pRO'S & ConS 17X7 wheel 215 / 45 /17 tire or 17X7.5 wheel 215 / 45 / 17 tire or 18X7 wheel 215 / 40 / 18 tire or 18X7.5 wheel 215 / 40 / 18 tire

[DJ2BIG]

I made up my mind I want wheels I have narrowed down to a couple choices. Not overly expensive but comfortably priced for me. One problem is I'm not sure which wheel and tire package to go with. So here is my dilemma

2007 fOCUS ZX4 SES *stock

17X7 wheel 215 / 45 / 17 tire
or
17X7.5 wheel 215 / 45 / 17 tire
or
18X7 wheel 215 / 40 / 18 tire
or
18X7.5 wheel 215 / 40 / 18 tire

*I do not want 215 / 35 - 18 I know I will bend the rim on Chicago roads. I do not want a nice looking wheel with tinny looking tire a big gap between the tire and car body. I want a clean sheeek look for my fOCUS. I'm will to do a small drop on the suspension as long as I do not get rubbing tires when I turn. I drive allot about 35,000 miles a year so safety is important for me. This will be the only mod that will be done on my car except for the stereo which is done already.

I will post up pics once when I get my wheels within the next week or so!

[Sponsor]

[02SVTsilverstreak]

17x7.5 i say a 225/40/17. of course it has to be the nitto but thats just my opinion. if youre gonna stay 17's and using a 215/45/17 i say stick with the 17x7. if you go the 17x7.5 route i may suggest going with a 225/45/17 or a 225/40/17.

[killer ZETEC]

jsut to make it easy go wit ha 215-45-17. it fits without any rub problems and if you get a slight drop it looks fantastic!!


here is my car on 215-40-17 tires with konig prophet rims. as you can see it need a srop still but i also live in the midwest (wisconsin) and i know how crappy the roads are in chicago. so a 45 will work better for you.

[DJ2BIG]

Thanks for answering guys!

Originally Posted by 02SVTsilverstreak

17x7.5 i say a 225/40/17. of course it has to be the nitto but thats just my opinion. if youre gonna stay 17's and using a 215/45/17 i say stick with the 17x7. if you go the 17x7.5 route i may suggest going with a 225/45/17 or a 225/40/17.

Originally Posted by killer ZETEC

jsut to make it easy go wit ha 215-45-17. it fits without any rub problems and if you get a slight drop it looks fantastic!!

Well the tires im thinking of going with are Falken FK-452 reason being is i need them to work on rain and from what i have been told these are pretty good all season. You know that Chicago weather plus my car is my daily driver. During winter I will ride stock. Maybe you have better thoughts on this as well. They do have 225/45/17 and the 215/45/17 but not the 225/40/17. What would be the big difference on either of these on a 17X7.5 rim? If I do the Eibach Performance Sport Springs 1.5 drop will there be any rubbing?

I just want to make sure when I buy my wheel and tires I will not have any problems on the road as well when I do the 1.5 drop.

[Geezer]

Correct wheel offset is the key. To minimize any chances of rubbing get an offset of 45 to 49mm. I would also recommend 215/45-17. They afford reasonable protection from pot holes and bad roads, there's lots of selection as well as decent prices, and we know they work when put on the correctly sized wheel.

[killer ZETEC]

yep i understand and the fk452 is an ok tire. but ican get a set of fuzion zri tires for a fair bit cheaper in that size. (at the specialty store they wnated to charge 625 bucks for a set of bfg's wit hthe same rating and a bit longer treadwear. i went to pomps and got a hookup on the fuzion zri tires at the price of 425 for mounting and balancing.) i have driven with fuzion tires before (215-50-16 HRi) and they are a pretty good value, i put 2 years of driving and 1 season of autox in them and they have held up remakably well. i have 5/16 tread depth left before i need to think about getting new. and i'd probably jsut get those but in a slightly smaller radius for racing. for as crappy as the roads are i feel better about running a set of fuzions (if they pop because of the road a replacement aint too expensive)

and no if you go with 215-40-17 or 215-45-17 you wont rub.

[DJ2BIG]

ok

tire size 215-45-17

what about wheel size?

17x7
17x7.5

How well do the fuzion handle on rainy days?

I will be doing some traveling and I do not want to feel like my car is going to fly off the road.

[DJ2BIG]

one more question

if a tire measure .6 bigger than stock does that mean if my dash reads 60 mph im actually going 59.5 mph? or going 59.5 is equivalent to 60 mph?

[focusonthis420]

If the new tire is .6" (in diameter I am guessing) bigger then your speedometer will be approximately 2.2% to slow. Meaning you will be traveling 61.3 mph when the speedo reads 60 mph.

[02SVTsilverstreak]

depending on the size the 17x7.5 will have a stretched look to the tire. the FK-452 are ballin man. i sell them all day long. people love them.and as for correct offset i have maxxim guilts on a 17x7 +40mm offset w/ 215/45/17 bfg g-force sports stock svt suspension, and they nrub in hard corners and when im runnin 4 people in the car the back scrubs.

i ate a set of falken zeix-512's in 9k miles. dead. they rode nice, but wore too damned quick for my driving style. and i didnt burn out either. also, the fuzion zri is a great tire in all weather, mine were just loud and vibrated bad even on true and balanced. wheels. good budget tire, but not the best. spend the extra and get a nitto or maybe a bf goodrich. i love the g-force sports.