I was recently given an extrodinarily good deal on a pair of bridgeston expedia 245/45ZR16 tires. I have not put them on the car yet but I am running the stock 245/50ZR/16's in the rear.

I dont' know how/if this will affect performance, but i wanted a general opinion on how other thought it would look. The front of the car will ride a bit lower to the ground, but there will also be a little more space between the tire and fender lip, I'm not sure if the extra space will make the car look stupid or if it's too small to notice. If it is going to look terrible, theres still the chance for me to swap them for some lower performance, but stock size tires.

Any thoughts? Thanks

 

since its a 45 series diamater tire your speedo might be off

 

C-M is right it will throw your speedo off a little. Measure the circumfrence of both tires and that will tell you what you need to know. Tires do differ slightly from one maker to another even with the same tire rating.

 

http://www.net-comber.com/tirecalc.html

 

The speedo will only be off if he runs those tires in the rear. if he runs the stock size in the rear the speedo will not be off. You could run lawn mower wheels on the front if you wanted and not have the speedo be off.

 

I didn't think it would affect the speedo, although I don't pay much attention to it anyways. But concerning the look/stance of the car, would it improve it, damage it, or not make any noticable change?

 

They are pretty close to being the same size. The 245/50/16 tire is 25.64" tall and the 245/45 tire is 24.68" tall. So you are looking at a 1" difference in overall height. That would be .5" difference in sidewall.

 

Do you think the difference is going to make the car look cool, or just "slightly off" overall because of the slight difference in ride height and wheel space. I thought it would look cool when I bought the tires, but the more I think about it, the more I think it's going to make the car look strange and prone to bottoming out. I would like a few opinions on looks just for guidance. I can't put the tires on the car right now because of the storage situation the car is in, but I have time to swap the tires before I start driving for the season. I might try to squeeze into the garage to fit one on the car but if anyone has personal experience with this, it would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

It will look kinda odd since you will have more fender gap. If your car sits high now, it will look even higher.

I am about to get a pair of 225/50/16's because my friend is selling them cheap so I am going to put them on the front. Can't put them in the back since I get no traction with the 245/50's I have now.