Ecos

Hello,

My car is currently running 225/50/16's in the front and 245/50/16's in the rear. They are Ecsta ASX that the previous owner had on them. The rears are balding and I live in snowy Michigan so time to buy some new ones.

There is not much of a selection of snow tires in 245/50/16. I'm curious if other sizes will fit on these rims. I am thinking of dropping down to 225/50/16's for the rear but I have no idea if this is possible on this car. I was just going to go with some all seasons in the current size but decided I would like to just go with winter/summer setups.

This car is my daily driver (I have a backup) and it won't be seeing track time for a year or two...until I rebuild the engine and do some mods. I'm thinking of going with thinner tires for better selection, and less rotational mass (I save about 6pounds per axle going from 245 to 225 according to tirerack). The car handles better than I need as it is, but it accelerates slower than I would like so I figure the smaller size would be a good tradeoff for me.

My question is is it possible to run 225/50/16 on a rim that has 245/50/16's on it? Also would you recommend dropping the front tires to 215/50/16 if I drop the back to 225?

Thanks.

jstand22

the stock setup on 16"rims calls for 205/55/16 (i think) in the front and 225/50/16 on the rears, so yes they will fit. In fact that's the original size Porsche put on them.

btw, although it's not that different you should be using 245/45/16 not 245/50/16 on the rears

Spidey944

^^^ What he said. More choices at the 245/45/16 size too.

jstand22

Also if you're getting snow tires you don't want to be using 245's ....Using narrower tires proves much better in the snow because wide tires will tend to ride on top of the snow too much, while narrow tires will "cut" through it, grabbing more of the pavement below.

Ecos

Thanks for the replies. Yeah I was thinking the same thing about skinnier tires cutting through better. In unpacked snow these wider tires have a lot more mass to plow through too. It's absolutely amazing how easy this car gets stuck right now.

I'm heading to the tire shop tomorrow to hopefully find some reasonably priced snow tires.....if not then I'm ordering some from tirerack.

knfeparty

Yup ditto I just ordered 4 225/50/16s for my 16" phonies.

245/45/16s race tires actually fit on my 16x9" clubsports just fine.

Scott at Team Harco

You may want to find some 15" phonies or cookies for your winter tires. Put 205/65R15s (or 195/65R15 or 205/60R15s) on them. I run 195/65R15s on my car. Save the other rims for non-winter use. This assumes you don't have big brakes.

Let me know if are interested in Nokian (or Hakkapeliitta) winter tires. I can get whatever you need in that brand.