasoning is car companies will always be conservative. Why would they build a car with maxxed out tire width in the front and claim it was built for the Aftermarket. It makes zero sense to me. Now I can believe 215 is the largest you would want to run on a 7 wide wheel.

[Sport-Tech]

Because people will buy anything, no matter how ridiculous or what it does to handling or the ride, if they think it looks cool?

I'm just reporting what a Toyota engineer said, he could have been mistaken.

[Racecomp Engineering]

There is certainly much to gain for performance reasons from increased tire width (front and rear). There are compromises for everything and for some the stock size will work well or just a different tire compound. Others that are looking for large increases in grip for competition will want a different compound and probably a wider tire as well and you can definitely go a little wider in front without issue.

- Andrew

[Sport-Tech]

Originally Posted by colHolm

Can you find a link for that?

Someone else reporting the same thing I noted in that interview:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...4&postcount=48

Anyone concerned about the recent interview that said back can go as high as 235's, but fronts can't be larger than 215? I had planned on going 225/40 all around but will have to rethink that. I don't want larger rears bc that would tend to understeer.

[eight_six]

i really see nothing wrong with 245's all around. its actually what im planning. 245/40-17. the only problem i see with your list is they are all of larger diameter than stock. id really prefer going down to help with acceleration a bit. 245/40-17 is basically the same as stock. 235/40-17 is a tad smaller.

ive even considered going 225/45-15 on a 15x9 all around.

basically.. theres tradeoffs everywhere. .and just because one person said this or one company said that. ..

doesnt mean that answer is definite for everyone. it all depends on what you want to do. .and its important to learn as much as you can about these things so that you can make an informed decision about what you want/need as far as your uses of it are concerned.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by eight_six

i really see nothing wrong with 245's all around. its actually what im planning. 245/40-17. the only problem i see with your list is they are all of larger diameter than stock. id really prefer going down to help with acceleration a bit. 245/40-17 is basically the same as stock. 235/40-17 is a tad smaller.

ive even considered going 225/45-15 on a 15x9 all around.

basically.. theres tradeoffs everywhere. .and just because one person said this or one company said that. ..

doesnt mean that answer is definite for everyone. it all depends on what you want to do. .and its important to learn as much as you can about these things so that you can make an informed decision about what you want/need as far as your uses of it are concerned.

It's unlikely that 15s will clear the brakes.

And you are limited to one real tire choice for 225/45/15 also

Personally I'm trying 235/40/17 after I kill the stock tires a little, or I'll leave them alone for longer and just do a major refresh of my other car instead.

[eight_six]

well theyre basically stock wrx sized rotors. they should clear 15's no problem. also depends on the 15. a 15" te37 has HUGE brake clearance on the inside for example.

but yea, only really one tire size. thats why im kicking the idea around. the 235/40-245/40 is really looking like a nice bet. 17x9 all around with a 235/40 should be a killer setup on this car