225mm wide on 5.5 in rim?

[carnitasboy]

Anyone running a 225mm wide tire on a 5.5" rim? From what I am researching, a 205 is the widest "approved" tire for a 5.5" rim. Any issues/benefits/drawbacks with going with a wider tire even though its not "approved" other than more rubber on the road?

Thanks, Andy

[pecivil]

FWIT, there are quite a few lotus elise guys who have put 225's on the non sports package front rims which are 5.5" wide with no disasters that I have heard of.

[pdy]

It depends on the aspect ratio, and tire brand/model as well. Generally;
225/55 or larger - yes
225/50 - maybe
225/45 or smaller - no

[carnitasboy]

I am looking at staying around the 23.5" diameter mark. So either a 225/50 or 225/55 should be in that area.

[pdy]

I am looking at staying around the 23.5" diameter mark. So either a 225/50 or 225/55 should be in that area.

Hmmmm.... Depends on rim diameter.
225/50 adds about 8.9" (23.9" overall diameter on 15", 22.9" on 14")
225/55 adds about 9.8" (24.8" overall diameter on 15", 23.8" on 14")

Also, you will not optimize the tire's performance with too narrow a rim, although there are MANY factors with this
(camber, track, specific tire make/model, pressure, driver preference, suspension components and settings, etc.).

At any rate, a 5.5" rim will be a compromise at best.
I use 7" with 225/50 and 8" with 225/45, and these are close to optimum in most situations, and with most tires.

[325racer]

Used to run 225/50/14 on the front of my Sentra SE-R, and 205/50/14 on the rear back in the day when I was doing SCCA stuff on the east coast.

They can be hard to mount up but they worked ok.