I just bought a Sebring '02 s2k yesterday (yay!!) with 15k miles. The previous owner installed 18" OZ Supperleggera wheels on it. I do NOT have the stock wheels.

Anyway, my problem is that the car is running Yokahama Paradas in 225/40/18 ALL THE WAY AROUND!! (Yikes!) Needless to say, the car is really tail happy and squirmy on left turns at 60-70% throttle in second gear.

To make things worse, I'm fairly certain that both front and rear wheels are the same width. I THINK all four wheels are 18x8.

My first question is, short of measuring the rim with a tape measure (which I don't think is all that accurate), how do I know if I've got 18x7, 18x8, or 18x9s? Is the width stamped somewhere on the wheel? If so, I can't find it.

Second, what's the best course of action for me to fix this mess? Assuming I've got 18x8s all the way around, should I buy a set of 18.9s and try to sell 2 of my wheels or try to put decent rubber on the wheels i've got? I like the look of them, so putting a different set isn't really an option.

Third, what tire sizes should I get for maximum grip? I like to power out of apexes fairly hard and want the car to feel planted (which it currently does NOT do). Does that mean I should go for a much wider rear? What's ideal? 225/35/18F 255/30/18R? How about 205 front? Otherwise stock suspension.

Finally, what's the best tire available in these sizes? I am most interested in MAXIMUM dry grip at the expense of everything else. I have *ZERO* concern/interest for wet performance or tread life. The car will be driven agressively on the street/mountain roads and I live in the desert where it is VERY rarely below 50 degrees.

I had S03s on my old car and was vary dissapointed. I always felt the Yok A520s I had before them had much better dry grip.

If I get a competition class tire, will I regret it? Short of burning through them pretty fast, will I have temperature problems using something like the Yok A032R on the street?

Thanks for any help and info.

 

I can't answer all your questions but I'd say the best would be to buy another pair of new wheels for a staggered setup. As for high performance tires, look into the Toyo RA1's.

 

Well, I just pulled off the wheels on the passenger side and looked at them. They have "7Jx18" and "C-60" stamped on them on the inside. I'm assuming that this means that all the wheels are 7" wide..

Isn't the stock rear 7.5" wide?

Anyway, what makes matters worse is that I think the OZ Superleggera wheels are discontinued in the anthracite finish and I can't find any place that's selling old '03 stock in the right size.

If I buy a new set of rears in the "bright silver" finish, will a place be able to repaint them to match the existing wheels?

This is so frustrating...

 

Yes the stock rear rims are 7.5".

If you want stock wheels watch the for sale forums. 00-03 stock wheels usually go for $400.

I would imagine it would be pretty difficult to perfectly match the finish color of the wheels. You may have to get them all poweder coated.