I'm currently running 205/ 55 R16 Michelin Energy MXV4 Mud + Snow tires on the Z.
The Good: I grab in first gear, the stock good years would spin in to second.
The Bad: Even with my employee discount at the dealership of cost + 10%, i still see these tires for $166 a piece (they were nearly $280 at retail).
I'm thinking about switching up to 205/ 45 ZR 16 Toyo Proxes . They are only $87 a piece, they'll give me the lower profile look i want, and i havent heard anything bad about the Quality Toyo Proxes. (feel free to correct me if i am wrong)
How is this going to affect the overall performance of my car???
First your speedo will be off, and IMO the smaller side wall tire will leave a very ugly fender gap.
Get some 225/50/16s, you won't regret it.
Zenith wrote:First your speedo will be off, and IMO the smaller side wall tire will leave a very ugly fender gap.
Get some 225/50/16s, you won't regret it.
even with the 1.5" drop i have?
i will look up prices on the 225 50s though...
225/ 50 is the same height of 205/ 55. Its no lower profile of a tire.
The 205/ 45 will only make my Speedo be 3.9 MPh faster than what i am actually doing. I can easily calibrate it
205/ 45 is the same total wheel/tire diameter as if i were to switch to 17s and put 205 40 17s.... so i shouldn't have any more wheel gap than if i swapped to 17s. My car is dropped so i don't think the wheel gap will be that bad
Thank you for the opinions, but i need answers to these questions to make a decision
Will i lose HP?
Will i Lose Torque?
Conversely
Wil i gain HP?
Will I gain Torque?
and can anyone who has used Toyo Proxes give me a review of the quality of the tire?
Thanks
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Monday, February 02, 2009 6:31 PM
You really shouldn't lose or gain anything with a different tire size.
As for going wtih a 225/50, its a wider tire so you'd have more rubber to the ground so you'd have better handling and increased grip over a 205. Plus I love the look of wide tires.
Zenith wrote:You really shouldn't lose or gain anything with a different tire size.
As for going wtih a 225/50, its a wider tire so you'd have more rubber to the ground so you'd have better handling and increased grip over a 205. Plus I love the look of wide tires.
Cool Cool...
and yeah i agree with you on the look of wider tires...
Smaller tires will have the same effect as rasing the final drive ratio.
Take a look down on page two of this forum as there are a couple of threads there that deal with the 225/50/16 tire specifically with several pictures of them on member cars. I put them on my 'vert with a 1.4 drop and they're fine. I won't deny they're a lot of tire for a 6" rim, but that's still within the recommendations for rim width for that size (the minimum). I bought a set of Aurora H107's (made by Hancook) off the internet very reasonably and I find them to be a very respectable performing tire with a directional tread pattern that's very grippy in the wet. (The longevity is yet to be determined.) In any case, they're way more tire than the suspension on my car is capable of taking full advantage of. - Mark
First off, you will be suprised at how much fender gap going down 2 profile sizes is going to give you. I know it doesnt sound like much, but the difference on the car will be pretty drastic, and not in a good way IMO.
The smaller tire diameter wil do as stated:
Zs Z wrote:Smaller tires will have the same effect as rasing the final drive ratio.
I would tend to agree with most that have posted, a 225/50 would retain speedo settings, look good, and improve cornering stability. Not to mention the ease of access to this size. If you want a lower profile look, get some bigger wheels first, you will be happier than running a smaller tire on a stock wheel.
The toyo's are decent.....what type of driving are you looking to do with these that you are wanting a review from?
Here's a picture nobody asked for, but it shows an unscientific comparison of a 195/65/15 next to a 225/50/16. The 195 is mounted on a 15X6" aluminum wheel used on the (third gen) LS models and convertibles and the 225 is mounted on a 16X6" wheel used on the Z24 coupes. There are various tire size calculators on the web that do the math for you, but the 225/50/16 is a hair smaller in diameter than the 205/55/16 that's stock on the Z24 coupes and maybe two hairs smaller than the 195/65/15. - Mark
IMO go 215/50/16. It gives you a wider tire and smaller sidewall all in one..
I run 215/45/17 and im pleased..
I plugged several tire sizes into an on-line tire calculator and got these results for diameter and increasing speedometer error: (Yes, I know there are some variables due to rim width, etc.)
195/65/15----24.98"----(baseline, stock size)
205/55/16----24.87"----0.444% faster (stock Z24 size)
225/50/16----24.85"----0.528% faster
215/45/17----24.61"----1.501% faster
215/50/16----24.46"----2.124% faster
The size you use is about 1.5% off, which is more than I'd prefer but not a big deal to many. But, the 215/50/16 is over 2% off while the 225 is only slightly over 1/2%. I don't see a real benefit to the 215/50/16, but that's just me. Everyone else's method may vary. - Mark
No real benefit besides wider tire and smaller sidewall, but it was just my opinion. I figured -5 aspect ratio for every +1 rim size but you have a good argument.
