S13 Wheel/Tire size

[g81981]

I’ve purchased a set of 17x9 +27 wheels for my S13. I was planning to run 255/40/17 all around. I’ve searched already and there seems to be a lot of conflicting information concerning fitting a 17x9 +27 wheel with a 255/40/17 tire in the front of an S13. I just need some confirmation so that I can order my tires. I’m not really looking to stagger the tire sizes or get some smaller tires (I don’t drift).

[OptionZero]

why would you rrun 255's on all 4 corners? Are you pushing 300hp with a super stiff suspension and go to the track frequently? A nonturbo engine will struggle to turn that much rubber.

I doubt you could fit that in front because of coilover clearance and fender clearance.

Get some 20mm wide fenders in front and you should be able to do it.

[iMAGE976]

225-40-17 will give u a slight stretch and will also allow u to clear ur stock fenders with enough camber and the proper roll/pull on ur fenders. Good luck Btw.

[KA24DESOneThree]

I have 17x9 +10 front and +20 rear with 245/40 all around.

+20 was scary close to front coilover so I added a 10mm sandwich (peanut butter and bacon, mmmm) to gain a little clearance. Rolled the fender as well. Biggest issue I had was with the tire hitting the leading edge of the inside of the fender, so I beat it until it cleared... and my car isn't even that low by "drifter standards." Rear cleared fine, but I rolled and flared the arch because I want ZERO rubbing of any kind. Now I almost want a 5mm spacer to slip in there but I'll avoid that kind of craziness. I'm running maxed camber up front and like -2.8* rear.

If you're running sans turbochargeur, I would recommend sizing down to a 245/40 for two reasons: tire weight and tire height. Stock tire height is ~24.3", 245/40R17 is ~24.7", 255/40R17 is ~25.1". Stock tire weight is ~19lbs, 245/40R17 is ~26lbs, and 255/40R17 is ~28lbs. That's 2lbs less per tire to slow down and accelerate, not to mention less gearing change. My stock KA hardly struggles, but the weight and circumference certainly do not help.

I have yet to exceed the limits of my 245/40s, as I feel that if I were to do so on the street it would be unacceptably dangerous. My car is being set up for road-racing/time trials so I would believe our goals to be similar. Ignore any thoughts of 225s because they're simply too small to achieve ultimate grip. Also, I hope you have a lot of chassis bracing or a cage, because this much grip will make flex readily apparent.

[g81981]

I have 17x9 +10 front and +20 rear with 245/40 all around.

+20 was scary close to front coilover so I added a 10mm sandwich (peanut butter and bacon, mmmm) to gain a little clearance. Rolled the fender as well. Biggest issue I had was with the tire hitting the leading edge of the inside of the fender, so I beat it until it cleared... and my car isn't even that low by "drifter standards." Rear cleared fine, but I rolled and flared the arch because I want ZERO rubbing of any kind. Now I almost want a 5mm spacer to slip in there but I'll avoid that kind of craziness. I'm running maxed camber up front and like -2.8* rear.

If you're running sans turbochargeur, I would recommend sizing down to a 245/40 for two reasons: tire weight and tire height. Stock tire height is ~24.3", 245/40R17 is ~24.7", 255/40R17 is ~25.1". Stock tire weight is ~19lbs, 245/40R17 is ~26lbs, and 255/40R17 is ~28lbs. That's 2lbs less per tire to slow down and accelerate, not to mention less gearing change. My stock KA hardly struggles, but the weight and circumference certainly do not help.

I have yet to exceed the limits of my 245/40s, as I feel that if I were to do so on the street it would be unacceptably dangerous. My car is being set up for road-racing/time trials so I would believe our goals to be similar. Ignore any thoughts of 225s because they're simply too small to achieve ultimate grip. Also, I hope you have a lot of chassis bracing or a cage, because this much grip will make flex readily apparent.


Thanks for the reply KA24DESOneThree. I've looked at the tire heights and am aware of the changes that will be made to this car. I was just wondering if there were any other people that have fit 255/40R17 in the front. Yeah, I'm going to ignore the "drifter" 225's. Any people have experience with 255's?

