I got some wheels (Enkei RSF-2 15 x 6.5) and I'm trying to figure out what tires I should run on them. The car will be lowered with Ground Controls and Konis, but not slammed. I just don't want to run into any fender hitting issues or anything. The wheels currently have 205 50R 15s on them, but they are shot, so I need to get new tires. Should I stick with the 205 50R 15 or go to a lower profile? Is the width going to be OK? Thanks.

 

Oh yeah and they are 40 mm offset too.

 

search.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatHadder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">search.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I searched your mom last night.

 

well first of your correct size would be 195/50/15 and not 205/50/15. Unless you are running at the track you are not going to see any benefits with the 205's. So I would stick with the 195/50/15.

Now as for tires, plz give more info on what you want in a tire, do you want grip, good treadlife, good in rain... track only tire?

Dave

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DaveSi677 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well first of your correct size would be 195/50/15 and not 205/50/15. Unless you are running at the track you are not going to see any benefits with the 205's. So I would stick with the 195/50/15.</TD></TR></TABLE>



<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DaveSi677 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Now as for tires, plz give more info on what you want in a tire, do you want grip, good treadlife, good in rain... track only tire?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Will you ever drive on these tires in winter conditions (snow/ice or extreme cold)? Or just in moderate to warm temperatures?

If you don't have to worry about winter, and if this is just for street use (not the track), daily driving, city and highway, that sort of thing, I think the Kumho Ecsta SPT is a great tire for the money. Very good traction on dry roads, awesome in rain, lasts a long time (30-45K miles), and is an incredible bargain in 195/50-15 at $41/tire after rebate.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DaveSi677 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well first of your correct size would be 195/50/15 and not 205/50/15. Unless you are running at the track you are not going to see any benefits with the 205's. So I would stick with the 195/50/15.

Now as for tires, plz give more info on what you want in a tire, do you want grip, good treadlife, good in rain... track only tire?

Dave</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for your help.

I'm looking for something with pretty good grip. Right now my rex is my daily driver, but I am very interested in getting into some track time and autocrosses. Also, yes I do need something that works OK in the rain because I'm in Oregon. If I run 195s on these wheels (6.5" width), will it pull the sidewalls in a bunch and look like a drifter setup (where the rim sticks out past the tire)? I dont really want that to happen.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by djphonics &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yes I do need something that works OK in the rain because I'm in Oregon. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Then you need summer tires, not all-seasons. Summer tires grip great in the rain. In fact, the Kumho Ecsta SPT, which I previously mentioned, is absolutely AWESOME in the rain.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by djphonics &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If I run 195s on these wheels (6.5" width), will it pull the sidewalls in a bunch and look like a drifter setup (where the rim sticks out past the tire)?</TD></TR></TABLE>

No. That might happen at the low end of the approved range (i.e. 15x5.5), but it should look just fine with 15x6 as well as with 15x6.5.

 

Listen to Nsxtasy, everything I know is because I learnt from him. And as for the SPT, they are awesome! I am very pleased. I even did 2 autox events on them and they where very good for what they are worth. I would do alot better with the RT615 but the SPT is a great tire!

Dave

 

djphonics- if you go with a 195/50/15 you wont rub, you will most likely have to roll your fenders if you go with a 205 tire. On my rex im running 195/50/15 yokohama avs es100's with neuspeed sports and im not rubbing. And im in the Seattle area and I have no problems with traction in the rain.

 

The ES100 is a very good tire. The SPT is similar but just a little bit better at almost everything - similar on dry pavement, better in the rain, lasts slightly longer, and it's less expensive.

 

Cool. Thanks a lot everyone. I definitely don't want to mess with fender rolling, so I'll probably stick with the 195.

 

SPT's are the hot tire now. id give them a try.

 

what are the spt's Ive always got the avs's worked great for me but cheaper and better where do i get such a tire

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dadriver &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what are the spt's</TD></TR></TABLE>

The Kumho Ecsta SPT. It's a bargain-priced summer tire. Very good traction on dry roads, awesome in the rain, and lasts a long time (30-45K miles). Did I mention that they're inexpensive? Oh, and even more so if you send in for the $40 rebate on your purchase.

Click here to see them in a side-by-side comparison test against the ES100.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dadriver &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">where do i get such a tire</TD></TR></TABLE>

The Tire Rack, or Discount Tire, or any other Kumho dealer.





Modified by nsxtasy at 10:33 PM 9/29/2006

 

if you need 195s to not rub, why could I run 215/30/16 without rubbing at all?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRXhf_89 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">djphonics- if you go with a 195/50/15 you wont rub, you will most likely have to roll your fenders if you go with a 205 tire...</TD></TR></TABLE>

/\ didn't you see the disclaimer, he said "most likely". He really doesn't know what he's talking about

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatHadder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if you need 195s to not rub, why could I run 215/30/16 without rubbing at all?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Because it's an imaginary tire, and imaginary tires do not rub. The Tire Rack shows a grand total of zero tires available in a 215/30-16 size.

