Wheel / Tire sizes??????

[S2kreno]

Hello,

I'm looking for new street tires for the Exige, original equipment size 195/50-16 front and 225/45-17 rear. Got on Tire Rack site and discovered that the selection for these sizes is pretty limited (mostly to those God-awful Yokos I already hate) and if I go bigger I have more choices. I wanted to try the Dunlop Z-1s because they are supposed to be nice on really light cars like mine.

Now here comes the (probably) dumb question: :oops: What are the advantages / disadvantages to going to a custom sized wheel/tire? I noticed in the SCCA rules that there aren't restrictions on tires / wheels in ASP. The plan is to ship the tires to C and C and have them installed there.

Thanks for whatever y'all can tell me.

glp

[sperry]

You pretty much want the widest tires you can cram under the fenders.

Keep in mind that if the factory width stagger is 195 front 225 rear, that you may change the handling characteristics if you don't maintain equal stagger with wider tires. Just an offhand guess, but I'd say something in the neighborhood of 225 front, 255 rears would bee about right, if not give the car a touch more front traction (which will help the car rotate). But I've got no idea what will fit on that car.

Your best resource is likely going to be a Lotus forum: http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/index.php

[S2kreno]

thanks, they do make the dunlops in those sizes. i left a message on the lotus forum too.

[Dean]

Assuming you don't want to buy new rims, the next logical + Zero sizes are 215/45-16 and 255/40-17. These have very similar circumference and shouldn't mess up your speedo or gearing.


Again, I do not know if these would actually fit your rims and/or under your fenders and clear your suspension... As Scott said, Lotus forums will have better data.

Doing a brief look, it appears only the Azenis 615s are available in these sizes. That said, a quick look shows that the stock rims are a bit narrow for moving up much in width, so new wheels may be in order. (6.5" and 7.5" respectively I believe.)

If you are willing to get new rims and go with 17s all around, you get many more options in the front vs. the 16s which are the limiting factor. 215/40-17s are available in the Dunlops and others.

[Cody]

They're doing the $100 rebate on RE01R's again: http://www.potenza.com/rscca.asp

On the Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec, (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=Direzza+Sport+Z1+Star+Spec) you can get a $50 rebate or "$100" Bose earbuds if you buy them on tirerack.com (see tirerack for details).

And on page 45 of the August "Sports Car" mag you'll find an add similar (but not identical to this):

http://www.tiredeals4less.com//images/Product_Images/0308_Rebate.gif

Sorry, couldn't find an exact copy online. The current rebate only offers the rebate for R1R's and expires 10/31/08.

[S2kreno]

Great, thanks. Once I take care of the tire situation I'll have one less excuse for sucking.....

[solonut]

Gina here ya go for tires.....Hankook RS2

front.... 205/45ZR16
Blackwall Serv. Desc (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/general/servdesc_pop.html): 83W Price: $96.00 (each)
Estimated Availability (http://www.tirerack.com/cart/estimated_avail.html):
In Stock


rear..... 235/40ZR17
Blackwall Serv. Desc (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/general/servdesc_pop.html): 94Y
Load Rating XLPrice: $122.00 (each)
Estimated Availability (http://www.tirerack.com/cart/estimated_avail.html):
In Stock

[Braydog]

I'd go with the toyo R1R's and use the 100.00 rebate. Havent had great experiences with hankooks myself, and know a few other people with similar experiences. Do you belong to any lotus forums? They'd really be the people to ask.

[S2kreno]

I have asked. They are all from the UK. Their cars have names like Poppy, Victoria, and Nigel--and the owners are GUYS! If they know more than I do they are not sharing :) I think I have enough to go on, will let C and C take care of the hard part.