Wheel & Tire Help Please

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I would try and stay under 225 for the tread width on the tires.

The main reason bigger wheels and tires lose fuel economy is because the wider tires create more rolling resistance. The wider tires make the car consume more fuel to get equal speed than a car with stock wheels and tires.

In general you want to stay in the high 40's in the offset and probably 7 or 7.5 inches wide.

What are you gonna do with the stock 17"s if you are getting rid of them I'll take em!

 

It looks like it will work.

I would do a 225/40-18 tire. I would do a more fuel friendly tire like a Michelin variety vs a high performance summer tire, but that's just me. Try to keep the overall size of the tire close to stock. Your stocks are 215/45-17 so this is close.

CONS: You will lose fuel economy, the car will ride much harder.

PROS: You will gain handling and the car will look great!

I don't believe in chassis bracing, I would install sway bars if there were such an option.

I have had a BMW E36 M3 with a x-brace undercarraige brace and I barely noticed any improvement in chassis stiffness. I noticed a whole lot more improvment in handling with a bigger rear sway bar.

As far as lowering, I was thinking of going with those same exact springs pretty soon. Post pics when you do it!

 

As with 87, I would go with the 225/40 R18 with the Michelin All-Season Performance tire set up.
The NF210 springs drop the front and rear approximately 1", and the belly still scrapes over larger speed bumps. With the stock 17"s, the ride is fairly harsh and often has that washboard effect. If you do go for the DF springs, I would probably recommend that you swap out for higher rate shocks.
As for chassis brace, you probably don't need it. It does help slightly with tracking straighter, especially with crosswinds, but you are not going to experience an extreme performance enhancement.
Regarding the rear sway bar, another owner installed the TRD rear sway bar from the Gen II Scion xB. There's a post somewhere on this website.

 

I did the same thing. I went to a local tire shop recommended by TireRack.com thinking that it wouldn't cost me that much for the installation. Was quoted $650! I went to a mom&pop shop down the street specializing in Toyota service and was quoted $120. Looking further, I checked out the local shop ads on craigslist and found a reputable shop offering to install for $100. Couldn't be happier.

And good tire choice!

 

You should be able to find local shops that will charge $60-$120 to install springs. It shouldn't take any reputable shop more than two hours to install a set of springs. The rear takes literally 10 minutes.