If a 215/30-16 tire existed, it would probably not rub because its outer diameter would be almost 7 percent smaller than the stock 175/70-13 size tire.

As a general rule, you can usually avoid rubbing as long as you are using tires no more than 20 mm wider than stock, with an outer diameter no larger than stock. Anything larger than that, and there's a significant chance they will rub. But you will always have to try them to be sure, because of differences in wheel offset, differences in the size of tires (even those labeled as the same size), differences in tread depth, they may rub only when the suspension is fully compressed and not when the car is standing still, etc.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Because it's an imaginary tire, and imaginary tires do not rub. The Tire Rack shows a grand total of zero tires available in a 215/30-16 size.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, i got a little confused. It was actually a 215/35-16. And it didnt rub at all. Right now I have 205/40-16's on the car, and they dont rub at all. The fenders are not rolled, and the car is lowered all the way down on skunk2 coilovers, with the camber adjusted correctly. If you think 195s are the biggest you can fit without rubbing, maybe you are running the wrong offset wheels or something.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatHadder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah, i got a little confused. It was actually a 215/35-16.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Tire Rack doesn't have any tires that size, either. &lt; shrug &gt;

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatHadder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">And it didnt rub at all. Right now I have 205/40-16's on the car, and they dont rub at all.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, they don't - because they're the same diameter as the stock tires. As long as you have tires whose diameter is no bigger than stock, and they're not ridiculously wide, you shouldn't have rubbing problems.

Look at the calculated outer diameter of these sizes and you'll see that they are all the same as stock or smaller:

175/70-13 (stock) - 22.65 inches
195/50-15 - 22.68 inches (+0.1 percent)
205/40-16 - 22.47 inches (-0.8 percent)

The 215/35-16 - if it exists - is even smaller (21.93 inches, 3.2 percent smaller than stock). Too small, in fact.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatHadder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you think 195s are the biggest you can fit without rubbing, maybe you are running the wrong offset wheels or something.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It depends on the wheel size, though, as well as tire availability. 195/50-15 is perfect. So is 205/40-16. 205/50-15 is too wide (1.9 percent larger than stock). If there were tires available in, say, 215/45-15 (0.1 percent smaller than stock), they probably wouldn't rub either. But the Tire Rack doesn't have any tires that size.

Bottom line - on a CRX, for street use, 195/50-15 is perfect for 15" wheels, and 205/40-16 is perfect for 16" wheels.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Tire Rack doesn't have any tires that size, either. &lt; shrug &gt;
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Well, I didnt buy them from the tire rack, so that isnt all that relevant. I admit, it is a rare size though. There is a reason I am running 205/40 now....

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
The 215/35-16 - if it exists - is even smaller (21.93 inches, 3.2 percent smaller than stock). Too small, in fact.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
What exactly do you think the downside is to running a tire that is too small? Just the speedo being off by a little bit?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatHadder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What exactly do you think the downside is to running a tire that is too small? Just the speedo being off by a little bit?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Speedometer and odometer both read high. The shorter sidewalls make the ride quality more harsh. Also, the wheels are more susceptible to damage from potholes. The latter two factors are worse with bigger wheels.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
The shorter sidewalls make the ride quality more harsh.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I find that tall sidewalls on cars with a stiff suspension will make the car feel bouncy and uncomfortable, but maybe that is just me.

I still think you are wrong about the best tire size to run, though. If you are concerned about the speedo and odometer reading correctly, then the overall diameter of the tire is very important. However, if you are just trying to fit as wide a tire as you can without rubbing anywhere, I think you can probably get away with running 205s easily, and you can probably get away with 215s, depending on the offset of the wheels and the suspension setup.

 

I now have a question. I just picked up some rims that are 15x7. I want to run 205/50/15 on them. Does anybody have any experience with this setup on a crx? I wont want any rubbing going on. Thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatHadder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I still think you are wrong about the best tire size to run, though.</TD></TR></TABLE>

And I think you are wrong about the best tire size to run.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatHadder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you are concerned about the speedo and odometer reading correctly, then the overall diameter of the tire is very important.</TD></TR></TABLE>



<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatHadder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">However, if you are just trying to fit as wide a tire as you can without rubbing anywhere</TD></TR></TABLE>

...then you have probably been misled into thinking that the width of the tire is important for performance. It's not. The most important factor for tire performance is the kind of tire (make and model, including the composition, tread pattern, etc), not the width. A better, stickier tire in a narrower width will almost always give far better performance than a tire that is wider but not as sticky. The performance difference resulting from 10 mm of width is insignificant.