I went to the tire shop to replace my SP9000's with Yokohama S.Drive's. After installing the S.Drive's I had a really bad rub in the rear in which the fender would need to be rolled. However, the SP9000's never rubbed. Although, I'm not sure if the SP9000's ever rubbed on the inside of the wheel well but I know for sure it never rubbed on the fender.

Luckily, the tire shop I went to was great. They dis-mounted the Yoko's, re-installed my old SP9000's and ordered a half dozen or more 285/30/20 tires to compare. To bad the SP9000's are discontinued.

 

Dunlop SP9000's run a bit smaller than most tires. This allows them to clear fenders easier without going down tire sizes.

 

After reviewing technical spec's on a variety of 285/30/20 tires, the SP9000 had the lowest values for tread/section widths. Basically, I lucked out on my first set. I thought that all 285/30/20 tires would be good to go. All I need to do is find a comparable tire with the same tread/section widths as the SP9000's. What I may go with is the Sumitomo HTZ III 245/35/20 and 275/30/20. The diameters are the same and the rear tire tread/section widths are slightly less than the SP9000's.

 

yup, like i've mentioned in another thread, sp9000 has a very rounded sidewall, when you are already pushing for clearance with aftermarket rims, every few mm counts.

sp9000 is one of my fav tires...

 

x2, I was going to say the same. Most dunlops are like that, they have a curved sidewall. Check out Falken, they have rounded sidewalls as well. Yokos and a few other companies have squared off corners.

 

Im riding falken 452's... 285 in the rear and they rub....

 

Based on the spec's, that sounds about right. The 452's are on the wider scale of both tread and section width. What did you do about it?

 

what about Nitto's?? hows the sidewall on them compared to the Falken 452's??

rounded...curved....square??

 

i'm not failure with the newer tires but the older 555s were really squared off. im on falken 452s and they seem rounded but then again im using a 275/30 on a 20x10 which is a very tiny stretch but nothing too crazy.

 

for some reason i thought you were running 25 series in the rear??

so your running 35's in the front? 245/35 i presume? your running an 8.5" wheel as i recall.

 

Alright, I did my homework and generated an Excel spreadsheet to compare section/tread widths of various tires. It seems as though the only tire combo's worth trying are Bridgestone RE050's (285/30/20 in the rear) and Sumitomo HTZ III (275/30/20 in the rear). I'm favoring the Sumitomo's becasue of the price. It's almost half the cost of the Bridgestone's. However, the Sumitomo spec's are based on a 9.5" rim width. I read on Tire Rack that the tire's overall diameter shouldn't change if used on different approved rim widths (e.g. 9"-10"). My only concern is if I use the 275/30 on my 10" width wheel, will it change the specified overall diameter for a 9.5" width wheel? If so, how much?

 

I agree the falken fk452 is a great tire with a nice safe sidewall profile. It clears well. I had a set of pirellis on my GS and the rubbed even with my slightly more conservative offsets

 

Nope I am running 245/30 and 275/30s on my car. I haven't seen any problems, with a 245/35 I know for sure I would have more rubbing.

 

245/30 and 275/30? The load rating for a 245/30/20 (90) tire is not recommended for the vehicle. I believe our doors incdicates 93H? How's the ride quality with 245/30/20?

Your tire sizes seem to be off by .9" front to back. Even though you have a 2WD I would think the VSC would get confused with the wheel speed calculation (rpm)?

 

I had Sumitomo HTR ZIII 245/35/20 and 275/30/20 installed yesterday. No rubbing discovered yet. I even drove on the same lumpy highway roads that I had some rubbing with the Dunlop's.

I still get a little vibration, as I did with the Dunlop's. I'm thinking that it has something to do with the wheels or maybe I need to go somewhere that can do a really good dynamic road force balance. My stock 17's don't vibrate at all.