Winter Wheel/Tire Thread

[quikryptonite]

Here are a few snapshots from my wheel change this weekend. I ended up not using the spacers and the wheels (17 x 7.5) clear the ZHP brake calipers fine. It is a little snug, but presents no problems. Got the wheels torqued to 88 lb/ft and we should be good to go when the white stuff starts flying here in the Rocky mountains. Although, I hope the E30 can take the brunt of the winter driving.

Here is my car with the dirty 135's on before being washed:


Here is my car after washing the 135's:


Here is my ZHP with the new E36 M3 Contour wheels mounted with Pirelli winter rubber. I am still not used to seeing her like this...

[danewilson77]

Looks great Quickie.

[quikryptonite]

Thanks, I have a slow leak in the front passenger side tire, I am hoping it's just a faulty valve stem. I've got to check that out tomorrow.

[TonyP]

Hi gang,

I'm just purchasing my ZHP now, and I'm also trying to find the right rims/tires for winter here in New England, and I'm realizing that I know nothing about bolt patterns/offsets, etc...it seems some folks are using wheels off of X5's, etc.? Can someone tell me the parameters I need to stay within when I buy wheels? I'm told I'm in the range of 225/45 R17, 17 x 7.5 or 8...any wisdom is appreciated!

Tony

[danewilson77]

225/18 front, 255/18 rear is stock setup. You want to stay ET38 to ET45 on offset. Bolt pattern is 5x120.

I run 235/45/18 all around, ET 45, with 10mm spacers front/rear.

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[Mike V]

Hi gang,

I'm just purchasing my ZHP now, and I'm also trying to find the right rims/tires for winter here in New England, and I'm realizing that I know nothing about bolt patterns/offsets, etc...it seems some folks are using wheels off of X5's, etc.? Can someone tell me the parameters I need to stay within when I buy wheels? I'm told I'm in the range of 225/45 R17, 17 x 7.5 or 8...any wisdom is appreciated!

Tony

225/18 front, 255/18 rear is stock setup. You want to stay ET38 to ET45 on offset. Bolt pattern is 5x120.

I run 235/45/18 all around, ET 45, with 10mm spacers front/rear.

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

What Dane said... and to add to that, the stock wheel widths are 8 front and 8.5 rear. However, a square setup of 17 x 8 (or 7.5) with 225/45/17 would work great. A 225/45/17 is very close in height to the stock tires, according to tire size calculator sites such as http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html. If you get a lot of snow in your area, you could also consider 205/50/17.