Hi all, G35 Driver has finally allowed me to register after several days of running up against a message like, "Administrator has suspended registration activity"! So I am Very glad to be here - for my first post I had a tire size question -

I just got my new '07 G35S, black/black, and have already ordered chrome FX35/45 wheels (20 x 8), and I'm wondering exactly what size tire to order, non-staggered. BTW I don't intend to drop the car as I have done that on my last three vehicles and I'm really tired of dealing with the speed bumps and steeply angled driveways which we have a lot of here in Hawaii, at least all along my daily driving circuit.

Anyway I figure that the size range (please correct me if I'm wrong here, which I probably am) could be anywhere from 225/40-20 on up through 255/35-20?

I am worried that 225 might have too little protection against accidental curbing, although 255 might bulge out so much that the handling characteristics of the tire are negated.

I'm wondering what you all might think about this? And thanks in advance for any input.

I am extremely glad to be a part of the G35 sport sedan movement - BMW owners better beware!

 

Wow, a whole bunch of views on this post but not one answer? I gotta make a decision soon because the wheels will be here by this weekend so if you could please help me out I would appreciate it.

 

On an 8" rim I wouldn't go much past a 235. A 245 on an 8.5 is perfectly flush.
On a 20" rim probably a 225/40 or a 235/35. Every tire brand is different from size to size. It really is a bit of a test fit situation.

 

http://www.rims-n-tires.com/rt_specs.jsp

 

Thank you kindly, gentlemen (assumption there, of course). I am kind of wanting to protect the rim from curbing (unfortunately my wife will drive it, too) and wondering if a bit of bulge-over (tire wider than rim as g35_6gear mentioned) will hurt the handling much?

By the way that tire/rim calculator website is tremendously helpful izmir41500, thanks a ton.

 

245/35/20 will be a pretty straight sidewall on an 8.5" rim. if you want some protection for your rim, just go with a slightly wider and taller tire. not sure if you like the low profile look or not, but either increase the width of the tire or the height. something like 255/35/20 or 245/40/20 (i think anyways).

 

IMO, you should try to maintain the same tire OD as stock and play around with tire widths. I think I would go with 245 in your case.

 

Thanks guys, I see that the stock height of the tires on our Sports is 26.7" rear and 26.9" front, so according to the tire/rim calculator site linked in the post above, I should go with something like the 245/35 which will give me 26.8" overall height with the chrome 20-inch FX45 wheel.

But the 245/40 (27.7" total height) and 255/35 (27" even) are also in the ballpark. I guess it depends on how much tire overhang or bulge I can live with, as well as how much of the wheelwell I want to fill up (without dropping my car as I mentioned I want to avoid) while still being able to fully turn the front wheels as well as load up the full rated cargo weight without bottoming out the tires.

Unfortunately I can't get any more width with this rim as it comes from the factory at 8 inches wide.

Very interesting, this whole mix/match and trial and error tire/wheel process. It's a good thing there are tire/wheel calculators to at least get us close - I'd hate to have to buy all these combinations just to try'em!

Much appreciated everyone, and hopefully we can all benefit from the info gained. Of course I will definitely report how mine turn out, as well as taking a picture or three to post here (in fact how do you do that? Do I have to have my own web host?).

Thanks again!

 

get 245/35 or 255/35, 245/40 is way too tall

 

Yeah I know, but to tell you the truth what I am worried about is the appearance of the wheelwell gap as being too big if I use tires that only bring it back up to the same height as stock.

Unless the width of the bigger tire's tread fills it out "sideways" that would give the impression the wheelwell gap was less.

But anyway for now I am pretty firm on 245/35-20's since 255/35's might be too wide for the 8-inch rim on those FX wheels. Unless someone else see another angle that I haven't considered yet...what do you think?

 

Offsets that bring the tire flush to the fender is usually desired. If the offset is too big, the tire goes further into the wheel well giving the illusion of a gap. In reality, the gap is the same since the ODs are supposed to be the same.

 

Thanks terry - hmmm, this may mean spacers after all!