Tire Width Question...
 

What width tire would fit on the SVX? I'm planning on getting 17" rims and was kinda curious about going a bit wider with the tire. If I'd bump up to a 235 would my side ratio be 40?

Buy the widest rim that you can afford, and put the recommended width tire on the rim.

I'm running 245-45/16 tires on 8 inch wide rims with 50mm offset and have had no problems at all with the tires rubbing.
-Bill

Well part of my ? was answered. But if I were to run 235s or 245s what aspect ratio would I be looking to get?

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html go there.

You can get a 245/55R16 on there stock but just barely. Anything more would require some spacers. Will have 275/50s on our racer in the near future but that involves some creative sheetmetal work. Not sure on the height aspect but would suspect a 40 would be as close as you could get to the same circum.

Thanks a lot. Makes sense, 235 would be out of the question but 245 with a 40 series sidewall is almost exactly on. But too bad the rims I'm looking at are 17x7... I need 17x8s.

You would need 7.5s.

From what I've seen on the high end sports cars, typically the tire width is a little undersized for the rim to make a taught sidewall. From that perspective, a 235 or a 245 would be best on a 17x8 or 17x8.5 respectively. You could go with a 40 or 45 aspect ratio with a 235 on a 17" rim. The 40 aspect ratio will make the tire a little smaller in diameter than stock and the 45 will make it a little taller than stock. With a 245 on a 17" rim, you'd want to go with a 40 aspect ratio.

However, if you are buying 17x7" rims, I'd suggest not going larger than 225 width. If you want 17x8 or 17x8.5 rims at an affordable price, check out Rota Wheels. Another nice thing about Rota wheels are that they come in offsets that are a good match for an SVX.

http://www.rotawheel.com/

You can look in the "check stock" link to see what rims come in what widths.

Def. makes sense. But unfortuneately the rims I want only come in 17x7. So looks like I'm going to stick with 225s.

I like your avatar......I used to work there......It's more like ....we damaged it again!:p