P275/40R20 and/or P295/40R20 on your '300 series'

Mr.DJ · 03-11-2005, 07:47 PM

Hello all. Has anybody experienced running a P275/40R20 tire on 8.5x20 custom wheel on your '300 series'? I finally talked my dealer into possibly making 20" tires/wheels an option for their '300 series' customers, as they wouldn't even discuss the idea when I purchased my car last year. The parts manager (now an excellent contact) finally convinced the dealership owner to try a set of these on a new '300 Limited' which they have sitting on their lot.

I examined the tires/wheels before they were actually mounted onto the car, and I then visually inspected them again for proper fitment after they had been mounted onto the vehicle...there were no issues that I could tell. Although this particular size tire is taller and wider than most, there's still about an inch or so clearance between the top of the tire tread and the suspension arm/bolt assembly. From what I understand, this suspension arm travels with the tire/wheel assembly, so there's no worry about that arm ever touching the tire itself. Although I'm not too thrilled about the brand tire that they had decided to put on that 'Limited', I must admit that the 20" tire/wheel set-up looks perfect on the '300 series'.

I also finally convinced them to possibly get me a set of MC2 'FZ6' wheels for my car, since the folks at MC2 Custom Alloys, Inc won't sell them directly to me. I'm still contemplating going this route, but I'd actually prefer a tire a little taller/wider than the P255/45R20 which MC2 offers as part of their 'package deal'. My tire brand of choice, Goodyear, does not make a passenger tire in a P275/40R20 size yet. They do, however, make an 'Eagle GS-D' in a P295/40R20, but I'm sure that this tire will be too tall for the front axle ('OD' = 29.29"), but might work okay on the rears....alowing for a 'staggered' effect once they come out with a P275/40R20 tire for the fronts. Goodyear still doesn't have any word yet regarding the availability of the P245/45R20 - Front / P255/45R20 - Rear 'Eagle F1's which will be optioned on the new 'SRT-8', which was another option that I was considering.

Please advise with your first-hand and/or second-hand experiences with these sizes...thanks.

O Stress · 03-11-2005, 07:56 PM

i am currently runnin 295/40x20 on my car, goodyear eagle rsa, which has the highest numbers in every catagory for road performance... goodyear also has 245/45x 20 in this same tire, although you will have to call goodyear directly for this tire, as tire shops cannot get this tire at this time.. the 295/40 is 29.2 tall, and will not hit the bolt. ( but ) they are 11.6 wide, so watch your offset on rims, for upper control arm clearance....

Mr.DJ · 03-11-2005, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by O Stress

i am currently runnin 295/40x20 on my car, goodyear eagle rsa, which has the highest numbers in every catagory for road performance... goodyear also has 245/45x 20 in this same tire, although you will have to call goodyear directly for this tire, as tire shops cannot get this tire at this time.. the 295/40 is 29.2 tall, and will not hit the bolt. ( but ) they are 11.6 wide, so watch your offset on rims, for upper control arm clearance....

If you don't mind me asking, what's the offset on your particular wheels, and do you have some pics of your wheels/tires which you could post for me? Thanks.

O Stress · 03-11-2005, 08:18 PM

my rims are 20x10 and the offset is +15, which is a problem for me, i could have gone to a +18 offset, but the 295/40's are to wide, i have a 3mm spacer on the front now, so the tires dont rub the control arm, and that width causes the tire to stick out of the tire well about 3/8ths of and inch, front only. so i'm switching to 245/45 which will also be only 28.86 tall and 9.65 wide, and allow me to loose the shim, and lower the car another inch, with the already lowered 1.6 drop. so best bet, forget the 295/40 tires...

Mr.DJ · 03-11-2005, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by O Stress

my rims are 20x10 and the offset is +15, which is a problem for me, i could have gone to a +18 offset, but the 295/40's are to wide, i have a 3mm spacer on the front now, so the tires dont rub the control arm, and that width causes the tire to stick out of the tire well about 3/8ths of and inch, front only. so i'm switching to 245/45 which will also be only 28.86 tall and 9.65 wide, and allow me to loose the shim, and lower the car another inch, with the already lowered 1.6 drop. so best bet, forget the 295/40 tires...

Great-looking car...thanks for the info and advice.