So the other tire size I posted was wrong I meant to post 205/50/17. Could the bigger one work?

 

Definitely get 225/45/17 tires. Otherwise your speedo and mileage read-out would be off. You need not worry about denting in your wheels with only 17's.

 

205/50 is perfectly fine. Compared to 225/45 your speedometer will only be 0.2% off meaning 60mph is 60.2mph

 

All speedometers are off by 2-4mph, its better to stick with what the manufacture says for 17" which is 225/45R 17

 

If you want more sidewall, you can go with a 215/50/17. It has the same sidewall as the 235/45/17 but is less likely to rub.

 

Yeah, 225/45 should be fine with potholes, but will give you a firm ride. The other sizes mentioned will be be more...plush.

 

I like those wheels

Does OP have lowered suspension? Any pics of what car looks like with the wheels on?

 

I got my 17's used and it turned out one of them was dented. So it can happen. As far as looks I like the way the 225/45/R17 looks. Rides nice too

 

Can you post a picture of your car with those rims

I'd like to see what they look like with stock suspension

 

I've seen plenty of 17s bent and broken from potholes. Even the OEM ones and they are pretty tough. That's one of the reasons I stayed with 16s for now. No worries on a cross country drive.

 

I recently bent a stock 15 inch steel wheel, pothole on the freeway, what are you going to do? The whole bottom bent upwards. :wrench:

 

You can really only go about an inch over stock diameter with the stock offset before you start to run into the upper part of the spindle, there isn't really much room there, less offset may help to move the wheel out enough to negate this but I don't know for sure, I'm just working off of measurements and relating them to my stockers

I am going to try for a 245/45R17 with 35-38 et 17x8 wheels and see what happens, the 245/45 is about 3/4 of an inch bigger overall diameter so it should be fine and the offset should work

 

That's an awfully wide tire. Good for handling, but takes more gas to turn...

PZ, I wouldn't worry about it. I miss as many potholes as I can, but I've hit a couple around here and haven't had any adverse effects. These are 'no-name' RS-4 reps, so are probably heavier than normal, though. If it's harsh enough to bend a 17, it might not spare a 16...