Tire Sizes - 205/40/17 front - 215/40/17 back

[batmang]

Do any of you have this tire size combonation:

205/40/17 front / 215/40/17 back, or to make it more of a broaded question, do any of you have smaller tires in the front and bigger ones in the back? If so, whats the benefit/loss?

 

[SuperSpud]

why would you want to do that? RWD cars do that b/c of traction purposes.... if oyu were to follow on that basis, then you would put the bigger tires in the front......

 

[batmang]

just curious
im bored at work

 

[gar777]

benefits - someone may think it looks cool (b/c it looks like a RWD car) but anyone who knows the Protege would know it's FWD and would think it was odd

downsides:
worse handling - even MORE understeer
can't do a 4-tire rotatation

bottom line:
not really that awful but doesn't make sense handling wise and would look strange to anyone who recognizes the Protege as a front driver.

if you look at FWD drag cars, they often have smaller rear wheels to minimize drag, basically just holding the rear bumper off the ground. now THAT look might be kinda cool but it would still hurt handling around corners.

 

[tonkabui]

you don't want to do that batmang... the fenders in the back needs the strict fitment recipe more so than the front. if anything, go bigger in the front and keep the back at 205. but if you get directional tires, you're crapped out of luck when it comes to tire rotation, as mentioned above. just keep them all the same width for simplicity's sake.

 

[slipangle]

Maybe you could try 215/40/17 in the front and 205/45/17 in the rear? That would give you nice rotation and perhaps neutral cornering. Bad thing is, twitchy handling on the freeway, and you can't rotate your tires.