Not really sure if this is the right area but I'm sure there are some guy with 18s on their rides.

I'm trying to find tires that are somewhat close to stock height, 25.6" tall.

I'm going to be running a vette styled wheel 18x9.5 front and 18x10.5" rear. What tire sizes would you guys reccommend? I don't mind banging out the fenderwell a bit. I stopped by a couple local tire places (discount, firestone, les schwab) Firestone and les schwab both gave me a confused stare, "You want what size?" At discount the guy seemed real nice and actually took me into the back and showed me the BFGoodrish KDW2. The tread pattern looks cool but how well does a tire like that perform comparred to others like the Nitto 555? (I've heard tons of good things about that tire)

I thought a 285/35/18 for the front and 315/30/18 for the rear. I know those are almost dead on height wise but are those sizes going to fit over the wheels themselves? Do they make street tires in those sizes? Looking at tires.com I think I may have to stick with a 295/35 for the rear?

Just saw that 335/30 is offered, would that fit on a 10.5" wheel? ha!

 

IIRC the true stock size is based off of the 215 65 15 which is 26.0"
While the 335/30 is coming int at roughly 13.2 inches, i would stray from that. Lo prof tires dont like too much difference from rim size. BUT it depends on what the mfr says on the tire. The 295 is 11.6 inches, now we are only talking about 1/2 inch on each side, sidewalls will for sure flex that comfortably. The nearly 1" on each side is pretty extreme with 30 prof tires. You wont be dissappointed with the KDW2 plus they look nice. I prefer the orignal KDW but the 2's look sweet. The 555's I cant comment on as I havent had any experince with them except for a hacked up, home made lowering kit lexus (Hey, its just a toyota) that the tires were wrecked from rubbing so bad. The 555r's I have heard alot of good with the exception of the obvious tread wear. Also look into the F1-GS D3. That won tire of the year from car and driver I believe. Drove a C6 with those on it. NICE tire. Like R compound with better tread wear.

Might be pushing it with the 295 35 on the 9.5" rim, but should be fine. Again, these tires are low profile and the side wall is only 4" high total. On a 15" rim, yea, 1-2 inches of play is ok because the side wall is 5.5" tall and is usually geared for straight line vs handling. With the 18's handling is going to be the forte and having too much play in the width is going to cause extra lean in the sidewall. Running a width close to the rim width will give you the best handling. See R!cer, 195, 50, 15 on a 6.5 in rim, only .5" play, that is for handling, problem is they cant pedal enough to need it but that is a different story

 

That 215/65/15 actually seems to mesh up a little better with these larger sizes. I may still have to adjust my speedo though. I just don't want to have huge rubbing issues with the fender.

Would the 335 fit on a 11" wheel? That seems like too small as well. Must be for a 12" or wider wheel I guess.

I've heard great things about the 555rII's, and I know this is a stupid question but what kind of life should I expect out of tires like those?

I was thinking the 295 for the 10.5" wheel. It seems to be the largest I can go. I wanted a 3XX series but oh well.

From this site: Tire size calculator
285/35/18 matches the height better than a 275 series tire, is it going to make that much of a difference stretch over a 9.5" wheel?

295/35/18 fit's perfectly, 26.1" height vs. 26.0"

Thanks for the help.

 

Dont wory about size in the front, doesnt effect much in any terms.

 

Well the car is lowered 2" now and will probably see another inch down farther so I don't want to stray too far on the height thing.