BleedinBlue

With this being my only car and the fast approach of Winter...I am considering buying some new rear tires to upgrade from the stockers, and I will obviously want to go wider.

I realize that with the profile of the stock tires, I can't do like I did with the New Edge and just buy 275/40's for the rear because it wouldn't match the front tires.

What would be the correct size for the rear to match the profile of the fronts? 275/55? Would they even fit?

157dB

What ya got on the front?

235/55ZR17 STOCK
9.251" WIDE
27.177" TALL
85.379" ROUND
742 REVS / MILE

245/55R17
9.65" WIDE
27.610" TALL
86.739" ROUND
730 REVS / MILE

255/55R17
10.04" WIDE
28.042" TALL
88.096" ROUND
719 REVS / MILE

265/55R17
10.433" WIDE
28.476" TALL
89.459" ROUND
708 REVS / MILE

235/50R17
9.25" WIDE
26.251" TALL
82.469" ROUND
768 REVS / MILE

245/50R17
9.65" WIDE
26.640" TALL
83.692" ROUND
757 REVS / MILE

255/50R17
10.04" WIDE
27.039" TALL
84.945" ROUND
746 REVS / MILE

26" = 81.681" ROUND = 776 REVS / MILE
27" = 84.823" ROUND = 747 REVS / MILE
28" = 87.965" ROUND = 720 REVS / MILE
29" = 91.106" ROUND = 695 REVS / MILE

You want to keep the same revs per mile
or overall diameter of the stock size but
get it to be wider? If so, a 255/50-17 is
about the same revs per mile and about
as wide as you can go on a 8" wide rim.

157dB

2 good tire calculator sizing sites.

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCal...?action=submit

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalcold.html

VistaGT

There arent any 275/55s that I know of. It would be taller than your stock tires b/c the height would be 55% of 275 vs. 55% of 275. 275 is a bit wide for the stock 8" rim. The widest recommended size is 255. There are some 255/50s out there that would fit nice. Very close to stock height.

Nuke

Did I miss something? What size are your stock wheels and tires? Go to one of the tire sites like tirerack and check specs on the various tires. 255 is about what I'd go on 8.5's unless the tire manufacturer says otherwise. Also, if you're concerned about winter weather, wider is NOT better (although 255's vs. 235's isn't that much of a difference). I'll sell you my 18 x 8.5" fan blades; then you can mount some winter tires on the stockers.

Texotic

don't go wider than 255. if you want 275's, get at least some 9" wide rims.

Stkjock

looks like from the sig pic he's got 17s and those are only 8" wide

255s - max IMO, for DD use, as limited use 275/40s would be ok IMO

BTW - for winter and snow... narrower is better

BleedinBlue

275's will fit just fine on 8 inch wide wheels. I ran them on my stock bullitts on my new edge for a long while...and in a 40% profile. They fit and looked great...Check out the new edge section, 275/40 is the preferred tire for stock 8 inch wide wheels and is VERY common.

There are lots of brands that offer 275/55s...that seems to be a common suv tire. Probably too big, I'd be curious to see them on though. (I'm not going to try it...)

Using a calculator I found that 275/50 is close to the stock sidewall height. Has no one put wider tires on a set of stock rear wheels here? I realize that is an odd size and there isn't much of a selection, but they do make them and I bet they'd look great...

Since I posted the thread though I did find what confirms the above...that wider is not better in snow. I will most likely stick with what I have for the winter, weight down my trunk and be careful. I won't need to drive much when it is bad anyway. I plan on new rear wheels this Spring too...so buying new tires for these wheels seems pretty silly.