Tanner65

Try finding a good garage near ya that does imports. Ask them to make a deal with ya that you'll continuelly use their shop as well as recommend it if they allow you to pay in installments of some sort.

Also, don't let the brake pads go un-noticed because after mine squeeking for about a month, I had them looked at and the rotors were chipped as well.

Has anyone else noticed that the stock pads seem kinda soft and quickly degrade?
~Stephen

kensuke

iTrader: (2)

to use the tire calc, you'll need the stock tire sizes:

lancer oz rally & lancer ls: 195/60-15
lancer es: 185/65-14

sorry to hear about the breaks dood! if i ever have the cashflow, i'll get the wilwood front break kit from rmr. $700, but hella worth it!
my stock pads just started squeaking and i'm almost to 30,000 miles. i think this is cause i downshift to just about every stop. probably not so good for my tranny/clutch tho... hmm...

EDIT: it calculated my stock to aftermarket ratio to 6.9%
to find out the speed difference, take whatever speed you want to measure (let's use 20, 35, 50, 70)

take the actual speed, multiply it by the ratio, and subtract this final number from the actual speed. this is what your speedo will show.

convert percent to decimal. 0.01 = 1%, 0.1 = 10%, 1 = 100%

20-20(.069)= 18.62
35-35(.069)= 35.585
50-50(.069)= 46.55
70-70(.069)= 65.17

conclusion: as long as the limit is 70 or under, i should be ok running what my speedo says is the limit.

EDIT2: for the record, if i had been using a 35 series sidewall instead of a 40 my ratio would have only been 3.1%. that shot up quick!

oh, and by the way, if you're (for some reason) going from big to small in the calculator, you'll add instead of subtract in the above equation.

urbanknight

iTrader: (14)

First off, thanks to Kensuke for posting this very useful thread I agree it should be stickied. And hopefully that will reduce the number of newbie "what tire size?" threads.

I'm proposing some corrections to be edited to the first post. Regarding tire width, the ideal tire widths are:

Dx6 = 195-205
Dx7 = 205-215
Dx7.5 = 215-235
Dx8 = 225-255

HOWEVER, the Lancer does not like any tires wider than 225 (as Kensuke mentioned). So it is correct that 8" rims can take 245 tires (that is the standard size tire on the 16x8 that comes on most Camaros and Firebirds), but they would not fit inside the Lancer's small wheel well.

In response to the effort in finding the offset for a 35 tire, Kensuke made it very clear that diameter does not matter for offset. So the offset for a 35 tire is the same as for a 40, 50, etc. BUT you want to make sure to use the tire calculator listed above to make sure you find the right width and profile combinations to preserve the diameter of the tire AFTER you choose your rim and offset.

For reference, I have 16x7 +42mm with 215/45/16 tires, and no rubbing, although the speedo reads 2.5% too fast (the smaller diameter is better for auto-x).
When I had 17x7.5 +40mm with 225/45/17 tires, they rubbed the fender lip any time the suspension was loaded (hard cornering and big bumps/dips). I probably would have been fine with about a +45 offset.

hbmike

nice write up. lets just hope n00bs actually use it.

urbanknight

iTrader: (14)

Also, so people don't have to go to the calculator and figure it out for themselves, here's a list of ideal tire sizes (in order from most accurate to least accurate) with the most recommended sizes in bold type:

For the OZ and LS:
15" rim: 195/60/15, 215/55/15, 205/55/15 , 225/50/15
16" rim: 205/50/16 , 215/50/16 , 225/45/16
17" rim: 205/45/17 , 215/45/17, 215/40/17, 225/40/17
18" rim: 225/35/18, 205/40/18 , 215/35/18
19" rim: 225/30/19, 215/30/19, 205/30/19, 205/35/19

For the ES:
14" rim: 185/65/14, 205/60/14
15" rim: 215/50/15 , 195/55/15 , 205/50/15, 205/55/15
16" rim: 215/45/16 , 205/45/16 , 225/40/16
17" rim: 205/40/17 , 225/35/17, 215/40/17
18" rim: 225/30/18, 205/35/18, 215/30/18
19" rim: 205/30/19

The ES can use any of the recommended sizes for the OZ/LS just fine, but the odometer and speedometer will be a little less accurate (will read about 3% slower).

