PizZle

ok guys n gals i need your help, i've aready picked out my rims...but im stuck between 2 different tires sizes.....

option 1:

235/35/19 tires and rims 1339.00

option 2:
245/40/19 tires and rims 1643.00

my question is i am currently running stock rims, tires (235/55/17), and suspension which one of those 2 options is going to be best for me?? the only thing that i am really worried about is the gap between the top of the rim and the fender well. i dont want to have a tall skinny looking tire.... but i figured im only gaining a half an inch between the two different sizes.. i need help!

Jazzer The Cat

It will be easy to figure out how your tire will fill the well based on comparing the diameter of tires:

Current = 27.2'
235/35/19 = 25.5'
245/40/19 = 26.9'

Your car will be 50% of the difference in gap around fender. The 245's are .3' smaller so will be .15' smaller gap around fender. This means you will not tell the difference in speedo or gap around tire but will have a 2' larger wheel and lower profile than current.

Jazzer The Mathamagician

PizZle

So ure sayin that if i go with the 245/40/19's i wont notice a difference in tire height overall (.3) but rather i will see more rim and less tire??? is the difference in total diameter between the two worth $300.00??

Norm Peterson

Something like that. But I´d defy anybody to reliably noticeit on the car. Half of that 0.3 ends up being lowering of the car andthe other half is increased fenderwell gap. So your eye tends to look at either the tops or the bottoms of the tire rather than at the overall height by itself.

The 235/35´s would be the same amount more rim with at least 3/4" less tire at both the top and the bottom, so you´d be at about 3/4" lower ride height -AND you´d have 3/4" more fenderwell gap. That much smaller you´d have to be nearly blind to not notice.

If it were only an appearance issue, entirely your call. Unfortunately, there´s more.

Load capacity-wise, both of those sizes are smaller than the OE tire sizes (and will tend to run hotter - not a good thing). You can probably make up enough of the difference with the 245/40´s by running a few psi higher inflation pressure than what´s on your tire pressure sticker to get away with it, but the 235/35´s are flat-out too small.


Norm

PizZle

So do i need to stay away from any tires with an aspect ratio of 35?? I've found some nitto 555 extremes that are 255/35/20 (its still not to late for me to change them from 19's to 20's) or since that isa wider tire the 35 will be a larger size because it is a ratio to the width of the tire? im a newbie to the whole tire sizes and suspension and what looks right and what doesn't...

Norm Peterson

One of the best places to bookmark is the TireRack.com website. Whether or not the tires you have in mind are actually sold there, you can find out the dimensions of the same size tires made by other companies. There will be minor differences, but they will be small in the case of most street tires (competition tires are a different story).

Anyway, it isn´t just the 35 profile, or just the width, or just the wheel diameter that determines the approximate outer diameter. It´s a combination of all three (and you still need to make sure that the tire has a large enough load capacity). That´s where the "Specs" pages for the various tire makes and models at Tire Rack come in handy. You just look stuff up - no math required most of the time. You can also read comments posted by people who have driven on the various tires.

A 255/35-20 is right at 27" tall. Here´s the complete Tire Rack data for one of theirs.
You also want to get a tire that your rims fall into the "Rim Width Range" of.

You can generally expect a firmer ride, a little less protection for your rims, and sharper cornering response (but not necessarily better ultimate cornering grip) with profiles lower than 40 than with 40 and up, but I´ll repeat that that is only a generalization.


Norm