I was thinking about replacing the stock front tires (225/50-18) with something that's lower profile. Do y'all have any recommendations as to tire sizes that I can switch to while keeping the same wheels, but which will not detract from the handling characteristics of the car? Could I go down to a 225/45-18 without screwing anything up?

 

Plug in your new tire sizing and it will provide you with the difference:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

Thanks "theimmortal". The site tells me what the true speed will be in the speedometer after the change in tires. But I am also wondering whether the handling characteristics of the car will change negatively by installing lower profile tires in the front.

 

i have falken azenis i love em

 

Falken 452's... but it may look wierd with a huge gap in the wheel well...

 

The lower the profile generally the rougher the ride. If you stick to the same width and go lower in profile you will lose rolling diameter and this may throw off your speedo. By reducing the sidewall height the sidewall will be stiffer and the turn in sharper (on front only). AND the gap may look a little bigger because of the shorter sidewall (not much in any case).

Other than that you will notice that if you compare the rolling diameter of front and rear tires they are really close (less than 1% diff). This also means that the sidewall height is virtually identical front to rear in a stock size setup. Not certain what you're trying to accomplish but I would say stick to the stock sizes or make sure the rolling diameter remains pretty close to stock.

 

get G37 19's ;-)

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I am not trying to change the performance as much as the look. In my humble opinion, the 225/50-18 looks in the front looks "chunky." I suppose changing it to a 225/45-18 wouldn't take the chunkiness away all that much. It would however increase the rolling diameter between the front and rear tires from about 1% to 8-9%.

It does appear that there are a whole lot more choices for 225/45-18 tires than 225/50-18 tires. I'll probably just end up using the Bridgestones that come with the car until they are worn out, and then worry about it.

Can anyone tell me if there would also be a significant performance difference if I utilize a 245/45-18 tire on the front, which would then match the rear tires of the car? I take it that rear tires in rear wheel drive sports car have larger rear tires for additional traction. But does having the same tire size in the front somehow adversely affect the traction of the rear tires?

 

I have been wondering the same about using 245-45-18 on the front sport rims. Since the front rims are 7.5" the 245 might look a little weird, but there are others on this site that have done it and reported it works fine.

Regarding the 225-45-18, there are other that have done that here, but I don't recall their impressions. I guess the speedometer shouldn't be a problem since it is attached to the rear wheels. There are a lot more 225-45 tires available than the stock size.

 

7.5" is the diamater right? I take it that it's smaller than the rear rims. I had no idea. I thought the rims were the same size, with a larger rear tire.

 

I put 245/45/18s on the stock fronts and 255/45/18 on back. They work great. Probably should have been the stock sizes anyway, the tires seem to fit the wheels better. My guess is that Infiniti used the 50s on front to soften the ride.

 

Ez-g, can you post a pic of your car with the 245/45/18 up front? Thanks bro!

 

OK - I will get a few in the daylight tomorrow.

 

It's 18" diameter x 7.5" width for the front wheels. 18" dia x 8.5" wid for the rear wheels. The rear wheels are wider than the front while the diameter stays the same. I remember reading on this forum that several people have gone with 245/45/18 all around with a slight bulge in the front wheels. If you search, I believe there are pics.

I, personally, will be switching to 225/50/18 front, 255/45/18 rears as the current rear tires look stretched on the 8.5 rims. I wish Goodyear would speed up production. My order is on backorder.

 

See if this works, first time posting pics.