Make sure to reference above posts for rim/tire width combinations and offsets. That and Kensuke's first post should be everything you need to know to make a good rim and tire choice.

LancerDriven

iTrader: (1)

Just a quick opinion question for y'all...I'm fixin to get myself some 17X7.5 with a +45 offset...i dont know if i should go for the 40mm or the 35mm...the streets around whre i live are damn near perfect so i dont have to worry about any potholes or anything like that, and I'd like to be able to drop it soon also...so with that in mind, should i go for the 35mm to make it easier to drop in the future? or will the tire look wayyy too thin for the wheelwell/rim?

Drive02Lancer

iTrader: (1)

i had a guy in my autoshop senior year(03 w00t) and he had some 17 or 18" tires...and the sidewall..was like.. 1/2" thick...wut kinda ratio is that???? it was nuts. they weren't that wide i guess id unno lol, just say for 17x7.5...what would give me that 1/2" sidewall??

P.S. im special Ed...yeah...went to whalentire.com and looked at all the pics fo 205/40/17's and thats what i want..but his preludes sidewall looked like it was like.. 1/2 that size...so i dunno. but yeah...disregard the above typing

urbanknight

iTrader: (14)

Looks like you have an ES, so I would recommend the 215/40/17 to go on 17x7.5 +45. That tire size is only 1.3% off from stock. Since it is a tad larger than stock, it will fill in the fender gap a litte more, which would be complimented by lowering the car as well. Going with a 35 profile would actually increase your fender gap, so I would not recommend that. By the way, the profile is not measured in mm, it is simply the percent of the tire width that makes up the height (from the rim). For example, a 215/40/17 would be 215mm wide and about 85mm tall (from the rim out). Hope that helps.

LancerDriven

iTrader: (1)

yeah, thanx urban...and no, its an oz. heh. do you think if i go with the 35 instead of your 40, i could get away with 18's, w/o rubbing?

urbanknight

iTrader: (14)

225/35/18 is a perfect match to the stock OZ rim according to the online calculator. If you have the right width rim and offset, that should work ok, but run some searches and ask the people you've seen with 225s on 18" rims, because you're cutting it close. And you will feel the road like you're on rubber bands, but if you can pull it off, it will look very sweet.

kensuke

iTrader: (2)

i have 225/40/zr18....

not only would i recommend going with an 18x7.5 rim max, i think you should most def go with the 35 sidewall. this setup has caused so many problems...

my advice would be a 215/35-18 setup. when i was looking for rims tho, i didn't take this into consideration... now look where i am, haha. rubbing isn't so bad, but zlancer is convinced that when i drop i'll slice my tires open. something about the word "slice" next to $500 kinda scares me

LancerDriven

iTrader: (1)

lol...gotcha, so as far as offset, u think 45 will do it? i wanna get it as close to the strust as possible without rubbing so that i dont have to worry about dropping it...

urbanknight

iTrader: (14)

The problem is that the tires can rub on the plastic that covers the strut just easily as they can rub on the fender. But yeah, it seems 45 offset is fine. And you should probably take Kensuke's advice and get the 215/35/18, they will be a tad smaller in diameter compared to stock, but they won't rub when you lower it. Kensuke, it's not guaranteed that you will slice them open, but if you try, be very gentle on the drive home from the shop, and leave time to turn back in case you run into trouble.

drummerjun

iTrader: (20)

How about 205/40/17?

urbanknight

iTrader: (14)

That size will work fine, and will actually give you slightly better acceleration, but your guages will read too fast. Probably would say 65 when you're actually going 60