[ramblux]

Why would you call 225s "drifter" tires? It's a matter of fitment. 255s are too wide for the front of a stock-fendered car and will make turning more difficult.

[evoandy]

why would you rrun 255's on all 4 corners? Are you pushing 300hp with a super stiff suspension and go to the track frequently? A nonturbo engine will struggle to turn that much rubber.

I doubt you could fit that in front because of coilover clearance and fender clearance.

Get some 20mm wide fenders in front and you should be able to do it.


with as many people on this forum who run 19x 239048092384098235908 -234234 wheels, I'm surprised anyone cares about anyone running 255s in the rear... And it definitely doesn't take 300hp to break 255s loose.

[Shawn_of_the_Dead]

Fook that.

I wanna run 275's in the rear.

[nlzmo400r]

I’ve purchased a set of 17x9 +27 wheels for my S13. I was planning to run 255/40/17 all around. I’ve searched already and there seems to be a lot of conflicting information concerning fitting a 17x9 +27 wheel with a 255/40/17 tire in the front of an S13. I just need some confirmation so that I can order my tires. I’m not really looking to stagger the tire sizes or get some smaller tires (I don’t drift).

depending on the heigt of your car, yes they will fit. My last setup was 17x8.5 (25offset) with 255/40 rt615s all around. The only problem with running such a big tire is they're heavy, and it takes a lot of power to get them up to optimal heat range. My car was also about as low as I could go, so I had heavy camber (meaning I wasn't using all of the tire that I could have been). So all in all, yes it'll fit, but its not really worth it.........take it from someone who has done it before-

- Rob

[KA24DESOneThree]

Thanks for the reply KA24DESOneThree. I've looked at the tire heights and am aware of the changes that will be made to this car. I was just wondering if there were any other people that have fit 255/40R17 in the front. Yeah, I'm going to ignore the "drifter" 225's. Any people have experience with 255's?

Again, I do not know the setup of your car but I must attempt to persuade you from running 255s all around unless you are putting down quite a bit of power or have massive brakes. I know how set in our ways we can get, but unless your car fulfills one of the above, 255s will be excessive.

In order to get them to fit, you will have to either run more negative camber than is optimal, cancelling out the increase in tire width, or run spacers and wide fenders/flares. Depending on what coilovers you have, you may notice very little to no clearance once the wheel/tire combo is mounted and may require spacers anyway.

Trust me. I did a lot of research before going with the wheel and tire combination I did and I had very little trouble fitting the size I chose. However, in order to fit even 245s I'm running enough negative camber that temperature deviation from inside to outside is an average of roughly 10%.

[g81981]

depending on the heigt of your car, yes they will fit. My last setup was 17x8.5 (25offset) with 255/40 rt615s all around. The only problem with running such a big tire is they're heavy, and it takes a lot of power to get them up to optimal heat range. My car was also about as low as I could go, so I had heavy camber (meaning I wasn't using all of the tire that I could have been). So all in all, yes it'll fit, but its not really worth it.........take it from someone who has done it before-

- Rob

Thanks for the advice rob. It was one of your posts that I read concerning the fitment of the 255's. Do you think that the heavy camber was caused by the low height of your car? Did you have any issues with the tires hitting the frame/wheel well while turning?

[KA24DESOneThree]

Thanks for the advice rob. It was one of your posts that I read concerning the fitment of the 255's. Do you think that the heavy camber was caused by the low height of your car? Did you have any issues with the tires hitting the frame/wheel well while turning?

The lower the car, the more negative the camber. Any knowledge of camber curves would teach you this.

You will have issues with tires contacting the body. Why you only listen to Rob is beyond me, but look up to my post as well. Depending on your caster, you probably will contact the front of the fenderwell at a certain amount of lock and suspension compression. Beat the sheetmetal with a sledge and that'll solve the problem. There is also the problem of the lip above the tire, which must be bent out of the way to prevent slicing the tire. Also, the wiring harnesses on both sides must to moved to avoid contact with the tires and to avoid the resultant shorts. I have also heard of problems with contacting the tension rod bracket at full lock.