Can someone please tell me what the performance, ride quality, handling difference would be if I went from a 215/55/17 to a 235/50/17? And what is the trade off? I want to keep the OEM 17 inch rims, but would like to change those crappy Goodyears for Pilots A/S. Any feedback on this setup would be greatly appreciated.

 

Try getting Toyo Proxes 4s they beat the Pilots hands down in everything. AND they are a bit cheaper than both tires. 245/45/17 will work on the stock rims but 8 inchers would better. I replaced my EL42s with 225/50 /17 Pilot A/Ss and they went to crap fast 7k they got noisy and the grip went away at 8k. The Toyos have 6300 on them and they still look new. Spend your money as you wish but I made the mistake of going to the Pilots as many have but I'm glad Toyo was making an all season.

 

Don't go with the Toyo's, go with the Michelins. Just kidding.

But seriously, I don't have any complaints about my Pilots. And I've read a lot of posts from others that recommend them. IQ9 implies that they're only good for about 8k miles. Well mine are going strong with 10k miles and I don't think their noisy and they certainly remain extremely grippy.

Everyone has a different experience with tires and tire wear. I think the debate is akin to the feedback you'll read about the brakes. Some get 15-20k miles out the brakes, others have only gotten half that.

I've posted feedback on the Michelins. They're good and a huge improvement in all ways over the OEMs.

Cale

 

I had the Pilot A/S on my Acura CL type S for about 30K miles before I sold it. Best replacment tire I ever had. Quiet, great in dry, wet, and snow. And the wear is terrific for an ultra high performance all-season. You will like the Pilot

 

Sounds very promising those reviews so far on the Piliots. What about the change in sizes? What can I hope to accomplish from the 235/50 vs 215/55?

 

MORE RUBBER, MORE GRIP! It's probably the best MOD you can do to increase the handling performance without getting into suspension modifications. I put 245/45/17's Falken's ZE 512 when I replaced the OEM tires. I can feel a big difference in the cornering.


Do a search in the Wheel and Suspension part of the forum, as there are some really informative threads on this subject. In the end, you have to determine several things in choosing a tire. 1) What style of driving. 2) Weather conditions. 3) Price range. 4) Resarch the websites for reviews (ie Tire Rack, 1010 Tires, Etc)

Good luck

 

My A4 had come with Goodyear RSAs, which were so bad I threw them away at 10,000 miles. I knew the G35x was coming with the RSAs and had 235/50/17 Pilot A/Ss waitng when the car was delivered. I love the A/Ss at 12,000+ miles, with plenty of tread remaining. No tire manufacturer recommends 245/45s for 7.5" rims; the 235/50s are ok. I recently saw that Michelin has added a 225/50/17 to the A/S line-up, though I think the circum. of the OEM tires is closer to the 235/50/17.

 

Since when sedans have 7.5" wide rims ???

 

I am glad that you guys had such good luck with a such a crappy tire. I followed advice from here and tirerack and got sold tire that started great and fell away fast. I guess I expected too much from a $200 tire but driving style always plays a major role in how long a tire lasts. Enjoy your tires be it Pilots or Proxes or Neros

 

I wouldn't agree with that. It is more about the size of contact patch. And that variable is dependant on much more than just the width of the tire.

On the topic. I'm looking for a new set of tires right now (17.5k on GS-Ds) and 235/50-17 is indeed the best size to go for if you want to keep stock rims and add more meat. Only 0.2% difference in circumference.

In that size my choice is narrowed down to:

Toyo TPTs
Kumho ECSTA KH11
Michelin Pilots
Avon Tech M500

With only the last two retaining OEM speed rating and Avons being 30% cheaper I'm pretty much sold. They get good reviews as well.

 

The 245/45 has more contact patch than the OEM 215/55, or am I missing something here, and if it doesn't why go to a 235/50????

There are several members that are Autocrossing on 245/45/17's with the stock rims, and are successful in competition.

 

i think the goodyear GSD OEMs are a pretty damn good tire. have 21k now and see no reason i can't make it to 25-27k having been doing rotations at 6k. they have good grip wet and dry. has anyone replaced with these?

the only thing i don't like about them is no rim protection. haven't scratched a rim yet but i know i will slip up sooner or later and would like the extra lip some of the other tires have (like the falken ziex). i also would like to go to the 235/50/17 size and that would eliminate the GSDs too.

 

Oh, I'm positive 245s will have larger contact patch than stock tires on our cars.

I was disagreeing with the statement in relation to this particular topic which is stock wheels and + tire sizes. On 7" wide wheel contact patch might be better with 235/50 than with 245/45.


FLAG35,

I do like the GS-D as well, but cannot justify the cost. At 17.5k they are at 4/32s. 2 rotations done.


Something tells me this thread is going to Wheels/Tires section.

 

I replaced the stock Bridgestones EL42s with Pilot A/S 235 R50-17 upon delivery of the car; so far 20K miles and going strong. I rotate them every 5K and run dedicated snows in the winter (about 5K total on the snows). I love the Pilots and would choose them over the Avons; I had tires similar to the Avons and only got 18K out of them; I would also consider the Pirelli Neros. Go with the extra width if you are going to replace the tires; it should help a bit with wear (more rubber to spread the wear around).