Need help selecting tire size

[wildroot]

My son recently purchased a '07 Yaris hatchback and it's in need of a new set of tires. The last owner put 18" rims on it with 215/35/18 tires. The tires are trashed and the ride is horrible...no doubt the low profile tires. If we stick to 18" tires, is there room to up the profile a tad? There's not a whole lot of clearance now so it wouldn't be able to be much.

The other option is to buy some 15" or 16" rims, but I know he likes the look of how the wheel well is filled up with tire, minimal clearance etc...If we went with the 15' or 16" rims, what size tire would look good on the car and perhaps split the difference between a low profile tire and the stock look. It's all about the appearance, right?

I was looking at 205/50/16 but wasn't sure if that'd leave huge gaps between the tire and the fender well.

Thanks

[WeeYari]

Regardless of rim size, a tire sized to stay within OEM spec is going to maintain essentially the same wheel gap. You can either upsize the tire and throw off the odo and speedo, or install lowering springs to close the gap.

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5021

[SailDesign]

That 215/35-18 is essentially the same diameter as stock (less than 1/4" in it) - so anything matching stock size will look the same.

[wildroot]

So if i went with the 16" rims, what would make a good fit tire wise and look good (from a 16 year olds perspective)

[WeeYari]

From a 16 year olds perspective, probably not.

However, 16" is a good compromise in wheel sizing. Depending on style, rim can still look large, yet tire sidewall is still adequate to take most potholes. 16" still allows for a relatively light weight setup at a reasonable cost.

Here is my car with 195/50/16s mounted on stock suspension.

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/images/funkygarage/732/PICT0592.JPG

[thebarber]

i like 205-45-16

or 205-50-15

[BEEF]

this is one particular calculator that I used when chosing a rim tire combination.

I wanted to stay with stock diameter but maybe increase tread width a bit. maybe you can play around with sizes too. it is a neat little tool.

http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp

[kimona]

For 16" rims with ET42-45 on stock suspension, go with 205/50/16's.