What would be the opitmal size tire for a 17 x 8" wheel?

Thanks

 

If I'm not mistaken, the stock wheel size is 8" width. With that assumption, I'd go with a 245/40/17 or 255/40/17

 

245/45/17

 

Agreed, the correct size for a 17x8 wheel with the same outside diameter to maintain accurate speedo measurement would be 245/45/17.

 

Thanks. One more thing...

With 17 x 10 and 285s for the rear. My choices for particular wheel for the front are either 8s or 10s. What would you guys put on the front, 8s with 245s or 10s with 285s? Rotating the tires is not a big issue for me. How do 285s all around handle compared to 245s up front?

Thanks again

 

Personally, I like the staggered look of larger rear tires / smaller fronts.

I was thinking of 17x8-245/45 fronts and 17x9.5-275/40 rears for my car, but I ended up going for a 17x9.5-275/40 F & 17x11-315/35 R setup.

You'd hafta be careful with offset choice for a 10" wide front wheel... but there are guys running 17x11-315/35's for all 4, so it can be done.

BTW, 245/45-17, 275/40-17 and 315/35-17 are all perfect matches for overall height... and the same height as the stock 245/50-16.

 

The wider the front tire, the more the tires will want to follow every groove in the pavement. I've run everything from 285s on all four corners to 245 front and 285 rear. It all depends on the desired outcome. With the same size tires on all four corners the handling is more neutral in the turns and sticks like glue. With the staggered sizes, the car wanders less on worn pavement but ultimate handling isn't as good.... the front tends to run out of grip sooner and push though the turns. The staggered size didn't seem to matter on my Lt-1 Vette, but the car was dialed in for that.

 

Hmmm, still stumped on which to choose. I like the "stick like glue" characteristic but concerned about the wandering in the grooves. Just how bad is it? Looks are important but at the expense of handling?
Hmmm....I could use more opinions from those who have had these sizes.

Thanks

 

I honestly didn't notice much difference in the wandering when I went from 245/50-16 to the 275/40-17 fronts. But the roads around here are pretty good, though.

 

get some 315s on those 17x10s if you can, and some 245s or 255s for the front 17x8s. that would be badass.

 

I'd love 315s but I don't like the hassle of massaging, etc. Also, my wheel only comes in 10. Can you actually get 315s to fit on 10s???

 

De[pends on the manufacturers' recommendation for wheel width.... many require at leat a 10.5" wide wheel for a 315/35-17, other (e.g. Dunlop, Sumitomo) will accept a 10.0" wheel for that size tire.

How much "massaging" you need to do with that wheel/315 tire combo will depend on the offset/backspace of the wheel.

While I found that the 275/40-17's were more sensitive to wandering over roads that are scarred by 18-wheeler tire "ruts", they do no do it "at the expense of handling".... simply means you will need to pay a bit more attention as you drive on a road with those ruts. I also found that how severe the problem was is related to tire pressure, and that if you let the pressure run too low, it increases the amount of wandering, since the tire is running on the extreme outside edges of the tire, rather than on the full tread width.

 

Since I am running 285s on all four corners on two of my f-bodies, it's worth it to me for the extra stick. Wandering is only an issue when going through the trenches worn into the roads from heavy trucks. Even then, as long as you pay attention there are no problems.

 

Thanks fellas. I am leaning towards the 285s all around. I just wonder how they look from the front?

 

They wouldn't look too much different than the 275's that many of us are running on the front (or all 4). IOW, they'll look just fine!