Wheel/tire size question

I'm looking at buying my new autocross/lapping tires, and having some trouble deciding what size to go with.
I am looking at Hankook RS3, and have 17x8" wheels. Would I be best to go with 235/40 or would the 245/40 be faster on the narrow wheel. Car is an e36 328is sport package.

I have no direct experience with the RS3, but I do plan on that being my next tire.

On my 2011 WRX, I ran a 255 Rival on the same size wheel. Granted, back when I ran Hoosiers I could run a 295, so I had the room.

I think you should be fine with the 245.

After looking through pics of both setups online, I'd say you should go with the 245s. It doesn't look squeezed at all.

I'd probably run the 235.

I run 205s on 8s on my Miata. And all the cool kids run 225s on 9" wheels.

Run the 245. The stuff you guys run on the Maura is slightly stretched and generally run wide. I run 275s on 9.5 and 245s on 8s and they are pretty square.

If you check recommended wheel width for the 245, 8" will be right in the middle

In reply to Opti:

Thanks, It was the bottom end of the recommended. I'll go ahead and order the 245's. Now for the weather to get warm enough for me to start ripping out the suspension.

bigev007 wrote: I am looking at Hankook RS3, and have 17x8" wheels. Would I be best to go with 235/40 or would the 245/40 be faster on the narrow wheel. Car is an e36 328is sport package.

How about buy wider wheels?

The 255/40R17 R-S3 has been the cheapest size, but all the good 17" sizes seem to be out of stock until sometime this summer. (And those are going to be a different compound, I hear.)

Seriously wheel width matters a lot more than tire width. Personally I would go for a shorter tire. My 325i will be running 225/50R16s on 8.5" wheels this year. The 225/45R16 options look better. Really for a 328i find some 15x9s and 225/45R15s. The lowering and gearing benefits should be obvious.

It would not surprise me one bit if the 235 was faster for you.

In reply to bigev007:

My ti has the old RS2's in 235/40 on 17x9 or 17x9.5 wheels....they were stretched for clearance to the outer fender at full compression. I also have 245/45 star specs on my 17x8 OZ's for the '91 sho.....they're slightly wider whan the wheel(that was unexpected)

Personally I'd go with the 235/40 combo on what you have.

If you don't mind sharing, what suspension setup are you using?

it's stock sport suspension, and I'll be using flipped strut mounts for camber. For this year anyway. Looks like the 245 are now sold out (they weren't an hour ago) so I guess I'll be trying the 235's.

Opti wrote: Run the 245. The stuff you guys run on the Maura is slightly stretched and generally run wide. I run 275s on 9.5 and 245s on 8s and they are pretty square. If you check recommended wheel width for the 245, 8" will be right in the middle

Yes, it's run that way because it's faster.

I don't think the 235/45R17 Hankooks are what anyone would recommend. Those are taller than the 255/40R17s. The 235/40R17 R1R is the tire that won STX at Nationals this year on 9" wide wheels. The 215/45R17 R-S3 would probably be better a choice on 17x8s if you want to go with the current Hankook offerings and your current wheels. I liked that size tire on my 325i too.

Other than Dunlops, the 235 and 245 street tires aren't going to be great on relatively narrow 8" wheels.

235/40R17 the tire choices are ZII, R1R, AD08R, and RE-11. The R1R needs more rim width. I don't think RE-11 even belongs in the same category. AD08R is intriguing, but the ZII is the safe bet. I'd go with one of the 215s instead.

Thanks guys. A couple more notes, I am planning for these to last a couple of seasons, so I need the 200tw. I'm also in Canada, not that close to the border, which limits my choices. I also can't really afford a new set of wheels atm, which is why I am not going wider. I do have a rusty (but light) set of 15's kicking around. Not sure the width, but I might look into going that way. Except that if I get 15's I'll have to get them imported, which will probably make them more expensive than 17s.

My "new" $130 set of wheels:

bigev007 wrote: Thanks guys. A couple more notes, I am planning for these to last a couple of seasons, so I need the 200tw. I'm also in Canada, not that close to the border, which limits my choices. I also can't really afford a new set of wheels atm, which is why I am not going wider. I do have a rusty (but light) set of 15's kicking around. Not sure the width, but I might look into going that way. Except that if I get 15's I'll have to get them imported, which will probably make them more expensive than 17s.

Yes, but that's why are some us are recommending the 235 vs 245, because of your rim width.

In reply to z31maniac:

Sorry, yes, I do get what you're saying. Just trying to sort through the two very different views in here.
Matthew, I get that in some places, used wheels are cheap and plentiful. I'm not in one of them, not within 10 hours driving of one, and not within $200 to ship of one. I've been looking since early December, and am starting to run low on time.

z31: First, I was wrong about the 235's. The Hankooks I can get are 235/45, not 40, which is a disadvantage to the gearing. Not sure if 0.4" diameter is that significant though. Or at least to change your recommendation. Because of that, and since the 245's are now 8 weeks minimum back order up here, I may have to eat the extra cost and just get them from the US to have a decent choice of sizes/models. My alternative is to step back a level to a Conti DW or BF SportComp2, but I know they are a) slower, and b) probably won't survive a track day.

See if you can get GT Radial Champiro UHP1s locally. It is a brand Walmart carries for instance. The DW and Comp 2s have really soft sidewalls and will really suck on narrow wheels. The DW is an excellent rain tire though. The UHP1 is pretty stiff and very cheap. The Falken Azenis RT-615K is another one to look for. The Hankook is certainly better than those for track days.

Ok. Thanks guys. My plan now is to get 245 Rivals or ZII and have someone pick them up for me in the US, and to keep looking for some wider wheels.

One note on the Rivals - they were great locally, but after my experience at Nationals (both performance and chunking) I'll be going with another option when the time comes.