I'm going to be getting 18x8.5 +35, I am lowered on Swift spec-r's and this is my DD. What size would be best? And what brand? reasonably priced. Looking at these right now:

- BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 2
- BFGoodrich g-Force Sport
- Dunlop Direzza DZ101
- Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110
- Falken Ziex ZE-512

 

235/40-18 if you wanna stay conservative, 255/35-18 as the limit. Have had others dropped that use the 255's with good luck. Of the tires listed above, the Hankooks have been a great bang for the buck. Decent life, great dry/wet traction, not really loud, etc. I'd follow it up with the DZ101. KDW2's are good dry/wet but wear quickly and are quite noisy.

 

Thanks for the info, could I just split the difference and get 245/35's? I believe the guy that had these wheels before me had 255/35's, its just the price that is making me shy away.

 

245's could probably work, just a bit shorter than normal.

 

255/40-18 ---> http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....t+Z1+Star+Spec

good in wet/dry/street/track/autox....

 

I think 255/40-18 would be a little too tall. I would go with a 245/40-18, it will be taller than the stock overall diameter but not by a whole lot.

 

I think I'm going to go with the 255/35/18, seems like that is working for most.

 

before u plunk down cash on tires, MAKE SURE u pay attention to the overall diameter so u can stay as close to stock as possible & not throw off ur speedometer. the advans i'm using are 5mm shorter than the stock tires were (235-40 vs 235-45) & when my speedo says 60 mph, the digital speed limit boxes say 57mph (in multiple parts of Chandler, AZ) which in turn has my 1/4 mile trapspeeds down a lil

 

^housedj makes a god point. My speedometer is 2 - 3 miles fast at 70mph.

While I don't have experience with the KDW2's in the 18" variety, the 17" KDW2's are something I wouldn't recommend in the lineup you listed. I personally would go for the Hankooks or the Z1's, that got boost pointed to.

Regarding the KDW2's, the positive is that the tread life is long, and I think they were priced relatively well. The negatives are that they make a lot of road noise due to friction from the tread, they get noticeably bad gas mileage due to said friction, they are only "mid-pack" in tire testing that I've seen, and they aren't the cheapest option (I believe the Hankooks were less expensive, for example).

 

i have the hankook on my other car with wider and shorter size (285/30/18). the hankooks are great tires for everyday driving as they are very quiet and grip is there. Car and Driver tested them out with good results. i bought them when they had the $50 rebate special. hankook was also fast sending the rebate check out. thumbs up.

 

That's the same size basically as evo X stock wheels except I think their offset is 38. The factory tire width size for that wheel is 245. I think that's the best performing stretch on the sidewall for 8.5" wheels when you talk cornering. I would probably go with a 35 sidewall to combat rubbing issues with the 18" wheels.

255/35/18 is a good choice as long as it won't rub. I like the look of a nice fat tire. It might not handle as good as 245 on that wheel because of more sidewall give.

255's fit really optimal on a 9" wide wheel.

You should consider the time of year and where you live. I certainly wouldn't want to DD on a set of 255/35's right now with the ice and snow around. I guess you're in Arizona so wide summer tires year round it is! =)

 

Yep, summer tires year round. I was in jeans and a tee shirt today!

 

For best fitment

235 = 8.0
245 = 8.5
255 = 9.0

Stock tire size is 25.3" tall 235/45/17 best fitment 265/35/18 are also 25.3" tall. Your best bet is 245/40/18 (that's what I run) they are 25.6-25.7" tall. 255/40/18 are 26.0-26.1" tall and will require you to roll your rear fenders. 255/35/18 are 24.9-25.0" tall, making them pretty damn small if you ask me.

Buschur runs 245/40/18's on 8.5" Volks with his Project White.

 

Out of those choices the only tire I would run is the Z1's

My first choice would be Advan AD-08's
Second Bridgestone RE-11's
Third Dunlop Direzza Z1's (best bang for the buck tire)