Got a chance to play in the garage today, and was playing around with the fitment of tires, and tire selection for the upcoming season. Firstly I want to shout out to SpecR as they gave me a couple tires in the sizes I'm choosing between to test fit. Always the best customer service from SpecR, and Cole is da man for helping me out getting them fitted!
Much of the next bit is just for me to keep track of what I tested, and easy for me to reference back to. Read along if you like, otherwise stick with looking at the pictures.
Front running tire in both sizes is the G Force Rival S 1.5.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+Rival+S+1.5So far I'm unimpressed with my life choices on the wheels, but that may change. stay tuned and have a look.
Firstly the tire weight savings (or expenditures) on the tires.
Stock front 31.4 lbs
Stock rear 36.8 lbs
37's with 225/45's 32 lbs
37's with 205/50's 31.2 lbsThe goal was a square setup with the ability to fully rotate the tires for racing. So a square 225 setup will save me
8.4 lbs total, but all those savings are in the rear and the front will actually be heavier by
1.2 lbs for the pair. The square 205 setup will save me
11.6 lbs.
Fortunately the 225 setup has about an inch clearance lock to lock on the fronts.
Tires by
Duane Jacka, on Flickr
I'm not thrilled with the poke that the 225's have on the front though.
Tires by
Duane Jacka, on Flickr
Although the amount of tire up front I'm impressed with. Left is the 225, centre is stock, and right is the 205.
Tires by
Duane Jacka, on Flickr
205's poke much less, and at the time of writing this, I have to assume there will be about the same clearance lock to lock.
Tires by
Duane Jacka, on Flickr
205's on the rear are in the range of diminishing returns, but it's very close.
Tires by
Duane Jacka, on Flickr
Finally the looks.
225/45's up front, 205/50's rear.
Untitled by
Duane Jacka, on Flickr
205/50's up front, 225/45's rear.
Tires by
Duane Jacka, on Flickr