New Tyre Help Please

[TAZkb]

I need some new tires for my 300 sport and iv'e been searching around and am just confused now ?

right now with stock 17" wheels I have 205 45 17 tires all round, I have read on some threads on this forum that many people like to stagger their tires front to rear, say like 245 45 17 rears and 225 45 17 fronts ? it's not unusual with some sports cars to do this I know but should my 2003 is300 sport have the same arrangement ? and if so what sizes work best ? I was thinking maybe

235 45 17 rear and 215 45 17 front or

245 45 17 rear and 225 45 17 front ?

any help on this matter would be appreciated as I need tires very soon

thanks

[ColinBarber]

if you are going wider then you need a lower profile tyre otherwise the diameter of the combined wheel and tyre will be too big which will affect your speedo, odometer and the car won't sit level.

Others hopefully can advise what is a safe width to go to on the stock rims, you want the tyre walls to be straight not bulging.

your current 205 width doesn't sounds correct, I'm sure the standard size is wider than that?

[ahmedali44]

Best thing is asda do tyres cheaper them most places put ur reg no @ will tell u correct size for ur car @ u can get fitted at local Halfords search asda tyres

[hmoves]

I have the IS300 Sportcross. As far as I'm aware, the saloon has stock 17 inch by 7 wide alloys which would hold 215/45 R17 sized tyres from new.

The staggered setup is original equipment on the sportcross (estate) version which has 17 inch by 7 wide (same as saloon) alloys front but 17 inch by 7.5 wide rear alloys, holding 215/45 r17 front tyres (again, same as saloon) but 225/45 r17 tyres rear.

If you desire to use a staggered setup, the sportcross setup would work without any problems (even though the sportcross alloys are slightly wider rear, your alloys won't be a problem with 225 tyres), as the engine, gearbox and differential are the same.

[Stuart Aspey]

Again, that is an optional thing. Zorro originally came fitted with standard 16's (205/55/R16) but I upgraded to stock 5 spoke 17's and could not find the wider rears, so I got same size wheels front and back (215/45/R17) but I know these wheels will accommodate 225/45/R17 without any concerns. People have gone bigger and smaller and stretched. . .

But, for staggering, I decided to put spacers on. 15mm on each front hub and 20mm on each rear hub. This gives a slightly wider track and nicer look. when I finally get round to lowering, the wheels will sit quite flush.

[andyk134]

Again, that is an optional thing. Zorro originally came fitted with standard 16's (205/55/R16) but I upgraded to stock 5 spoke 17's and could not find the wider rears, so I got same size wheels front and back (215/45/R17) but I know these wheels will accommodate 225/45/R17 without any concerns. People have gone bigger and smaller and stretched. . .

But, for staggering, I decided to put spacers on. 15mm on each front hub and 20mm on each rear hub. This gives a slightly wider track and nicer look. when I finally get round to lowering, the wheels will sit quite flush.

Mine is on the same 17's with 215 tyres and the same size spacers on Eibach springs, but for me the springs dont lower it enough at the back. The front is fine but the back still has a gap i can get 3 fingers in and doesn't look quite right so i am going for a set or Meister R coilovers next week so watch this space!!!

but do agree, dont stagger the tyres if on 17's then 225's are about as big as you want to go and it will affect the speedo slightly with a bigger rolling radius. That said they do tend to calibrate the speedo down and my sat nav which is far more reliable says I am doing 70 when the speedo reads 76, so going slightly bigger for me would actually help to get a more accurate reading.