2018 leaf different size tires for front and rear..

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laserguided

New member
Joined
Jun 17, 2018
Messages
2
Greetings all,

Just a question regarding using a slightly larger size tires for the rear of my 2018 Leaf. I have four snow tires from a 350Z and the dimensions are 235/40R18, which I would use for the front and 245/ 45R18 for the rear. The front is the correct diameter but the rear is slightly larger. Will it affect the car in anyway? Thanks.
 
My guess is that as long as they fit the wheel and wheel well, you'd be ok, because FWD cars tend to be heavier in the front, making the rear more slippery. Given the location of the Leaf's pack, though, I can't be sure that it has the typical weight bias. If the rear is heavier, or especially if the car is balanced, they might make the front more likely to slip...

In short, I guess I have no idea. ;-)
 
I ran larger tires on my 2012 Leaf for a while. The chassis of the 2018 doesn't appear to be much different, so my experience might prove useful.

I originally had 235/50R17 on both the front and back. There were no fitment problems - no rubbing of the tires at all. I found that the ABS/traction control really did not like having that large of a tire on the front though. If I'd go around a ~40 mph bend in a road, it would start kicking in and light up a warning light. Disabling traction control was a short-term work-around.

Later I dropped the front tires to 215/50R17. That solved the ABS/traction control problem. The car had no issues with the front and back being different diameters. I assume that the car just didn't like having a tire with that much larger of a diameter on the front.

According to a tire size calculator, these tires have the following diameters:
  • 235/50R17: 26.3"
  • 215/50R17: 25.5"
  • 235/40R18: 25.4"
  • 245/45R18: 26.7"
Given that, I think you'll be fine.
 
With a 245 tire, you run the risk that the tires will rub in the wheel wells during turns or bumps... If you can put them on, go slow, and check clearances.
 
The DSC seems to compare rotation rates between front and rear and activates once the difference passes a certain threshold. I had it kick in on turns with the 2012 LEAF when driving with 2 new tires and 2 old tires otherwise identical. Problem was solved by swapping front and rear. I don't remember which axle had the (slightly) bigger tires when it was acting up.
 
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