Tire Size Question?

[DinanTi]

Hey,

I was at the gas station this evening and this guy pulled up on the other side and asked me if I was looking for wheels. His friend has a E36 M3 that he had 17 inch M condor rims on but he just upgraded to 19's. So my question is would the tire on a e36 M3 M condor wheel work with my car? I have this question because I have looked at a couple sets of used wheels and once I was told that I would have to get different tires so the speedometer was not thrown off. Thanks for your help.

Thanks,
Scotty

[1996 328ti]

It is not only the wheel diameter but the aspect ratio too. You can have a 15" wheel be the same height as a 17" wheel if the aspect ratio is correct that setup.

You can play around with the calculator here
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[J!m]

Those stock M3 tires and wheels should fit fine.

[Travis]

The later E36 M3's (starting in '96 or '97) had staggered tires (wider in the back). I made the mistake of putting those on mine, and it ruined the handling balance of the car. The wider rear tires just "stick" too well and made it understeer badly at all speeds. With the poor power the ti has anyhow, steering with the right foot just doesn't work at all with those wide rear tires. Fortunately for me, I got a complete set from a '97 M3 which came with a front width spare, so all I had to do was get another front wheel and that fixed my problem as far as the understeer went, but my right foot still does not do much of the steering work on decent pavement. I'm currently looking for a good set of "double spokes" from a 328 sport model for slightly less weight and narrower tread width to bring some of the fun back.

Just my $.02

-Travis Knox

[Turbo-ti]

The stager on the later wheels isnt really enough to disrupt the handling of the car that much..As far as the 17s on your car they will fit just fine and the are called Contours...

[Sirius600]

Originally Posted by Steven Schlossman

It is not only the wheel diameter but the aspect ratio too. You can have a 15" wheel be the same height as a 17" wheel if the aspect ratio is correct that setup.

You can play around with the calculator here
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

That tire calculator is so cool, thanks for posting it.