225 45 17 + ST200's = ?

[waxon_waxoff]

good or bad? found a set of st200 wheels in great condition BUT... there's almost new ecsta supras on them and they're 225 45 17.

in terms of looks thats a no brainer for me.... i love these wheels and i don't mind a meatier looking tire on them, and with the offset i think the wider tire would look really nice. im still deciding between the svt and dynamic suspension kits for spring and i think the added tire height would look good with the svt suspension. not sure if the dynamics would be problematic with this combo, they're still only a 1.5 inch drop tho.

which leads me to the obvious.... overall diameter would be quite a bit larger... 24.97 vs. 24.21 (stock zx3). also the tire width may be excessive, i dont want to roll my fenders if i dont have to... is this a really bad idea?

will my gearing be noticeably suckier due to the larger diameter tire plus a heavier/larger rotating mass? that would suck

[brads03zx3]

Gearing will be slightly longer (3%). They are the same offset as a stock SVT wheel, if anything you should have clearance issues on the strut, not the fender. Should work great, unless you have a really, really low suspension.

[svt3d]

Tell me where you found them and I will make them go away! That is alot of tire I think I had 225 45 on my stock svt and it seemed fine it rubbed bad when I put the sportlines on though!

[MiSVT1893]

I have 235/40's on my et42 BBS', I have it lowered on H&R race springs. It doesn't rub just cruising around, BUT if you hit a big enough bump it will rub. My fenders are NOT rolled, they prolly should be and my tires do have slight carnage from rubbing but nothing to write home about.

I wouldn't worry about the tires on them, they'll prolly be fine.

[waxon_waxoff]

Originally Posted by MiSVT1893

I have 235/40's on my et42 BBS', I have it lowered on H&R race springs. It doesn't rub just cruising around, BUT if you hit a big enough bump it will rub. My fenders are NOT rolled, they prolly should be and my tires do have slight carnage from rubbing but nothing to write home about.

I wouldn't worry about the tires on them, they'll prolly be fine.

man that looks beefy... totally badass. so in terms of width that's fine, but your overall diameter is still smaller than the 225 45's, and im still wondering whether that extra inch of diameter (on a zx3) is going to make my gearing noticeably different. a smaller wheel i think would improve acceleration due to the shorter gearing, but this could potentially make the car less fun to drive. assuming its that noticeable. i dont know.

[brads03zx3]

Gearing is noticeable. I've ran a bunch of sizes on either side of stock

225/45/15 = 23"

225/45/17 = 24.8"

Even just going from my snows to my daily's I noticed a difference

185/65/15 = 24.5

205/45/16 = 23.3

Is it terrible? Not really. It really depends on your goals and uses for the car. 225/45/17 isn't the optimum size for the race track. It is tall, heavy, and crappy for gearing (most of the time). I threw on my 225/45/15 street tires and the car pulled much better, the entire car was lowered a full inch with no suspension geometry penalty, but also required 4 more shifts per lap at Streets of Willow.

From an aesthetics point of view, the 17's were tucked, and there was a decent amount of gap with the 15's. It's all in the eye of the beer holder.

[waxon_waxoff]

Originally Posted by brads03zx3

Gearing is noticeable. I've ran a bunch of sizes on either side of stock

225/45/15 = 23"

225/45/17 = 24.8"

Even just going from my snows to my daily's I noticed a difference

185/65/15 = 24.5

205/45/16 = 23.3

Is it terrible? Not really. It really depends on your goals and uses for the car. 225/45/17 isn't the optimum size for the race track. It is tall, heavy, and crappy for gearing (most of the time). I threw on my 225/45/15 street tires and the car pulled much better, the entire car was lowered a full inch with no suspension geometry penalty, but also required 4 more shifts per lap at Streets of Willow.

From an aesthetics point of view, the 17's were tucked, and there was a decent amount of gap with the 15's. It's all in the eye of the beer holder.

thanks, that's very helpful, with all this in mind ill likely pass on the st200s since i can't buy them without those massive tires.... shucks. these are my fav wheels for the focus hands down. but i picked up a set of 7 spoke 17s (see other thread, it was a lucky find...) and ill be using 215 45 17s, then, seeing as they are already a tad larger than my stock 15s diameter.

all just in time for winter lol!