225/40-18 vs. 225/45-18 tires on stock wheels with stock suspension

[CornerCarver]

Damn, finding performance tires for our cars is a b****. The only thing that interests me in the factory 215/45-18 size is that new Yokohama AD08, but they are pretty pricey.

I'm leaning towards that new Kumho XS. It's relatively inexpensive and all the autocrossers I know say it's real sticky. BUT... of course it doesn't come in our factory size. It's available in 225/40-18 and 225/45-18. Looks like the 225/40-18 will work, but its about a full inch SHORTER than the factory tire, and while that'll improve acceleration, I'm wondering if it is going to look goofy. The 225/45-18, on the other hand, is going to be almost a half inch TALLER.

Anybody have experience running either of these sizes on the factory wheels with factory suspension? Which do you recommend?

 

[Russm]

Good Day
I run a 225-45-18 AVID W4S Yokohama up here in Wisconsin , Handles great all season , hot driving in summer great stability, doesn't break wheel in all the ruts, pothols and such. Hooks Much better in drag start than OEM .
Get 32 MPG @ 70 MPH highway with these. CAI&CBE
Also S.drive Yokohama 225-45-18 or 245/40 R18 Ultra High Performance Summer

 

[Travo83]

I have Nitto NT-555, in 225/40/18, I love them, they look close to what stock did in terms of look. a lil smaller but i like that look better. Handeling is supurp. Kumo ASX for my all season. same size in fact.

 

[camrycev6]

Since I don't do any track / drag racing, and I live in an area that gets light to moderate snow for a couple months of year (Like you...) I am just going to go with these:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...5WR8GTXL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

The Eagle GTs are only $120 a piece and they are a Ultra High Performance All Season tire.... solves all the issues for me.

 

[H3br3w_Ham3r]

Running 225/45's on stock suspension. Plenty of clearance.

 

[cymx5]

I run the 225/45-18. My recent tire purchase was a full $20-25 cheaper per tire to get the 45 vs. 40 profile. To me, the price difference was enough to get the 45. I've been happy.

 

[builthatch]

Damn, finding performance tires for our cars is a b****. The only thing that interests me in the factory 215/45-18 size is that new Yokohama AD08, but they are pretty pricey.

I'm leaning towards that new Kumho XS. It's relatively inexpensive and all the autocrossers I know say it's real sticky. BUT... of course it doesn't come in our factory size. It's available in 225/40-18 and 225/45-18. Looks like the 225/40-18 will work, but its about a full inch SHORTER than the factory tire, and while that'll improve acceleration, I'm wondering if it is going to look goofy. The 225/45-18, on the other hand, is going to be almost a half inch TALLER.

Anybody have experience running either of these sizes on the factory wheels with factory suspension? Which do you recommend?

225/40 is typically more expensive, will give you more of a fender gap and will yield worse gas mileage. your final drive will be higher, as you mentioned, but in this car it's not really something that is exciting.

tire vs. tire, i'd say the 40 would be the best raw performer for obvious reasons. those stiffer sidewallz would issue a bit of a rougher ride probably too.

225/45 are only .3" taller and are mostly full of win vs the 40 series.

either way, you should look into an eibach pro-kit. it's amazing!

regarding your tire choice, i am a huge falken azenis fan. have been since the 215 and love the 615 even more. that said...i think kumho offers the best value in tires overall and the XS looks like it should be a strong performer considering the specs and reviews. i've never had a kumho tire i didn't love.

 

[BillTheCat]

Running 225/45's on stock suspension. Plenty of clearance.

QFE. I just installed new wheels & tires- even at 18x7.5 & only +43 offset, (13mm further OUT from the hub) running 225/45/18 with plenty of clearance on stock suspension.

 

[CornerCarver]

I run the 225/45-18. My recent tire purchase was a full $20-25 cheaper per tire to get the 45 vs. 40 profile. To me, the price difference was enough to get the 45. I've been happy.

Actually, with the Kumho XS, the 225/40 is $25 cheaper per tire than the 225/45.

At any rate, I think I'm leaning towards the 225/45-18. I worry that the fender gap would be huge with the 225/40 and stock suspension. I don't plan on lowering the car, so the 225/45 might be my best bet.

 

[Nliiitend1]

I'd go with the 225/45 if you're gonna get the XSs.

The load rating is higher on the 45s, which will likely make up for any extra "squishiness" you might get from running the higher aspect ratio.

I'm at the end of a set of 235/40 XSs, which have the same 95W load rating that the 225/45s carry. I've been extremely pleased with them, with my only complaint being that they require quite a bit of prudence in the wet (especially as the tread wears down further). On a dry road though, they're pretty hard to beat for the price in the cornering/grip department. They're definitely a better dry tire than the Azenis RT-615.

 

[TwisteDcLoWn]

the wheel gap on stock suspension with 225/40 is huge. i had a mz3 lowered on prokit that i traded for an ms3. a week after getting the ms3 i bought 225/45 to better match stock OD. slightly rubbed one time with 4 people in the car taking hard turns. 225/45 is better. gap on 225/40 is huge and sidewall is 14m shorter that stock. 225/45 is 8 mm taller than stock.

http://www.wheelsmaster.com/rt_specs.jsp

 

[CornerCarver]

I ended up going with the Kumho XS in 225/45-18. Took the car out this morning for a shakedown. All is well in smooth sharp corners or smooth high speed sweepers, BUT I did notice some rubbing in the rear whenever the corners were not so smooth or there was a dip in the road. I guess while the suspension is loaded from the corner, the additional suspension movement to absorb the bump or dip in the road, is causing it to rub somewhere.

