I have a new Accord V6, and I wanted to get wider, more aggressive wheels and tires for summer driving. I was considering the Acura TL 17x8 wheels, which came with 235/45 all-season tires. I wanted to find out if a wider tire would fit under the car. Specifically, I wondered about a 255/40 tire. Has anyone tried this or seen it done? I'd hate to buy a tire for fitment just to find out it doesn't work. Can anyone help me here?

Thanks,
Mike

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by squareback &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'll be upgrading to summer wheels and tires for my 06 Accord, and I'm trying to get as much rubber under there as possible.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why? It will greatly increase your chances of rubbing, and throw off your speedometer and odometer. And it won't necessarily do anything for your performance; in fact, it will make your car accelerate SLOWER. It's like putting a taller final drive gear on your car.

If you want to maximize your car's performance, concentrate on buying better, stickier tires, rather than wider tires. A stickier tire that's narrower will give you much more traction than a less sticky tire that's wider.

The best matching tire size for 17" wheels on a 2006 Accord is 215/50-17 (which is the stock size on certain models). However, there aren't any really super sticky tires in that size. You can get the Falken Azenis RT-615 in 225/45-17, which is 2 percent smaller in diameter than stock, and should work. ($112/tire at Vulcan.) Don't go any wider than that; you're just asking for tRUBle , especially with a tire that's 30-50 mm wider than stock like the ones you're talking about.