ok....I'm running out of patience here... Finding a set of tires I can live w/ and a price to match is getting to be about as difficult as finding a set of wheels... After 2 years of searching, I found a set of 18" x 9.5" wheels that I LIKE..... NOW I need tires for them. I will be installing these wheels in July. (not that it matters.....but WTF)

My Question... WHO has the best pricing for the following, AND are there any other tires yall would recomend that won't break the bank. I don't want to pay $600/2 unless I ABSOLUTLY HAVE TO! Correct me if I'm wrong. (and I know you will) I'd like 285/40's but I don't think they make them.. So I'll have to settle w/ 275/35's....

Nitto 555's- (Dang expensve!!)

BFG KDW's- (can't find in 285/40's... only 275/35)

Other good brands? Kumho? I'm NOT doing Toyo again. Eagle F1's are starign to seam cheap. I'm checking Discounnt Tire Direct, Tire Rack. Is there ANYWHERE/ANYTHING I could be overlooking?? A bit of help would make my life easier about now.

And lastly.. a simple Q... I'll be doing American Racing Rebels... Backspacing?? 35mm ok?


Thanx a lot.....

 

dewd - In 285/40/18 you can get the KDW-2's.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=3

$229 a piece. That's only $460 plus your shipping costs from Tirerack.com which isn't that bad usually.

The Kumho Ecsta MX (usually my next preference) is $221 for 275/35, so the BFG's sound like the shoe in to me. They are an awesome tire, and they look better to me than anythin out there.

 

and on tire rack KUMHO s are about 160.per 4 275/35/18s..IM trying 2 find out myself the best size 4 my 18s.. without rubbing in the front.. Tire rack is going to tell you that 245/40/18s is best 4 the front... But I dont want miss-match tires 4 the front and back..

 

When you pick up tire size you want to be as close as possible of the stock size diameter wich is about 25.65"-25.7" .

To get the outside diameter from the tire specs, you convert the section width to inches, add a decimal to the "aspect ratio" (the 40 in the tire size means the sidewall height is 40% of, or 0.40 X the section width), multiply the aspect ratio times the section width - that gives you the sidewall height. Then add 2X the sidewall height to the wheel diameter.


285/40/18 give :

285/25.4 = 11.22"

0.40 x 11.22 = 4.49"

2 x 4.49 = 8.98"

18" + 8.98 = 26.98" = the outside diameter of the tire

So the 285/40/18 is 1.3" inchs to tall


The good size should be:


285/35/18:
285/25.4 = 11.22"

0.35 X 11.22 = 3.93"

2 x 3.93 = 7.86"

18" + 7.86" = 25.86" wich is .1"inch bigger (very close to perfect)

or

275/35/18

275/25.4 = 10.83"

0.35 x 10.83" = 3.79"

2 x 3.79" = 7.58"

18" + 7.58" =25.58" wich is .1" smaller



-One of the best is the f1 gs-d3 but god damn expensive 257.00/each ,i was going to buy them when i thought about what i was gonna do with the car this summer.

-Im a little freak that like to smoke the rear tires and make them slide on corner so why the hell i was gonna pay for expensive tire when im gonnna smoke them and burn them in maybe a summer or two(with rotation of course).

-So i put my choice on the falken fk-451 190.00$/each.I called it the fair tire.Its fair/good on the dry(they need to be warm a little) and good on wet .

-What im trying to explain is ,considere wich tire you need for your application.

 

Eagle F1 GS-D3 -- best street tire you'll ever own, IMO. Michelin Pilot outperforms it by a small margin, for a 50% price premium.

$277/tire will get you a set of 285/40YR18 from TireRack.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes....Eagle+F1+GS-D3

 

The biggest reason to stay as close as possible to the existing tire ratio is to keep your speedometer calibrated. If you think a bigger tire looks better, and you don't mind losing a little torque at the ground (equivalent to shortening your rear end gear ratios), there's nothing wrong with changing sizes.

Any mail order tuner (or a HyperTech, or anything like that) can re-calibrate your speedometer for your new tires.

 

The good year Eagle F1's are looken pretty good. I still have time to really make up my mind.

Lookin into the Kumho's

 

Kumho's are cheap for a reason. This information is secondhand (via a friend of mine that put 712's on his '95 V6), but I've heard that they're pretty crappy.

Everyone I know with F1 GS-D3's, on any car, absolutely loves them.

 

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...17&rd=18&ar=40

 

I got my 275/35-18 BFG KDW-2s from Tirerack for $850 shipped. I also run 18x9.5 all around.

From what I've seen, the Nittos cost like, $5 more a tire. Since mine's a daily driver, I need some semblance of traction in the rain, so I went with the BFGs.

 

OK, It's down to F1's and the KDW-2's now. Thanx yall!

What aboutt eh 35mm backspacing on the AR Rebels? Should I just measure it on the car when I get back?

 

So I souldnt have any problems in the front as far as rubbing with the 275/35/18 s ????

 

275's shouldn't rub, or rub very little if they do at all, also yes Kumho's suck *****, they are cheap and may be ok for the front, but you will spin the **** out of them if you throw em on the rear.

 

Thanks, because I really dont want 2 put play mix n match. between front/back..

 

I fit 275 40's on my 18x9.5's all around - no rubbing - and it is dropped 1". Altthough I had 56mm backspace - sounds like yours is a bit different