legacycentral bbs

Hello all!
I am having a serious wheel problem. I desperately need new ones, I got 16x7 rims, and would like wider tires. I could fit 215/45/16's one, and it should keep my speedo relatively accurate. I just can't find many tires in this size. I don't want to spend much more than 150$. I want a tire with both good dry and wet grip, as I have to drive in all weather conditions. I know bridgestone potenza re010's and re040's are made in this size but kinda pricey. Then there are falken azenis which are affordable and have great dry traction, but I can't imagine very good wet traction. My ideal tire would really be the toyo proxes t1-s, but they don't make them in 215/45/16 which brings me to this...what do people think about running 215/40/16's instead? I know my speedo will be more off, I wanna say 6 percent high reading. But I could live with this. I don't know how it would look, kinda a lot of empty space under the car maybe? But hopefully I will be getting whiteline springs, lowering it a bit, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Doesn't the smaller tire in effect give me a shorter gear ratio? Doesn't that mean I will accelerate slightly faster? Are there any negative effects to this anyone can think of? I really gotta figure this out cause I need tires to get inspected again!
Much thanks
micum

You won't have enough sidewall to protect your wheels and you'll be scrounging around for those after you break one of them in half. And it'll look pretty horrendous IMO lowered or not. Plus the ride will stiffen up like a mofo and this will get much worse with it lowered. 215/50R16 is what you want, depending on the manufacturer these are already .1" smaller than stock in overall diameter.

It might not be a bad idea...215/50/16 is only 3/10's of an inch bigger than stock in diameter and has almost as much sidewall (4/10's " less). Although I instinctually revolt against having a speedo showing slower than I'm going, its only by 6/10s of a mile at 60mph, or something like that. I hope I won't have any problems rubbing, although I don't think I've ever heard of that with 16's, well, maybe 225's. Whatever I do, I think my sidewalls will be ok, I know many people who run 40 and 45 series on subees, Hell, I know lots of locals ricers running 30 and 35 series on the hondas and crap. I do like a stiff ride...I'm definately going to get the whitelines...has anyone got them and found them to be noisy? As in wish they bought the "silencers" that whiteline sells?
Thanks
Micum

your speedometer is only going to read .6 mph slower. not a big deal. if you do the speed limit, it won't matter. not a very big difference but worth the extra width. gearing also will not be a problem. acceleration will be the same.

Well, I decided to be conservative, play it safe, yadayadayada, but I got the tire I really wanted in the first place, toyo proxes T1-S!!! in 205/50/16 not the size I wanted, but ya can't have everything, and this will just encourage me to get 17's faster! I'm so happy! Sweet new tires today and my car finally inspected agaiN! ahh...to be legal.
Thanks
Micum