225 Hoosier on 15x7 -- not worth it?
 

Folks,

I am struggling whether to shoehorn the 225/45-15s on the Kosei S1 15x7" rims that I normally run 205s on.

I am having contact patch envy versus some of the DSP folks, but I could be headed in the wrong direction.

All advice gratefully received, as it's not an easy decision to back out of with a limited budget so I'd hate to get it wrong.

Charlie

No problem. I used to shoehorn those tires on 15 x 6 rims for our Miata.

Is it the best tire for DSP? Don't know....

What about that new tire that Hoosier is coming out with? 275/30/15? But you'd need a 15 x 10 for that.

and a sawzall, and bigger cojones...

thanks for the response

Here's a photo that shows how they look on a 15x6. They're really not bad at all. You should have no trouble with a 15x7.

http://webpages.charter.net/mitchlewis/mitch-sherry.jpg

I have run 205/50-15 on Kosei 15x7 rims with no problems and Avon Tech Ra 225/45-15 on the same 15x7 rims. No rubbing and no trouble.

Hoosier A6 225/45-15 should work fine on 15x7 assuming you have enough offset about +38mm.

I switched to 15x8 949racing.com rims with +36mm offset and there was a little rubbing in the rear at the lower trailing arm. Had to insert a 3mm spacer for clearance, no longer stud or bolt needed for a spacer that thin.
Using the Hoosier A6 in 225/45-15 with the 15x8 rim.

For Street Prepared classes, you are not limited to the narrower 15" rims. You can legally choose any rim diameter, width, or offset and spacers are permitted. It's got to fit in the fender and check your offsets for clearance.

I've used Hoosier 225/45-15s for a couple of years for auto-x with 15 x 7 Kosei wheels.

The wheels have a 38 et. I needed to use 3mm spacers to clear. My car is lowered with H-Sport springs (for now). I use about -2.4 F; -1.4 R negative camber for auto-x, 2.1/1.2 street. I have another set of the same wheels for street.

I have 225/50R16s on 16x7 SSR Comps (43mm offset) & JCW suspension. This combo is an inch taller than what you're looking at & there's no rubbing.

Thanks gents...
 

Thanks again for the help. When I broke my piggybank and counted my pennies I wound up in STX running Hankook Z212 at 225/45-15.

Now that they are here, and after a contact patch inspection and measurement, they wind up being .2" narrower than the 205/50-15 Hoosiers -- and .3" wider than the Azeni 205/50-15s. So I do not expect fitment problems, but just barely.

I thought the Koseis are 40mm offset - and the Hoosiers rubbed on the right rear corner at the 2005 Evo school, when a full-sized instructor was in the passenger seat. Are they 38? I shall stand corrected!

I shall truly miss the stickies this year, as I had hoped to get thumped by Mike Shields in DSP all year. But Chang-Ho Kim can thump just fine so I'll get by...

Both Kosei K1 Racing ($119 and 13.5 lbs) and K1 TS ($149 and 12.6 lbs) in 15x7 are +38mm offset.

K1 Racing in 17x7.5 is +45mm offset and 16.3 lbs $179 each
K1 TS in 17x7 is +42mm offset and 14.1 lbs $199 each

Rubbing may depend on your suspension, alignment settings and load.