700 dollar rim/tire mistake
10-08-2008, 05:41 PM
#1
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location:
Posts: 929
700 dollar rim/tire mistake
As much as I've been waiting for the old tires to wear out to finally get these 295/45/18's on my car's rear today I realized how big of a mistake higher profile tires were and now I feel like I'm stuck. In order to replace my 275/40/18 falkens I had to get 18x10 rim-- 310 bucks. The 295/45/18 Nittos were 180 a piece so that's another 360. The purpose of this was to soften up the rear (it seemed too stiff on the bumps) and at the same time get abetter grip when launching. Well somehow instead of being 3/8 inch higher it was almost 1 1/4 higher (tire companies need to get their measurements straight)
1) LAUNCH: took it for a test drive as soon as I put the tires on and guess what? Instead of being better than my old tires they gripped just as "good" as my 90% BALD falkens did. almost an inch wider tire that is newer and doesn't grip for $hit (WOW I thought to myself)
2) HIGH SPEED: I easily took my car to 140 with the 40 profile tires (I guess that's the main issue here) and was still able to hold the steering wheel with 1 hand as if I were crusing at 65. Today I tested out my precious higher profile tires-- another disappointment. As soon as I hit 110 I felt like I was in a boat and had to get a good grip on the steering wheel.
3) TURNS: and finally my last test for the new Nittos-- Mulholland Drive. Same outcome as in the previous 2. I was fishtailing all over the road as if I had a stock suspension with 215 tires in the rear while front that still has BALD 275/40/18 Falkens did not even make a sound.
Could've been 700 dollars spent on something like interior mods. Instead I bought tires that make you feel like you're on ice and rims to fit them. Here's my dilemma now. I want to keep the rims, but I can not find a 40 profile Falken for it. 275/40/18 is too narrow. Really seems like I'm gonna have to sell everything because I can not drive a boat on the freeway or any other public highway.
1) LAUNCH: took it for a test drive as soon as I put the tires on and guess what? Instead of being better than my old tires they gripped just as "good" as my 90% BALD falkens did. almost an inch wider tire that is newer and doesn't grip for $hit (WOW I thought to myself)
2) HIGH SPEED: I easily took my car to 140 with the 40 profile tires (I guess that's the main issue here) and was still able to hold the steering wheel with 1 hand as if I were crusing at 65. Today I tested out my precious higher profile tires-- another disappointment. As soon as I hit 110 I felt like I was in a boat and had to get a good grip on the steering wheel.
3) TURNS: and finally my last test for the new Nittos-- Mulholland Drive. Same outcome as in the previous 2. I was fishtailing all over the road as if I had a stock suspension with 215 tires in the rear while front that still has BALD 275/40/18 Falkens did not even make a sound.
Could've been 700 dollars spent on something like interior mods. Instead I bought tires that make you feel like you're on ice and rims to fit them. Here's my dilemma now. I want to keep the rims, but I can not find a 40 profile Falken for it. 275/40/18 is too narrow. Really seems like I'm gonna have to sell everything because I can not drive a boat on the freeway or any other public highway.
10-08-2008, 07:41 PM
#3
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Anchorage, AK
Posts: 987
Agreed sorry you are not happy.
But I don't know were you came up with that 3/8" difference between those two tires, my math shows if they were built exactly to specs, (which they are not) puts the 275/40/18 at 26.6" tall and the 295/45/18 at 28.4" tall, which equals a 1.8" difference.
Anyways good luck with what ever you end up doing.
But I don't know were you came up with that 3/8" difference between those two tires, my math shows if they were built exactly to specs, (which they are not) puts the 275/40/18 at 26.6" tall and the 295/45/18 at 28.4" tall, which equals a 1.8" difference.
Anyways good luck with what ever you end up doing.
10-08-2008, 07:46 PM
#4
I got those Nitto 295/45/18 installed 2 months ago.
To be honest I noticed that they don't grip, I was at
a traffic light going left, and I got on it a little bit just
to realize that I was fishtailing and got on the oncoming
traffic lane. It took me around 4 turns to control it!
However, I can't comment on the speed issue because
I never went over 70MPH in the past 2 months!
100% city driving.
But look at the bright side, they look MEAN!!
I love the stance now, that's why I'm sacrificing!
And btw, you have almost 2 inches difference
in the overall diameter between your fronts and
rears. I bought my wheels and tires used, and they
came with 275/40/18 up front and 295/45/18 out
back, I took off the 275's and replaced them with
255/45.
Maybe this is the reason your car is acting weird!
To be honest I noticed that they don't grip, I was at
a traffic light going left, and I got on it a little bit just
to realize that I was fishtailing and got on the oncoming
traffic lane. It took me around 4 turns to control it!
However, I can't comment on the speed issue because
I never went over 70MPH in the past 2 months!
100% city driving.
But look at the bright side, they look MEAN!!
I love the stance now, that's why I'm sacrificing!
And btw, you have almost 2 inches difference
in the overall diameter between your fronts and
rears. I bought my wheels and tires used, and they
came with 275/40/18 up front and 295/45/18 out
back, I took off the 275's and replaced them with
255/45.
Maybe this is the reason your car is acting weird!
10-08-2008, 07:51 PM
#5
5th Gear Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 4,536
1. from my personal experience Falkens are alot better then Nittos. i have ran 555s, hated them
2. Tires companys have the measurements straight. The first number is a straight up measurement of the tread. The middle is a RATIO of the sidewall to the tread width.
3 you should have got a 295/40 tire. Also you have to factor in that there is a top and a bottom of a tire. So if a sidewall is 1/2 higher then another tire. It will be 1 inch taller overall.
2. Tires companys have the measurements straight. The first number is a straight up measurement of the tread. The middle is a RATIO of the sidewall to the tread width.
3 you should have got a 295/40 tire. Also you have to factor in that there is a top and a bottom of a tire. So if a sidewall is 1/2 higher then another tire. It will be 1 inch taller overall.
10-08-2008, 09:12 PM
#8
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: East Moline, IL
Posts: 1,852
I have no problems with the 555's. They suck at the track, of course, but I have no complaints on the street. They hook up just as good as my KDW2's on my '05. But, I also have quite a bit of suspension work done, so that may make a difference. Sorry to hear of your troubles in any event.
10-08-2008, 09:31 PM
#10
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location:
Posts: 929
Yeah I kinda messed up on calculations of overall diameter. I'm kinda scared to experiment with tires as of right now. I had my set up where I could use 1 hand to hold the steering wheel at 140 and not worry about anything and now I can hardly control it with 2 at 130. I'll stick with the Falkens. Already got 2 FK-452's on the way for the front and will order 2 more for the rear tomorrow. Have to get rid of what I have though. If anyone is interested and IS USED TO 45 RATIO OF THE SIDEWALL, let me know and we'll try to work something out. I already have them off the car and they only got about 30 highway miles on them. Thanks for your responses people. I'm glad I'm not the only one that has complaints about traction on these, because then I'd feel like I'm being too picky