Hey guys,

Looking to replace the Dunlop Direzza ZII I currently have on my race wheels (which are 16'' Bridge Spoke, 6.5'' wide, with 205/50/16 tires).

My options for the Hankook Ventus RS3 v2 are 205/55/16 or 225/50/16.

1) will the 225/50 fit correctly on my wheels, or is the wheel a little too narrow? Hankook says the tire will fit on a rim that's just 6'' though.

2) will the 225/50 fit correctly on my car? I'm on stock (sport) suspension. Do I need spacers?

3) for strictly autocross duty, is the 225 too much tire? I don't want to overtire it.


Thanks!
-JR

 

For my money those 225s are too wide for a 6.5 inch rim. Check with Tire Rack & see what size they recommend for that size wheel. If it were me I'd go with the 205s.

 

Thanks.

Lance at Tire Rack also said the 205/55 would be a better choice.

 

As overall tire diameter increases, acceleration decreases ... stick with 205/50-16.

 

Hankook and TireRack are correct specifying acceptable wheel width of 6-8". I've run that very same tire on my OEM 16x6.5" wheels for the past year and a half without problems.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....um=25WR6Z222V2

Will fit perfectly on stock suspension.
No spacers required. Even though R-S3's width is significantly wider than advertised 225mm

Fitment issues may arise as you lower the car 1.5+": the fronts will start rubbing on the inside of the wheel well liner at full lock; the rears on the outboard edge of the rear bumper.

225 are great, wider would be even better, but fitment will get super tricky on lowered cars (comes with autoX territory).

RS3's are great autoX tires, but I'm hearing BFG Rival's are the tire to have this year. Also available in 225/50-16 size, though not on sale like R-S3's are right now.

TireRack lists R-S3's at $108/per, which is a steal. If you are not competing against someone for the last 0.1s, then definitely get R-S3's.
R-S3'salso last surprising long - I've ran all of the last year, and 1/2 this season on my set. And we do 10-12 runs/event here in NJ.

HTH,
a

'08 MCS on KWv3's (among other mods) and one set of autoX wheels with 205/50-16 R-S3's.

 

It's not that simple.
Gearing is both an art and science of keeping the engine in the middle of the torque curve to accelerate out of a given set of corners on a given track. Pro's change gearing ratios to optimize acceleration at every track. We are not going there, so lets take a short-cut and say that staying close to stock gearing is desirable.

It is true that you don't want to play with gearing too much, however:
====================================
......Tire size | Diameter |% stock |Actual speed
====================================
1). 195/55-16 |24.44" | 00.00% | 60.00 mph
2). 205/50-16 |24.07" | -1.53% | 59.08 mph
3). 205/55-16 |24.88" | +1.77% | 61.06 mph
4). 225/50-16 |24.86" | +1.69% | 61.01 mph

OEM size #1 has far too few performance tires available in the marketplace. I don't know why that is, but that's how it is. See for yourself: www.tirerack.com

Of the remaining alternatives, #3 and #4 have the widest selection of high-performance tires out there. For some weird reason, #4 (wider 225mm) size tires are frequently the cheapest of the bunch.

Wider tires also help to maintain the contact patch under lateral load (a gross simplification, but generally true), so yet another reason to go with #4 for autoX applications.

HTH,
a

 

I respectfully disagree with the last post, from several years of competition experiments. The 225 even on a 7" rim underperformed in competition, and on a 6.5" rim I would offer only one suggestion: DON'T!

Check this thread (if you have time) for the gruesome details.

The 225s look great (they give you that "St. Bernard puppy appearance" - big paws!), however:
1. the narrow bead actually moves back and forth in response to lateral loads, introducing significant lag to steering input which I experienced as imprecise steering, and
2. even in steady state at max lateral G the contact patch is distorted as the bead at the inside of the corner tries to lift the inner edge as the load shifts to the outer edge, reducing the performance potential of the tire.
3. on 15x7 rims I found the 205 mm tire to produce the best lateral grip and precision, and
4. ultimately on the STX car I ran a 15x8 rim out front which DID permit the 225 to perform properly.

So my lesson was, for show run what you like - for GO however match the tread width and the rim width carefully.

Your mileage may vary...

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Thanks everyone! Great information.

I'm going to go with the 205