Larger Tires

[gabe1475]

What is the largest tire you can go to on the rear without having rubbing issues? My best guess would be up to 26.1 diameter from stock of 22.6, but wanted to see what others thought? I know there would be issues with the front tire, just currious what fits on the rear.

[SmartMadness]

Gabe,

We offer many varieties of custom wheels and wide tires for the smart. The common wheel upgrades are 16" and 17". The width of the wheels range between 7" and 7 1/2". Some have even put up to a 20mm spacer on those without any issues. The tires are typically 215/35-16 (for the 16" wheels) and 215/35-17 (for the 17"s). We have also put on many 225/35 tires as well without any issues.

Hope that helps a bit.

[forestacademy]

Add the Lift kit and you can go bigger

[gabe1475]

Actually was looking to find out what size you can go to on stock rims.

[sato7]

Stick to 15" rims unless you want to increase the harshness of your ride...

195/55/15s is tops up front, while the rear can go a bit wider but 195 is great if you want to do the NON-staggered approach.. on a 15"x6.5" wide rim

stock will hold the rear 175s at best, by the way you can do a set of rears upfront with 175s no prob.

[chieftmc]

Here gabe..............play with it yourself

Tire Size Calculator - tire & wheel plus sizing

[gabe1475]

I tried that, just not sure if the car can handle 205 65 15 without rubbing issues. It looks like there is 4" to play with and that size would add 2.9".

[mattwithcats]

I have 205 / 50 / 15 on the rear. Looks and runs good.

[rfernatt]

Those who are running 185/60s report minor rubbing, so I wouldn't try anything larger. Even if it doesn't rub sitting still, it may when cornering and braking.

[Toolman]

Originally Posted by sato7

Stick to 15" rims unless you want to increase the harshness of your ride...

195/55/15s is tops up front, while the rear can go a bit wider but 195 is great if you want to do the NON-staggered approach.. on a 15"x6.5" wide rim

stock will hold the rear 175s at best, by the way you can do a set of rears upfront with 175s no prob.

Hey guys - does this mean I COULD get wider tires on my stock, Passion, 9-spoke, 15" rims??? I've been searching for a bit and this is the first reference I've seen to using wider rubber on 15" rims. Out of a bit of paranoia, I'd kind of like to keep the staggered setup - but would like to go wider than stock on both rear and front. I'm craving less wind buffeting about, since I spend about 20 minutes on the highway each way, to and from work. It's hard to pull off the what-me-worry? look when being tossed about by a breeze. And powder coating my rims would cost a lot less than a new set of rims (Must. Have. Black. Rims.).
------I see another post on another forum where a guy did this combo - it would mean I could move the rubber from back to front, and just buy tires for the back!
"175/55 front and 195/50 rear , on 15” rims"