Awesome Sc400 Tires On Factory Wheels!

[Mister Jed]

The factory tires for a SC400 are 225/55-16s. Most every sports car fanatic can testify that the wider the better when it comes to tires (within reason of course). So I decided to try some wider tires on the factory rims. I went to a tire comparison chart and figured that some 245/50-16s would be almost an inch widerwhile keeping the exact same height as the stock tires.

Well, I did it! I put 245/50-16s all around and it looks AWESOME! :P (Yokohama ES100s) I prefer the factory "look" to my SC, but with these wider profile tires the car has a much better stance and looks a little more aggressive and gives it a more high performance look (more than it did before!)

I was extremely happy with the outcome, so I thought I'd share it with everyone.

Later.

[BlackSC4]

that's great, i have the same setup for my sc400 as well. 245 yokohama S306. dont those yokohamas cost a pretty penny?

[vasso]

how about slippery in rainy days? Is there any drastic difference between stock and wider tire?

tom

sc400

[K9crew]

How's the handling? A few years ago I did a similar thing to my '98 SVT Contour and the handling was terrible compared to the tires that came with the car. The tires looked great but the sidewalls were bulging too much which adversely affected cornering and steering response ... I put the original tires back on after a week and sold the new ones to a friend with a Mustang GT!

:)

[BlackSC4]

the handling for my car is spectacular with the wide tires. i must say that it is a lot harder for me to peel out, which is good since i have better traction. turning is similar though. and k9, i like the bulging sidewalls, it helps me keep from scraping my rims while paralling.

[UCF3]

What kind of tread pattern do you have, everyone?

[Mister Jed]

I have the Yokohama EVS ES100s. You can go to Tirerack and look these tires up for the tread pattern and also ratings compared to other tires. On this web site also, you can see the price comparisons. The Yokohama were actually priced less than many others I was looking at.

When I bought my SC a month ago, it already needed new tire, so I didn't push the car that hard (not that I do now either, actually I baby it), but after I put these tires on I did take it around some pretty windy roads and faster speeds than I had and was happy with the performance. I think I may put a little more air in the tires to see if that even makes it better. At Discount Tire, they put in the standard 35 psi; the max is 44, so I may up it to around 40. It did rain the other day and I took it out on this same road, not quite as fast as before though just to be safe, but I thought it performed well then also.

The tires I got have the rim guard to protect the wheels. This "lip" also extends the tire sidewall width at the base next to the rim which helps the tires to not look like their "buldging out". I test fitted another tire of the same size without this rim guard and it did look a little fat, these that I put on though look outstanding. They really look like the correct sized tires that were suppose to be on this car! B)

[Sadistic]

If you put 40 psi of air in your tires, plan on killing half their life. Always put the air pressure that is recommended on the door plate. NEVER what you think, and NEVER max. Higher air pressure will wear the center of your tire more than the rest and turn it to junk very quickly. Not enough air pressure wears the outter, and inner edge.

[K9crew]

k9, i like the bulging sidewalls, it helps me keep from scraping my rims while paralling.

BlackSC4,

:D Me too ... my wife has a habit of "scraping the white walls"!!

I test fitted another tire of the same size without this rim guard and it did look a little fat, these that I put on though look outstanding. They really look like the correct sized tires that were suppose to be on this car!

MJ,

I agree completely ... I love the look of wide tires. I plan on buying some 17" or 18" x 8" rims with the same size tire that you have. I agree with Sadistic about the tire pressure ... 32 psi is more than enough air.

:)

[Lucifer]

The tag on my SC400 calls for 32psi all the way around. Your larger tires hold more air and have a higher load capacity thus would actually need less air pressure to carry the same weight and still have a correct footprint. I wouldn't suggest going lower than 32psi or above 35psi cold.

[Blueboy]

The factory tires for a SC400 are 225/55-16s. Most every sports car fanatic can testify that the wider the better when it comes to tires (within reason of course). So I decided to try some wider tires on the factory rims. I went to a tire comparison chart and figured that some 245/50-16s would be almost an inch widerwhile keeping the exact same height as the stock tires.

Well, I did it! I put 245/50-16s all around and it looks AWESOME! :P (Yokohama ES100s) I prefer the factory "look" to my SC, but with these wider profile tires the car has a much better stance and looks a little more aggressive and gives it a more high performance look (more than it did before!)

I was extremely happy with the outcome, so I thought I'd share it with everyone.

Later.

Hey Mister Jed,

thats a brilliant idea, i do need a new set tires on my newly adopted baby 92SC400, so Yokohama ES100s will it be when the snow has all melted down.

thanks for the info!

Cheers! Blue

[rich21]

i have kumho ecsta supra 712 vr- speed rated. i love them. real great in the rain.

[rabidus]

If you put 40 psi of air in your tires,  plan on killing half their life.  Always put the air pressure that is recommended on the door plate.  NEVER what you think, and NEVER max.  Higher air pressure will wear the center of your tire more than the rest and turn it to junk very quickly.   Not enough air pressure wears the outter, and inner edge.

I don't totally agree with you!!! If you are just going to get groceries then put the recommended tire pressure from the plate, isn't that tire pressure for the tires that come on the car and more for comfort??? If you corner hard with 31 psi, depending on the tire, you may roll the tire and ride on the side wall... I have Sumitomo HTR + 245/60/16 on 16x8 RX7 wheels and I ran 36 psi(cold) at the track, two weeks ago, for about 65 laps and they were excellent... I have Kumho's on my '00 Civic Si and I put 34 rear and about 38 front for the best handling and these are cold pressures, the pressures rise after the tires heat up...

The Sumitomo HTR +'s are all season high performance tires and I love them and I'll buy them again... They're W rated and they stick and they're cheap, they have a 8.6 rating(I think) for grip on Tire Rack... With stock suspension on the track, I couldn't get the car to oversteer, it understeered slightly and leaned like crazy, I was getting sea sick, there was one sweeping turn that I was able to get up to 90 mph and the car stayed planted on the ground... With the Tein Flex coilovers, the car is neutral and I can oversteer on command, I can't wait to take it back to the track in March to really test out the Tein's and Sumitomo's... I'm going to the drag strip tomorrow to see what she'll do down the 1320 with the tune up and minor weight reduction(about 180 lbs), I'll probably need another set of tires by the March track day...

Here's the track I went to:

Track layout

Here's the track I going to in March:

Barber