Need some tire size advice please.

ChrisSlicks · 11-24-2009, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Portlis

Hey guys, I'm just looking for a bit of quick advice about tire size. I greatly appreciate any help I can get.

I've got a 370 with the sports package. I just purchased a set of the standard 18" wheels for winter from fellow forum member Texmedic, as can be seen here:

Base 18s wheels only

As AK pointed out in that thread, tirerack has some blizzak LM-25's on sale right now for $162 each. I'm very interested in getting these, but the one thing that confuses/concerns me is tire size.

According to Nissan, the specs on the base wheels are 225/50/R18 front and 245/45/R18 rear.

Now, the tires that are on sale for that $162 are the 225/50/R18. Am I correct in assuming that I can put 4 of these same sized tires on the base 18" rims and it will work just fine? Or do I need wider tires on the rear wheels?

I'm still trying to learn as much about this stuff as I can, so please bear with me here and thanks in advance for any advice I can get!

Yes you can use the same size all around, actually it's recommended on a winter setup. The 225/50 R18 would be my choice of winter tire.

The rear bias on a RWD car is to make the car understeer a little more, and to improve off corner acceleration.

Portlis · 11-24-2009, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisSlicks

Yes you can use the same size all around, actually it's recommended on a winter setup. The 225/50 R18 would be my choice of winter tire.

The rear bias on a RWD car is to make the car understeer a little more, and to improve off corner acceleration.

Ok, so again, pardon my ignorance... but just to make absolute sure..

Even though the rear wheels ARE wider, I can still put 225/50 R18 on them just fine?

schrute · 11-25-2009, 02:33 AM

Yes, as Chris said - you can. They'll fit and likely won't have any issues.

That said, Bridgestone recommends a 6.0" to 8.0" wide rim for that size tire. The OEM rear rims at 9" wide exceed that recommendation. Just something to be aware of to make an informed decision. Personally I went with stock sizes front and rear for my winter set (Blizzak LM-25's on OEM 18" wheels, 225/50 front and 245/45 rear).

225's in the rear will have better snow/ice traction than 245's, so if you plan on lots of this type of driving then yeah go with the 225's all around. As long as you take it easy when there's weather and don't drive stupid you'll probably be fine either way. Good luck!

ChrisSlicks · 11-25-2009, 10:22 AM

Yeah the rim is a tad wide but it will still work given the relatively tall sidewall.

You could also run 245/45 R18 on all 4 but as Schrute already mentioned the 225/50 will do slightly better in the snow and ice due to having a smaller contact patch and narrower tread.

The staggered setup will work as well but the rear end will be a little more loose in the worst conditions. Overall the difference is less than 10% so not a huge deal.

11-25-2009, 02:33 AM	#3 (permalink)
schrute Track Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: utah Posts: 781 Drives: my z every day Rep Power: 19	Yes, as Chris said - you can. They'll fit and likely won't have any issues. That said, Bridgestone recommends a 6.0" to 8.0" wide rim for that size tire. The OEM rear rims at 9" wide exceed that recommendation. Just something to be aware of to make an informed decision. Personally I went with stock sizes front and rear for my winter set (Blizzak LM-25's on OEM 18" wheels, 225/50 front and 245/45 rear). 225's in the rear will have better snow/ice traction than 245's, so if you plan on lots of this type of driving then yeah go with the 225's all around. As long as you take it easy when there's weather and don't drive stupid you'll probably be fine either way. Good luck! __________________ my journal \| 2009 370z touring \| 6mt \| platinum graphite \| my album second skin \| mr works \| fast intentions \| ssr \| eibach \| hotchkis \| spc \| toyo \| bluebatmobile \| v-led \| jwt \| ventureshield \| tinted tails

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11-25-2009, 10:22 AM	#4 (permalink)
ChrisSlicks A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: North East Posts: 6,203 Drives: 09 370Z Sport M6 Rep Power: 655	Yeah the rim is a tad wide but it will still work given the relatively tall sidewall. You could also run 245/45 R18 on all 4 but as Schrute already mentioned the 225/50 will do slightly better in the snow and ice due to having a smaller contact patch and narrower tread. The staggered setup will work as well but the rear end will be a little more loose in the worst conditions. Overall the difference is less than 10% so not a huge deal.