I've got S-Lites with the Eufori@s and am looking at ditching them because they're cr@p. I know the standard size for S-Lite is 205/45-17.. however the Goodyear F1 GS-D3, which is one of the options I'm consdering, doesn't come in that size. Is there any particular reason why 205/40-17 would be a bad idea? I guess the main issue is slightly less sidewall = slightly bumpier ride? (though I'm getting Koni FSD shocks put on, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem)

Alternatively would 215/45-17 fit on an S-Lite, and would that be a better option? If it does fit, I guess that would give better grip & comfort, but increase tramlining? (which I'm concerned about, since that's one of the reasons I'm ditching the eufori@s).

 

I have and love the Eagle HP 215/40-17Z Definately worth a look.

 

i had 215/40/17s, not on the s-lites tho, would not make a whole lot difference anyways.

 

I have 215/45-17 F1 GS D-3 and I love them, my car is lowered 1 inch front and back and it doesn't rub at all, the handling is amazing and the ride is much better than the run-flats, I wish I could find them in my other car sizes too but they don't go that high (335/35-17).

 

I have 215/45-17 F1 GS D-3 as well. Made a nice difference over the run flats. They certainly ride better around town with a somewhat cushy ride. You can't go wrong with these.

 

I have them too--only downside is they hurt acceleration a bit, and the steering wheel feels a bit heavier.

On the plus side, they ride fantastic, and the car literally sticks to road like glue--I haven't gotten the car loose once on the F1's...

 

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you're talking about "hurt acceleration", I'm not sure what kind of tires you had before, but I had the GoodYear runflats that came with the 05 MCS and my acceleration has improved because the runflats would spin way quicker than the F1's, so maybe you had better tires than I had before, as for weight, I put them on the scale with the rims and the S-lites with runflats was the exact same weight as my new wheels with F1's and according to the weight of the MINI wheels and my aftermarket wheels they were the same weight, so the tires has to be equal weight also.
I didn't weigh the tires alone because I didn't removed the runflats of the rims, they're still on.

 

I'm running the Goodyear F1 GS-D3s in 215/45 17 on my S-Lites too. I'm impressed with their grip and wet weather traction. Off the line, I find that their extra footprint and stickyness requires a bit more rpm to launch than the Eufori@s I previously had. My car is lowered due to the H&R coilovers, maybe an inch and one half all around. No issues with rubbing, but I do have adjustable control arms in the rear and have set my rear camber to only about 1.5 degrees neg.

These are fantastic tires. you'll be happy with them.

 

I don't know what size you're running, but I went with the 215/45/17. These increase the width and diameter, which decreases acceleration (increasing diameter is not your friend for acceleration. It does wonders for the ride though). Now if you went with the 205/40's, the diameter is actually less than that of the standard 205/45's and acceleration should increase. It's tougher to get the larger diameter/width tires moving though.
It's not huge, but it is noticeable (my car is otherwise a stock S).

I'm probably going to go the JCW route, and it probably won't be an issue after that. Like I said, it's not a huge deal now, but definitely noticeable.

 

Depending on the manufacturer, the diameter from a 215-40 v 205-45 is about .3" alittle less than 1" c. A 215-45 is about .250 larger. The ride IMHO without runflats is better. I'm running Falkin 512s on RPO1 7x17 wheels at 38lbs, they do everything ( including ride ) better than the S lites w/run-flats and have 64lbs less total weight.

 

Thanks for the responses. Ok so going to 215 vs. 205 doesn't make the steering too imprecise and/or cause tramlining? As I said, one of the reasons I want to dump the euforias is that I *hate* the effort required trying to keep the car going in a straight line on a rough road... are the 215/40 F1s going to be way better in this regard?

 

I don't have any tramlining with the 215's. The steering isn't imprecise, but it's just a tad heavier--that extra width makes the wheel just a little harder to turn.

The reason I didn't go with the 205's is I bought R90's; I wanted the extra diameter to protect going over potholes, and the extra width to help prevent curbing. You're going to lose sidewall with 205's, and I wouldn't want any less sidewall than was on the stock runflats. So personally I'd either go with 215's, or another nonrunflat in 205/45 (I think the Dunlop Sport Maxx come in 205/45, but I'm not 100 percent sure).

To tell you the truth, if I had it to do over again, I'd probably go 205/45 with the Dunlop Sport Maxx (Which I found about out after I ordered the F1's). Not a big fan of Toyo's, and if the Dunlop's aren't available in that size, I'd go with the F1's 215/45.

Don't want to sound too negative on the F1's--despite the negatives, they are far better than the runflats; although I may go to a 205/45 nonrunflat in the future, I like these enough that I won't swap them out until they worn out.

 

I went with 215/40's and love them !

 

Just recently I replaced my 17" s-lites with 17" AR1s through tirerack and I replaced the runflats at the same time. What tirerack reccomended and what I bought were the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 in 215/45YR17.

I totally love them so far.