Widest Tire - Stock Height

[shaodome]

I do a lot of driving in my cars so the soft rubber that comes stock isn't going to cut it. I'm looking to fit a much bigger (read wider) tire on the stock rim and still maintain some life in them.

I live in FL, so they can be "summer" tires. What do you guys recommend?

 

[aaronc7]

I'm looking at getting 235/40 Kuhmo SPTs or Falken 452s. You on stock wheels?

 

[CX-7owner]

You can't go stock sidewall height with a wider tire, things like the Odo, tach, ABS, DSC/TCS get thrown off.

 

[2ManyCars]

Some folks have put 235/40/18s on the stock rims (7"). But a number of folks have also strongly advised against this. Doing so on the stock rim will bulge the sidewall out enough that it gets to be a performance concern. I tried to get Discount Tire to fit some like this for me and they refused citing this reason...

You can upgrade to 7.5" or 8" wide rims. Either works fine with 235s. I went with 7.5" x 18" on mine. The tires fit great.

A note from my personal experience. Under normal conditions these work great with the stock suspension and you should not rub. HOWEVER, about a week after I installed mine I had several passengers in the car, hit a big bump and the rear tire made contact with the lip on the inside of the fender. Bent the fender slightly at the lip and took a chunk of rubber out of my tire. I fixed the problem by taking the car to a local shop and having the rear fenders "rolled" for $100.

 

[aaronc7]

?

you'd be fine with 225/40, 225/45, or 235/40 on stock wheels. 235/40 may be pushing it a little but is the closest of those to stock overall diameter/sidewall

 

[2ManyCars]

?

you'd be fine with 225/40, 225/45, or 235/40 on stock wheels. 235/40 may be pushing it a little but is the closest of those to stock overall diameter/sidewall

I could not find a shop that would mount 235s on 7" rims. Both Tirerack and Discount Tire told me no way. I know folks have done it but I'm just passing along what I encountered.

 

[aaronc7]

the "?" was for the second reply.

I guess it just depends on the shop. The Discount Tire here will do just about anything, lol (my friend works there).

 

[shaodome]

I'm on stock wheels and plan on staying that way for a while. I already have one highly modded (read expensive) car. Don't need another project, but I would like some bigger contact patches.

As for the ABS, Odo, etc. I'm not concerned about the minimal difference in overall diameter and what its affects are on the stock electronics.

 

[2ManyCars]

I'm on stock wheels and plan on staying that way for a while. I already have one highly modded (read expensive) car. Don't need another project, but I would like some bigger contact patches.

As for the ABS, Odo, etc. I'm not concerned about the minimal difference in overall diameter and what its affects are on the stock electronics.

You could go with 225s without any issues and keep your stock rims.

 

[Kurt07]

Here is a really good tire size caculator that I have used in the past. Enter your stock size and then the size you want to go to. It will tell you just about everything that you need to know.

Tire Size Caculator

 

[ill_eagle94]

And here is another.

 

[happy and angry]

If you go to TireRack and check out a 225/40R18 or a 235/40R18 tire and look at the specs, they will list a rim-width minimum of 7.5". Stockers are 7". I would be careful about running 235s, the extra stress on the sidewall and bead could lead to failure, and many tire shops won't fit tires that don't meet rim specs to your wheels.