I need some advice on tires & some feedback about a square wheel setup. I have a 06 S2K lowered about 1.8" on KW V2 coilovers & just bought some new 17x9 et45 Enkei RPF1 wheels & I decided to try a square wheel setup. I still need to buy tires & was looking for some recomenedations. From research I saw people suggesting stuff like Bridgestone RE11A / RE-71R / RE760, Dunlop Direzza Z2 Star Spec, Yokohama ADVAN AD08R / A052, Falken Azenis FK510, Hancook RS-4, Conti Extreme Contact Sport / DWS06 Plus, and Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S; but most of these tire threads are a few years old & I wanted to see what people currently recomend? I want the max grip I can get. Tire noise + ride comfort are least important on my list but nice to have if possible. I live in San Jose, CA so I don't have to worry about snow; temps range from 40F - 100F yearly and we don't get much rain out here; only a few weeks out of the year. I mainly drive the car from spring - fall, but if possible I'd like something that has good wet traction in case I do get caught in the rain occasionally. I currently don't track my car but I do drive it very hard most of the time. I have a lead foot and take turns hard and fast.

1) Currently what tires (brand + model) do you guys recommend? Someone at Tirerack recomended to go with 245/40R17 Conti Extreme Contact Sport, but I wanted to see what the forum recommends.

2) What size should I go for 245/40, 245/45, 255/40 or 255/45? I like a meaty tire look, but was wondering if a 255/40 or a 255/45 would have clearnace issues vs a 245/40 or 45 & if I'm giving up grip if I go with 245 vs a 255? My fenders are getting rolled this week & i'll do the bumper tab relocation and trimming if necessary. I expect I'll need a bit of negtive camber & I don't mind doing a SLIGHT pull on the fenders if needed, but I don't want to have to do anything too extreme to avoid rubbing.

Lastly, I read through the staggered vs square discussions & I noticed there was no consenus on which way to go and everyone just had opinions. I saw the reasoning behind going square but I can't help wonder that Honda would've gone with square from the factory if it really was better & we know they didn't. The draw back I see w/ going square is that you're limiting the rear wheel size (grip) by what will fit up front. I talked to someone at Evasive Motorsports who told me, "Go with 17x9 et45 square and your S2K will handle like it's on rails." so I caved & decided to give a square set up a try.

I also saw people saying going square will result in sluggish steering input & make the car more upredictable w/ even more oversteer... How true is this? Is my S2K more of a death trap by going square or is this only true when tracking the car at its limits, if at all? Am I going to be oversteering all over the place & crashing into everything on the street or this over-exagerated? Do I need to drive a certain way after changing to a square setup or is there anything I should be aware of?

Thanks for your time & input.

 

Take all the "square vs. staggered" arguments with a massive grain of salt. For your usage, it's not gonna be much if any difference. For sizes, you definitely do not want 245/45-17 or 255/45-17. I'd say 245/40-17 max front size, with 245/40 or 255/40-17 rears. Or for more front clearance which you may need, 235/40-17 fronts.

What kind of feel do you want from tires? Is road noise an issue?
I have the Conti ExtremeContact Sports for my BRZ, they're fine, but if you want ultimate handling feel, stick with 200TW category.

 

I run 245/40-17 all 4 corners on Enkie PF01 SS +49? My front tires are poking out so next set will be 235/45-17. I was thinking about go 225 but it will be stretch too much.
The rear tires are sitting flush so I stay with 245.

I did roll my fenders and relocate the rear tabs. I prefer the front with higher offset 50+. That way it sit inside the fender a little more.

 

235/40-17 would be a better size choice for the fronts for a couple of reasons: 1)less likely to have interference issues and 2)will look a ton better with 245/40-17 rears (235/45-17 fronts with 245/40-17 rears will give a "big fronts/little rears" look)

Yeah, for sure +45 isn't the best offset for fitting widish tires...

 

245/45/17 or 255/45/17 are both too tall. You can run into rubbing issues especially lowered. 245/40/17 or 255/40/17 are the right sizes. Increasing the camber in front or running the offset bushings can help pull in the fronts a little more

 

If you go staggered check the tire overall diameter (revolutions per mile) as the ABS and Stability Assist systems depend on they being very similar. If all four tires match it's not an issue but squeezing fat tires in the front can be difficult.

For example "CR spec" with 215/45 F and 255/40R are 24.5" (847r/mile) and 24.9" (833r/mile) only have a difference of about 2% and don't cause problems. Anyone have information or data on larger differences?

-- Chuck

 

245/40R17 The +45's have a very aggressive profile so the 245's move the top portion of the tire inward just a slight bit from a 255 to give more top tire clearance. You'll still want to roll your fenders. My buddy ran 255/40 on 17x9+45 Enkei RPF1's with ohlins and he caught the fenders.

 

Thanks for your reply. I'd want to keep the tire sizes square so I can have the option to rotate the wheels. If I went with 245/40-R17 for the extra clearance it allows vs a 255/40-R17 would I be giving up a lot if grip?

As far as tire feel, I want a frim sidewall to feel as much responsiveness and feed back through the tire as possible. Road noise is my least concern as my S2K is noisy anyway. Essentially I'm looking for the best grip and handling I can get, and something that will also be safe in the wet for occasional rain, but since I live in CA rain storms are seldom here and I prefer to drive my AMG C63S if it's raining hard anyway.

Being that you have the Conti ExtremeContact Sports on your BRZ would you recomend them for the S2000? What do you like/not like about them? What 200TW tires would you recomend? Thanks

 

Thanks for your reply... Wow so event at a higher offset of +49 your wheels are poking out? Are you lowered, if so how much? What brand/model tires are you running & would you go with them again? Do you feel like your 245/40-17's grip well or did you ever feel the need to go up to a 255 (if you could fit them)?

 

Thanks for your reply. Yeah I figured a 45 aspect ratio would be too tall. I want to keep tire sizes square so I can have the option to rotate the wheels. I feel like going with a 245/40-R17 might be the safest way to go for clearance instead of a 255/40-R17, but wasn't sure if i'm giving up any grip by doing so & I was also wondering if a 255 up front will make reduce the steering responsiveness/feedback... Any thoughts on that?

Any recomendation on which tire brand/make/model to consider?