Thanks for the info man. I would however rather be a little smaller than stock, than higher that stock.

The 225/45 is also a little more rare size and the price jumps a good amount. On Discount Tire Direct, the 225/40 is only $96 a tire shipped (and they're actually price matching it to $86 for me), while the 225-45 is $124 a tire shipped... Thats a $28 a tire difference which is a huge amount... Soo I'm gonna stick to my 225/40-18 and be happy with it...

 

It is not as simple as that anymore.

I found this out earlier this year...it is cheaper AND easier to buy HPTuners and do it.

 

Yea... If I'm gonna have my speedo fixed, I'll just have the guy who tuned my car fix it up for me...

I won't bring my car near a dealership!..

 

Will the 225-45's rub on stock height? I just want bigger footprint because i need all the traction i can get, and also once you get in the 40 and below range you have better chances for bubbleing and other roblems

 

The 225/45's should not rub on stock height at all. The tire is only a tiny bit taller than stock. Even lowered you should be fine.

40 or 45 or whatever is a percentage of the width (1st number) of the tire size. That being said, some 40 series tires would have a much bigger sidewall than other 40 series tires. Soo it is not correct to say that "40 and below causes problems"... The difference of 5% on 10mm is certainly not much! About 6mm in our sizes...

The 225/40-18 looks like the best replacement for stock as it is a common size and a little less than .5" smaller than stock, throwing your speedo off 2.1%...

 

Hey OP. When you get the 912's in the 225/40/18 size post up and let us (me ) know how you like them. I have been looking at those skins for a while now, but keep going back and forth as to what size 225/45, 225/40 or 235/40. Im leaning towards the 225/40's but kinda curious as to any increase of fender gap along with being lowered. I agree with you and the fact that the 235/40/18's are much closer to the stock size and would love to run them, but dont want any rub.

 

I just got the tires delivered today, and I had NTB mount and balance them. I have only driven about 25 miles on them, so I'm sure they are not at all "broken in". The size it good, it fits just fine. The fender gap is almost the same. Mathematically it is a quarter inch or soo bigger now since the tire is a little smaller. I think I can tell a difference, as it doesn't look as "slammed" now, but it might just be my imagination. After I get a few more miles on the tires I will report on the performance. The ride quality is def better than the Pirelli's, although it seems kinda "bouncy". I think the tires may need just a bit more air to handle as stiff as they can. I'll let you know in a couple days...

Overall, for the money I paid for them ($344 shipped and $85 mount & balance for a total of $429) it is a steal if the tires last awhile and offer reasonable performance. As they stand now, I was able to break them loose in first gear, but I am 2.7'ed and they are *brand* new. I'm sure the compound isn't even off them. The corners that I took seemed good, but the car kinda floated a bit, so I am thinking a little more air is needed in the tires. I'll post up some further opinions as they wear in...

 

I know with the skins i have on the car now (stock size) I run between 34-36 psi up front and 32psi out back cold (first thing in the morning). Not sure what psi your running, but you might try mine.
Let us know how you like them. Oh and can you get some pic's especialy a side view.

 

Thanks for the info. I haven't gotten a chance to check the pressure on them since they didn't finish the car till later last night and I had to go home and do some stuff. I will check them tonight and balance them. Also I will get some pics up as soon as I can...

 

OK cool. Thanks

 

im about to be running 245s, talk about excess

 

Holy ****!!! How the hell you fitting them in the wheel well, and Im presuming your not on stock rims.

 

245/40 would fit just fine if you wanted, might need a 1/4" spacer to clear the inner fender on turns, depends on the tire type. You're only talking a 10mm difference at the widest part, which is only 5mm on the inside. Not much at all.

 

yea i will probably get a set of spacers up front

the tires are free so thats why im gunna run them

 

Nice, can't beat free tires! 245 is a lot of meat... I went with the 225's because they seemed like a nice middle ground, and they were much cheaper...

 

I tried on 245's on 18" wheels with a 2" drop and zero rub,

I am now running almost 2.5" drop with 245's on 17" rims with zero rub

 

Ok good to know.

 

Lets see some pics of those new skins.

 

Finally got around to getting some pics...

Mounted on the stock rims. Ignore the huge fender gap... My car is parked on a non-levelsurface...