I don't see how it could be rubbing on the fender lip...seems like the tire is tucked in far enough where that couldn't happen. Could it be rubbing the inner fender liner plastic? I am tempted to attach my Go Pro camera to the rear fender, point it at the tire, and see if I can see where it's rubbing. If I do, I'll post the video.

Sorta wish I would have went with the 215/45-18 Yokohama's.

 

[Nliiitend1]

I would think it's gotta be the tire height that's causing the issue, as I'm running the 235/40R18 XS on RX-9 wheels with out having ever rubbed...

 

[CornerCarver]

I would think it's gotta be the tire height that's causing the issue, as I'm running the 235/40R18 XS on RX-9 wheels with out having ever rubbed...

Ya, the overall O.D. is slightly more with these 225/45 tires. Its rubbing somewhere, I just can't tell exactly where. Sorta frustrating since I did ALOT of research on this before buying...even Tire Rack said they would not rub. Maybe these Kumho's are a bit bigger than other 225/45 tires?

Not sure how big of a deal the rubbing even is, but this car is NOT a daily driver, its more of a weekend fun car... and that "fun" consists of driving on really twisty roads and the occasional autocross. I don't like hearing that rubbing sound when I'm out having fun LOL.

Hmmmmm.... I've been thinking of replacing the stock dampers with Koni Yellows. I wonder if those installed in the rear and set to full stiff would alleviate the problem?

 

[builthatch]

I ended up going with the Kumho XS in 225/45-18. Took the car out this morning for a shakedown. All is well in smooth sharp corners or smooth high speed sweepers, BUT I did notice some rubbing in the rear whenever the corners were not so smooth or there was a dip in the road. I guess while the suspension is loaded from the corner, the additional suspension movement to absorb the bump or dip in the road, is causing it to rub somewhere.

I don't see how it could be rubbing on the fender lip...seems like the tire is tucked in far enough where that couldn't happen. Could it be rubbing the inner fender liner plastic? I am tempted to attach my Go Pro camera to the rear fender, point it at the tire, and see if I can see where it's rubbing. If I do, I'll post the video.

Sorta wish I would have went with the 215/45-18 Yokohama's.

for what it's worth....

i run 15mm spacers and 215/45/18 stock tires (stock wheels too)

i run a pro-kit for a regular 3, which end up being a little more than .5" MORE than the ms3 pro-kit

before i had my fenders modified, it would slightly rub in only one particular type of situation, and in one particular spot- the inner lip at the front of the driver's side rear fender well when i was cornering right hard at speed/right turn at speed while hitting a bump.

but that was lowered a decent amount, and alot more width added to the entire setup outer edge. your tire inner edge will be 5mm closer than stock though and several mm closer than my spaced setup, but regardless- 5mm inside and not being lowered works for others.

i'm curious what is going on with your car because technically it shouldn't be happening. i would check the inner edge because the only think i can think of is under compression this rear suspenion seems to induce a ton of negative camber but still- it's hard to understand why it would be happening for only you.

it might sound counter intuitive because the car would be lower, but maybe a pro-kit and it's increased progressive rate in the rear would help your under hard cornering? a rear sway bar upgrade might help as well. regardless, i think you have to find out where it's rubbing first to know for sure.

 

[08cosmic3]

I've been debating what size to get myself. Stock rims. I'm leaning toward the 225/40-18 because they are a little wider and cheaper than 215/45-18. The 225/45-18 are more expensive and may adversly effect straightline performance, being a taller tire and now that CC is have rubbing issues leaves me with 225/40 or stock 215/45. They do make 215/40 but I don't see the point in this size being no wider but less sidewall, might as well go 225/40. I'll be ordering next week so any thought would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CornerCarver]

I've been debating what size to get myself. Stock rims. I'm leaning toward the 225/40-18 because they are a little wider and cheaper than 215/45-18. The 225/45-18 are more expensive and may adversly effect straightline performance, being a taller tire and now that CC is have rubbing issues leaves me with 225/40 or stock 215/45. They do make 215/40 but I don't see the point in this size being no wider but less sidewall, might as well go 225/40. I'll be ordering next week so any thought would be greatly appreciated.

Hindsight being 20/20, I would have probably spent the extra $$ and ordered the Yokohama AD08 in the factory 215/45-18. From what I've read, that is a sweet tire, but it's also expensive. That's sorta why I took the chance on the 225/45 size and went with the less expensive Kumho (also a great tire), but now I'm getting a bit of rubbing. I'm going to go out again tomorrow and see if I can see where its rubbing...might even try to use my Go Pro camera to video it. Ahhh... the joys of venturing outside the factory specs LOL...

As for the 225/40 size... from what I can gather, with stock suspension, there would be a ton of fender gap and I wanted to try and avoid that. I think that tire has about a full inch smaller O.D. than the factory tires.

 

[08cosmic3]

According to the wheel master calculator the 225/40 is .5 inches less in diameter than stock. Not too bad.

 

[CornerCarver]

According to the wheel master calculator the 225/40 is .5 inches less in diameter than stock. Not too bad.

I was going by the specs listed on Tire Racks website. Not sure how accurate those are, but for the Kumho XS they list the following...

225/45-18: OD is 25.9"
225/40-18: OD is 25.0"

 

[08cosmic3]

I have heard that tires the same size can be different. Im looking at the HANKOOK VENTUS V12 EVO K110 92Y 225/40-18. I can order 4 tires shipped from onlinetires.com for $449.82. There is a $50 mail in rebate from Hankook right now so that makes them only $400.