taun

So I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on some Rota Tarmac II's (17x7.5 +48) in bronze. The decision has now come to the tires and I'd like to get some opinions between a 225/45-17 and 225/50-17. This is going to be a daily driver, with an occasional run up and down the hills, through the snow, but nothing too aggressive (which is why i'm not going wider 235, 245, etc). My setup will eventually be with Swift Springs on the OEM struts. The reason I'm comparing these two sizes is because there seems to be a lot more tire choices in the 45 versus the 50. Is the difference pretty big (in terms of filling the wheel well)? I also checked the spreadsheet and it didn't look like anyone was running 225/45-17 on a 17x7.5 wheel.

CraigB

225/45-17 is ~1" smaller in diameter than 225/50-17. IMO, it will look pretty small, even with Swift springs. Here's my car with 225/50-17 on JDM FSTi Pinks for reference.

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CraigB
04 FXT

Smooth

On the stock suspension or on Swifts I would take 225/50 over 225/45, personally. The 45 series will just look a little too short (especially at stock ride height), and you'll probably get a speedo error since the diameter is over an inch less than the OEM tires. Since you're not going to be too aggressive I'd say go with 225/50 or even 225/55.

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'07 FSXT WRB ¤ protuned VF39

CraigB

Heh, I just remembered I had this pic...225/45-17 on stock suspension, when my car was brand new. These were my snows for my GTI, so I threw them on to see what it looked like.

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CraigB
04 FXT

CraigB

+1

I wish I would have gotten 225/55-17. It looks much better with the mild drop of the Swifts & JDM FSTi Pinks. And now that I'm back on OEM springs, 225/50-17 looks even goofier. Fortunately, my tires are about worn out, so I'll be replacing them soon.

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CraigB
04 FXT

sea-scooby

225/55/17 with Swifts. It fill the gap real nice...

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05 Forester XTi Premium M/T (bobbytuned VF39)(his)
05 Forester X A/T (hers)
My Journal page

K-Rex

I'm glad I this thread just popped up. I was just about to buy 245s for my new (to me) P1s, even with the FSTi springs that would have looked goofy!

Forester 2.5 XTi

235/50-17's here on FSTi Pinks. Nice width nice profile.

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USMC - One Shot, One Kill. You can run, but you'll die tired.

taun

Thread Starter

Woohoo! Thanks for all the pics! Those made a world of difference for me and i'm glad i consulted before going any further. Now I'm leaning more towards the 55's. I think there was a thread somewhere about 50 vs. 55's here...

Anyhow, thanks for the input! Super helpful message board here.

damu0703

more pics of 225-55/17

without swifts____with swifts____with swifts

Attached Thumbnails

     

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2008 Kia Rondo EX I4
Velvet Blue, only mod so far - cross bars (hehe).

Forester 2.5 XTi

235/50-17 on FSTi Pinks...

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USMC - One Shot, One Kill. You can run, but you'll die tired.

Forester 2.5 XTi

225/45-17 on FSTi Pinks...

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USMC - One Shot, One Kill. You can run, but you'll die tired.

Forester 2.5 XTi

225/45-17 on WRX STI Sedan Pinks....

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USMC - One Shot, One Kill. You can run, but you'll die tired.

striker

forester2.5xti

nice ride dude. i just bought a regal blue pearl one this monday. ill take some pics over the weekend to show and tell!