Here is what the car looks like lowered, but on stock Pirelli's here...


What I got in the mail...


Closeup of the tread...


Overall the tires are doing pretty good. I only have about 100 miles on them so far, and I am hoping they will break in a little. The bends seems to go pretty well on them, and the straights are just fine. Only problem is, I can still spin them in first with my 2.7"

 

Looks good. Man my car sits alot lower on the sportlines than yours on the Zenn's. Even on the stock tire size.
Im probably gonna go with the same tire set up. Who, What and Where, did you order them thru? And what air pressure did you set them to, to help with the ride.

 

Thanks for the compliments. I didn't think the Sportlines would be any lower? I'm kinda glad though the roads around here in PA are TERRIBLE, and if I was lower, I would bottom out non-stop...

I got the tires from www.discounttiredirect.com They sell them for $96 each shipped as of now. I found another place called www.edgeracing.com that has them a tiny bit cheaper shipped. Soo what I did was made Discount Tire Direct beat the price from Edge Racing... Discount Tire gave me $10 off per tire, so I was able to get them for $86 a piece shipped! Good deal if you ask me!

The biggest pain in the ass though was finding someone to mount and balance them... I didn't even think about it but 18's with a tiny sidewall are a lot harder to mount... I couldn't find a place to do it, and the places I found wanted about $30 or $40 a tire! I finally got National Tire and Battery to do it for me. They originally quoted me $28.99 a tire, but I talked the guy into doing it for like $18.99 a piece. Soo mounting and balancing still cost me like $85, which is kinda a bitch if you ask me...

Get them, you should like them! Especially for the money!!!

 

Thanks man. Yeah click on my pic in my sig. Youll see how low the sportlines are. I think going with those skins will give me a little bit of fender clearance. Gonna look into ordering them this week.

 

Sounds good. Hopefully you will like them...

I ended up putting about 36lbs in the front tires and 33 in the rear tires. Think I should put more or less? Stock is 32lbs...

The one thing I noticed, to me at least, is that I can't really tell when the tires will break traction in a turn. For instance some turns I have been pretty hard on and it has been fine. Another time, on a fresh paved road (a couple months ago, so still in nice black-top condition), I took about an 85 degree curve at somewhere in the 50-60mph range and the car broke and slid sideways hard to where I had to slam on the brakes to regain control. On the stock Pirellis the tires would squeal loudly letting you know when the limit was being met, and I never seemed to have a problem with them?

Question? Do you think I have too much or too little tire pressure? Do you think the tires are still not "broken in" since they have less than 200mi on them? Do you think the tires just aren't as good as the stock Pirelli's with traction since they are an UHP All Season tire and not a dedicated summer tire?

I am just a little pissed though that the car is lowered, with a TWM front strut bar, and I just ordered a TTR rear sway bar, and if the tires suck, I can't use the full handling potential of the car...

 

Well I would play with the air pressure a couple pounds at a time. Remember to do it first thing in the morning. Prior to the sun beating down on the tires. For every 10* +/- of air temp you will go +/- a pound in air pressure. I know with the coppers I have on the car (came with the cat when I bought it) I can hit a quick S curve at a good rate of speed and as I get to that point the tires squeal as they start to loose traction and with my car it is the fronts that loose it first. Ever since I installed the TTR rear sway it tightened up the rear a lot.
From some of the reviews I have read on the tire rack and discount tire sites there has been mixed reviews as far as handling compared to a summer hp tire. As you said the 912's are a all season performance tire. And that might have something to do with it. I would play with the air pressure till the daily drive and spirited driving are to your liking. You might have to up the pressure a bit more or take some away.
I know on my 05 SRT4 I had the 452's in a 225 40 18. (stock was a 205 ? 18) so there was a big difference, those tires I loved. they hooked up really well on the straight line and even better on the twisties. My only complaint was they were a little rough over bumps. (yes I was lowered on H&R's) and had Hotchiks front and rear sways. So I might go with those instead of the 912's.

 

Good info. Thanks. I don't believe the 452's are soo much of an all season tire though. I wouldn't feel safe running those in the PA winters here. Soo unfortunately I am stuck with my 912's. They should do OK till I burn through them. I'll have to toy with air pressure until I find something that works better...