Tire fit question

1

1nickatnite1

Member
I'm shopping for new tires and was originally settled on the Firehawk 500s but then I found the General GMAX RS. Problem is the General only comes in 205/55/R16. Has anyone here put 205 size tires on their SE and did you have to do any modifications because of the extra width?

Thanks in advance!
 
its a strange one when i went to my tyre garage i already had the rears with the 205 fitted like i said no problem ..but when they tried the fronts it was a no go touching the shocks, so i actually have 195 still on front (car feels fine by the way) all tyres like new so i can decide if go spaces or not when i need to replace.
 
It's weird to me that 205s would require spacers when the 17" wheels come with that size tire from the factory. Doesn't seem like 16" vs 17" diameter would really change the clearance.
 
Yea I don't get it either. I just went to go check my car and you're right its basically ~2mm of clearance between the front wheels and the springs so no idea how it can come with 205 from factory without spacers. Maybe its just an acceptable tolerance for them? I'll get the spacers just to be safe and rather have 205 size anyways. There's so may more options than 195.
 
1nickatnite1 said:
I'm shopping for new tires and was originally settled on the Firehawk 500s but then I found the General GMAX RS. Problem is the General only comes in 205/55/R16. Has anyone here put 205 size tires on their SE and did you have to do any modifications because of the extra width?

Thanks in advance!
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I put 205/50/16 Yokohama a052 tires on, and they just fit without any rubbing. You can look up dimensions on Tirerack.com to see if they're not any wider. All 205's are not the same width...
 
1nickatnite1 said:
Thanks! Looks like I'll need some spacers. Did you end up doing it for your car?
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If you go with spacers, you should probably go with longer lug bolts to match. Mini uses lug bolts instead of lug nuts. I found 5mm spacers and 5mm longer lug bolts on ebay. Maybe just have them on hand, in case you need them for the front.
 
Wanted to update this thread. I ended up getting 15mm spacers and 45mm bolts. The install process was easy and straightforward. Looking at the wheels, it appears to be just barely wider than the fenders so not sure if this will impact range. It doesn't bother me but if anyone else wants to do it I'd recommend the 12mm spacers.
 
1nickatnite1 said:
Wanted to update this thread. I ended up getting 15mm spacers and 45mm bolts. The install process was easy and straightforward. Looking at the wheels, it appears to be just barely wider than the fenders so not sure if this will impact range. It doesn't bother me but if anyone else wants to do it I'd recommend the 12mm spacers.
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Thanks for the update
 
I'll try to get some later but honestly it's hard to tell any difference from the outside. And I forgot to take the before pics for comparison anyways.
 
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