My Focus needs new rubber...

[i.irwin1988]

I am trying to keep the stock wheels that I have but want to run a 160/45R16 or smaller if possible. They will be replacing the 205/50R16's that I have on there now. Can anyone help me out with this?

[kaidotech]

Woot ford! First off what's the stock run size. Got pics of the car?

[i.irwin1988]

It is a 16x6 rim... and it is pretty much a bone stock ford focus zx3, I am just not wanting to buy some stock tires when I am almost to the point of having enough for the suspension, and other assorted goodies I have planned for it. I will be creating a build thread once I get a few of the parts in.

[kaidotech]

185 on a 6" rim.

155 on a 6



165 on a 6

[kaidotech]

It is a 16x6 rim... and it is pretty much a bone stock ford focus zx3, I am just not wanting to buy some stock tires when I am almost to the point of having enough for the suspension, and other assorted goodies I have planned for it. I will be creating a build thread once I get a few of the parts in.

How much stretch are you looking for?

[i.irwin1988]

Not too much because it is going to be my daily driver so I want the tread wear to be reasonable. I was thinking between a 150-170 x 16

[kaidotech]

205/50/16 is 24.1' tall.

155/55/16 is 22.7" so almost .5" smaller.

165/60/16 would be just about the same

I cant find any of these sizes on www.discounttires.com where I buy all my tires. I'll look so more for you when I get home.

[i.irwin1988]

those are too thick though... I want to find something in the 165/35/16 area just because it will be a a better stance and fit for my car

[kaidotech]

http://discounttires.com/product_detail.php?c=OTlkODJjMmZlZjdkZjMyMWRlMWIwZjJlNTNlMTZjMWE=&prodID=10215

195/50/16 is the smallest I can find in a 16 for you, sorry man :\ maybe another site can custom order them or something for you but I cant find anything even in Google shopping search.

[i.irwin1988]

I know, tires for my size are stupidly hard to find... I don't even know where I can start to look. I have already checked a few sites and I can't find them anywhere... I am about to just go into my work tomorrow and ask the manager or salesman to work some magic and check the Kauffman Tire warehouses and give me a list of tires that I can put on it... I already asked them once and they were trying to say that a 205/40R16 was too crazy. they don't understand how low I am going to be going...

[kaidotech]

I know, tires for my size are stupidly hard to find... I don't even know where I can start to look. I have already checked a few sites and I can't find them anywhere... I am about to just go into my work tomorrow and ask the manager or salesman to work some magic and check the Kauffman Tire warehouses and give me a list of tires that I can put on it... I already asked them once and they were trying to say that a 205/40R16 was too crazy. they don't understand how low I am going to be going...

I got made fun of wanting to lower my truck at the old mechanic shop I worked at. Also had trouble with wanting to mounts stretched tires at discount tire. Its really hard for people to understand this genre/scene/style if theyre not a part of it. lol So I know how you feel.

[kartikeya]

Why do you want to stretch tires on skinny stock wheels? Are you going to space them out like crazy?

Also, there is no such thing as a 150, 160, or 170 series tire, which indicates to me that you haven't done a lick of research on your own yet.

Why don't you just start by lowering your car, then work on getting new wheels and tires?

Further edit: The smallest 16" tire you can get here is a 165/45-16, imported through Black Forest Industries. It is a very, very, short sidewall. Next up are 175/50 and 195/40, available domestically from Yokohama.

I can assure you that 165/45 will look ridiculous on your car's stock wheels, and you will have wasted upwards of $600.

[Bimmerteck]

those are too thick though... I want to find something in the 165/35/16 area just because it will be a a better stance and fit for my car

Running a 165/35r16 on your car will reduce the diameter of your wheel tire combo by nearly 4". That will change your final drive enough that not only will your speedometer be off by quite a bit your car's top speed will be reduced to 88mph! Also to travel at 65mph you will be turning 4,200 RPM.


You may not understand the math, but reducing your rolling diameter by 4" means your chassis will be 2" lower to the ground before you ever begin to lower it and you'll have to lower it even further than most owners to hide the additional 2" of fender gap the shorter tires would create, I doubt the car will roll when your done with it.

[i.irwin1988]

I am going to space them out and get it looking right, and I am going to try to keep wheels that came off a stock focus which means the tires can be switched to the next rims. Just getting tires now because the ones on my car now are at 4/32 and 6/32 so I need new tires pretty soon, especially with the way I drive.

[i.irwin1988]

Running a 165/35r16 on your car will reduce the diameter of your wheel tire combo by nearly 4". That will chance your final drive enough that not only will your speedometer be off by quite a bit your car's top speed will be reduced to 88mph! Also to travel at 65mph you will be turning 4,200 RPM.

I didn't think about the rpm issue... I might need to go to a 17" rim... there goes all the planning with the suspension and rims, time to start again.