Is this just a seasonal shortage or are 225 45 15 tires just becoming less popular?

 

The two big dogs in the 200 treadwear EHP category BFG, Rival and Hankook RS3, are in the middle of a product updates so it's not just the 225/45/15 that is in short supply.

 

The RS3 is getting a product update? I thought they just shipped the tires one container at a time on banana boats over from korea and their inventory management systems consists of 1 illiterate old man in a broom closet with a rotary phone who just "memorizes" it all.

And the rival is just getting the rival-s tacked on which is supposed to just be an update to a Lincoln Air Park friendly compound and they're supposed to sell the normal rival concurrently with it.

 

If I had access to someone who could cut some tread into the RC1s I'd run those for the street. Love them.

225s on 8s was actually pretty compliant and comfy. Gave a little cushion on rough highway sections.

 

Look into offroad shops, tire grooving is pretty common with rock crawlers and stuff. I know Emilio has mentioned he has run grooved RC-1s

 

So I've found most 205/50s to be at 8.4 section width, compared to 8.9 on the 225s.

Considering I've seen people run 195/45s on 9s,without being too stretched, I'll be OK running with 205s on the street, considering it's not my daily. And hopefully with the BCs I'll be buying, the ride quality won't be too sacrificed. Main love of these wheels comes from the concave, and the 8 has drastically less.

 

Hopefully, they're working to fix the tread splice issues. All of my Rivals have visible tread splices and some of them start chunking at the splices. I know that's costing them sales.

 

205/50 rivals on 9's







500/300 ish springs, a litle delrin, i would still daily the hell out of this car if i didnt have my other cars, and a kid. in all fairness we have pretty decent roads, and i tolerate/prefer a harsh ride better than most.

 

Thanks for the pictures. That's actually not too bad.

So a quick search leads me to thinking about S-Drives.

The Rivals have 8.4" Section Width, and 7.8" Tread Width.

Most other 205/50's also have 8.4" Section Width, but only 6.5" Tread Width. The S-Drives have 7.4" Tread Width, and Direzzas have 7.1". Maybe if I look in places other than Tire Rack I'll find one closer. But really, .4" I'm not worried about it, and I"ve heard good things about S-Drives.

 

That sounds like a fairly solid choice.

 

Sooo, I ended up selling the wheels yesterday. Sixshooter let me know someone local was interested, and Ryan G ended up meeting me yesterday. Super easy to deal with, and i was able to sell them for what I paid.

Now I'll be on the lookout for some 8's

 

Well, you sold him three of them. I'm holding the fourth one hostage. Muahahaha!

Actually, I've got some old 225 Continental slicks I'll be giving him to play with on those wheels. They will be a good match for him to play around with for a few trackdays before he starts dropping big coin on big stickies.

 

So the question now is whether I want the same wheel in an 8, or something else.

I can get the 8's from DiscountTire for $8 less than what I paid for the 9"s

 

How bout FFD's? I have a set but mine are a bit too aggressive offset for an NA. They make a +32 though and they're really sweet.

 

What's the price on FFDs?

 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=FFD+motorsport

Spoiler alert: $132, but silvers in +20 are $115. Not recommended though, too aggressive with 225s on stock fenders... Or even on rolled NB fenders.