It is about time for new tires on my 07 S and I am really hating the choice limiting 225/50 front tires.

Is there any reason I shouldn't change to 235/50? It is less than half an inch taller than the 225 and it takes my choices on tire rack from like 12 to 47.

 

I just went with 235/50 and 255/45 and I've been totally happy with them. No VDC issues at all and definitely way more choices. By increasing the rears too, you return to a closer ratio between the front and back tires (remember, in stock form the front is bigger than the rear).

 

I was thinking about a 235/45 for the fronts on a S, while keeping the rear size the same. Any thoughts?

 

I think that's about a 2% deviation from the stock sizing. You probably could get away with it, but I bet your VDC will kick in a little prematurely now and then on tight turns and if you're driving aggressively.

 

Are the 235/50 and 255/45 the same diameter? I checked the tire size calc and the 235/45 are a 2% difference.. I will be changing tires this fall for A/S and don't want to trip the VDC.

 

^^ I'll have to look again at the calculator again, but the stock front is a bit bigger than the rear, so the calibration of the VDC starts for that orientation. I think if you change the front only, you need to look at it as far as it's total deviation from the stock front tire size; not necessarily for it's equivalence to the rear size.

 

The stock 225/50 in combo with 245/45 yields a .7% difference with the front being larger, whereas the 235/50 in combo with a 255/45 yields a .8% difference between the front and rear, with the front being larger. Net deviation in percentage is 0.1%. Granted the pair has a just slightly larger overall diameter than the stock pair, but it's fairly negligible; my greater concern was the VDC (which hasn't been any trouble with this setup).