Hey All, I'm looking to buy a new set of wheels and tires and have decided on going with a 18x9.5 front and a 19x10 rear. My question is what is the widest size tire i can go with out throwing off the car? The size numbers throw me off, and i'd really appreciate the help in this. Just want to make sure i get the right size tire so i donthave to buy them again but want to acheive that agressive look with the widest ,best looking tire i can put on these size wheels. By the way it's for a 2001 coupe
Thanks again

 

It's not only width, it's the offset of the wheels as well. I have 11.5" rears ( CCW's) with Michelin 305's on my 2000 vert and they are fine because CCW designed the correct offset to fit the C5!

 

HI There,
BTW: What is the correct offset front & rear?

 

If it helps, I run on a set of CCW SP500, 18x10 front and 19x11 rear and tires size is 275/35/18 and 305/30/19 on Nitto Invo.

 

^^It is not the tire widths that are the issue, it's the tire diameters. You want the fronts to be equal to or smaller than the rears. this has to do with how the traction control system works.

I suggest you go to tirerack.com and look at the various tires they have available. Under the specs they will tell you all the info you need including tire diameter, tire width based on a given rim size, and also the range in rim width you can use with that tire.

I would look for a 275 for the front and a 295 for the rear. I think if you go with a 35 profile for both, you should be okay.

Hope that helps.

 

thanks for the help everyone.

Tim, i'll do that right away, i totally forgot about the tirerack site, have seen people talk about it but it totally slipped my mind (late night also) .
I just want to get the widest tire for these wheel sizes and wasnt sure about what size to go with that wouldnt mess things up.
thanks again

 

^^Glad I could help.

Hope you find exactly what you are looking for. One additional suggestion for you. Tirerack gives a list of definitions that is really worth taking the time to read.

FYI, if you have a rim size that is not the same size as the rim they used to measure the tire tread, the amount of tire actually hitting the road for you will be different than what tirerack shows. They explain in the definitions mentioned above how to estimate impact of rim size on tire tread hitting the ground when using a different size rim.

 

ok, we'll do ! Thanks again Tim
Chris

 

I spoke with a guy at tirerack a couple of months ago about this. I had ordered the tires and he wouldn't sell them to me due to the rim size. I wanted 295 on the stock rear rim. He said they might pop off the rim. He was a real jerk about it so I had to cancel my order. I bought the tires elsewhere and they are fine. The installer's and the seller of the tires said there would be no problem. I have had all kinds of wide tires on a little smaller rim than recommended a never heard of a problem. Tire Rack can probably give you the correct recommendations from the technical stats. But in reality, thousands of people have put on wider tires without problem. I could see putting 315's on the stock rims without trouble. The 295's don't look stressed at all and are even with the rim, not like they are swelling and going to pop off. I had two sets of 335's on 10" rims on my 91 vette, wore both sets down with usual mileage wear. I will price stuff at tirerack, but won't buy from them again due to this representative. He was more interested in quoting stats and trying to impress me with how much he knew than trying to work with me to recommend an option or a different tire. More of a lecture. Sorry to vent, but very disappointed, never had trouble there before. Actually bought the 335's there without question or lecture.

 

You're right - lots of people have tires that are too wide on wheels that are too small....but that doesn't make it right. The tire manufacturers and the responsible dealers justifiably worry about being sued if they go outside the limit of what is considered safe and prudent. The defense that a lot of other people do it won't carry any weight in a court of law.

If someone decides to take a corner too fast and the tire bead breaks from the lip of the wheel - I seriously doubt if the owner that made a poorly informed decision is going to smack his open palm into his forehead and say...."So that's why (insert responsible dealer name here) refused to mount tires that were too wide for the rim."

Most if not all would go back screaming to the dealer, demand that his damages be paid and consider contacting an attorney. At the very least - that person would get on his forum of choice to share his sad tale of woe......

 

Go to this site: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html and see if this will answer your question.............

 

You saved me alot of typing...