245's on the back only

[fat tyre matt]

On my never ending search to find a nice VR4 to buy I found a wagon with 17" rims and they seem to be the same width but there is one major difference:

the front is running 215 wide and the rear 245s's. The 245's are wider than the rims! - this is obvious just by looking. Do you think this would effect the handling of the car in any way? (It seemed to handle well and I got 3 lights on AYC, but I'm new to VR4's). Why would some japanese dude run different sizes like that, and is it safe?

[bradc]

What are the profiles of the tyres? I'm considering going with 235/45/17's for the front and 265/40/17's on the rear, this is less than 0.08% differance in rolling diameter.

You will probably find that the tyres don't match very well, and will cause big problems with the 4wd system, potentially destroying it. Do the tyres look well worn? (indicating the tyres have been on the car for a while)

I would ask the dealer to change them all to the correct tyre size for you, how wide are the rims? If they are 7", you should get 215mm, 7.5" 225mm, and for 8" 235mm is the best option.

[You See]

Sounds like a VR4 Jigsaw where they couldn't find the original parts and made do with something from another set...this dealer sounds dod-gyyyyyy!! ...even with Bradc's theory, it's always best to stick with the same width (rims and tyres) all around on our beasts!
*** If it's not broken, don't fix it...UPGRADE IT! ***

[fat tyre matt]

Yep pretty dodgy. The tyres are new so there's no evidence of bad wear yet -
Yeah I should have checked the rim size but I'm pretty sure they are both 7" as the 215 tyres on the front looked like a good fit and the 245's were hanging over the edge majorly. The tyres should not be wider than the rim, thats just common sense! I'll take your advice and get them to match the tyres if I decide to buy it, (which is looking a bit unlikely).

[Roadrunner]

I'm considering going with 235/45/17's for the front and 265/40/17's on the rear

I think 265s will foul the rear suspension and the wheel arches.

[bradc]

H.7, I'm sure they will It's just something I need to work on.

[Louis]

The only reason to fit wider tyres on the back, is if a car is rear wheel drive, ( more grip , power to tarmac through the driven wheels), for a 4 wheel drive the best set up is all four the same.
Chances are someone has done this for looks rather than any technical reason.
Only thing to watch is the speedo may read wrong if the rolling radius ( the overall diameter of wheel and tyre) has changed.
I would have them all the same size If I were you. All the gizmos are very clever(and very good to have), and can help lots, but also catch you out, as it is easy to confuse them!.
I had one AYC light coming on when driving in a straight line (normal driving), just by chance I checked my tyre pressures and found the front right to be quite low, I topped it up and noticed the AYC light didn't come on, a week later it was back on, I checked and found I had a slow puncture, puncture fixed no more AYC light!!!.
Now, whether this was planned by mitsy, or it's just a good side affect from the system doesn't really matter, point is that the system noticed!!.
When I got my legnum, it different tyres on the front and rear, no special brand, I used to get ayc lights quite a lot at round abouts etc. I put 4 goodyear eagle f1 gd 3 's on and hardly get the ayc lights when driving normally(cheaper tyres slipping on road surface = ayc lights, better tyres gripping road surface= no ayc lights) so tyre different sizes may do something!!! to the system(or may not), cheers Louis

[pezza]

I think 235s would be safest bet (Depending on offset and ride height)

I tried 245s and they seemed to foul on the VR4 (strange cos 8.5x19rims with 255 would just fit on lowered v6 24 with rolled arches - maybe offset related
)

As for running different sized wheels... Not sure what detrimental effects it would have.. I ran 225s on rear and 215s on the front for 10 months or so. Wear was biased towards front insides... But think equal sized tyres is the safest option...

[I-S]

Bigger tyres on the back will tend to push toward understeer.

[AllBeItMine]

yeap. if anything you should put wider tyres on the front. but you should leave it the same all round. the car was designed for equal grip at the four corners, and messing with that will mess up the handling. putting fatter tyres at the back will make an understeery car even more understeery.