Eggplant-EX

With the 215 45 17s, are they slightly larger tires or slightly smaller tires????

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Smaller... lower profile.

hemants

215/45/17 are too small for a TL/CL

235/45/17 or 245/45/17 would be the right size

Eggplant-EX

thanks!!

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Just in case you didn't know, here's a break-down of the tire size specs --

For example, if it's 215/50/17 ->

215mm wide tread, refering to the contact patch to the ground.
50 means 50% of the tread contact patch is the height of the sidewall.
17 refers to the size of the tire on the inner ring.

So the different between 215/50/17 and 215/45/17 would be that the latter has a thinner profile in relationship with the tread width.

darrinb

215/45/17's will fit

mattg

yes, but they are too short. throws the speedo off by 4%.

Eggplant-EX

I want to make sure that I go slightly bigger. If I go smaller, then I am running up my speedo/warranty quicker....

Plus, I actually like the high stance.

235 45 17 worries a bit though as it seems awefully different from stocks

louisn

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
This link will show speedo error if you change tires sizes.

hemants

"235 45 17 worries a bit though as it seems awefully different from stocks"

235/45/17 is exactly the same diameter as stock. And if you have CLS wheels (7 inches wide) there's absolutely no problem.

P.S. a minor point but the first number isn't the contact patch, it's the sidewall width (and thus will differ depending on the width of the rim it is measured on)

Since we're on the topic:

215/50/17

Sidewall width = 215mm, div by 25.4 = 8.46 inches
Sidewall = 50% of 8.46 = 4.23
Overall diameter = 17 inches plus two sidewalls = 25.46 inches.

215/45/17 = 24.61 inches, almost an inch too small!!!!

+/- .3 inches in diameter is a non-issue, beyond that one has to wonder

Also one final point. Strictly speaking, the ideal diameter is 25.68 inches. This is what the original non type S was calibrated too and I doubt they recalibrated the speedo/odo for the type S.

RaleighNC

How wide are the rims on the 04 TL? I read they're using 235/45 (I think in the new acura mag).