Alternate tire size on stock rims?

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maskedSONY

Member
Has anybody run a tire that has a different size than the stock 195/50/R16 that the Protege comes with? Reason I ask is because I'm on the verge of replacing my tires in a few months and I'm curious if I have any options at my disposal aside from buying another pair of the Kuhmo's.
 
maskedSONY said:
Has anybody run a tire that has a different size than the stock 195/50/R16 that the Protege comes with? Reason I ask is because I'm on the verge of replacing my tires in a few months and I'm curious if I have any options at my disposal aside from buying another pair of the Kuhmo's.
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205/45 16s

11-10-07%20033i.jpg
 
205/55/16 works well, and its slightly taller , which will raise your effective gear ratio, slightly increasing economy
 
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mach1219 said:
with a 280 wear rating, they wont last long
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They will be the best performing tire in any price range. At that price, you could buy 2 sets as cheap as one set of lower performing all season tires. And a 280 wear rating for a performance tire is good. A lot of your new performance cars have tires from the factory with treadwear <200! The tire manufacturers make their own wear ratings for their tires. All 280 treadwear tires do not wear out at the same rate! The type tire you buy can make the single biggest handling improvement on your car. Or make it handle like crap (with high treadwear tires that you will be stuck with forever)!
 
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solort said:
They will be the best performing tire in any price range. At that price, you could buy 2 sets as cheap as one set of lower performing all season tires. And a 280 wear rating for a performance tire is good. A lot of your new performance cars have tires from the factory with treadwear <200! The tire manufacturers make their own wear ratings for their tires. All 280 treadwear tires do not wear out at the same rate! The type tire you buy can make the single biggest handling improvement on your car. Or make it handle like crap (with high treadwear tires that you will be stuck with forever)!
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Thats funny, belive it or not, i just got some tires with a 600 tread wear rating, and it doesnt slide at all! can you believe it! It actually still sticks to the road. Try it sometime, you might learn something, not to mention save some money and not have to change yourr tires every couple years
 
You must not push your car too hard! Most high treadwear tires are all season with soft sidewalls that dont have very good turn in response.Also, as the rubber is exposed to sun and cold temps over the years, it hardens and loose it's grip. Also the sidewalls can crack.
I'm glad you found some tires that will last you forever! But since the tires are the only connection between the car and the road, I will not skimp with anything but a high quality tire. I use the customer ratings at www.tirerack.com to help me buy the best tire for the money. Try it sometime- you might learn something!
 
Hmm, thanks for the tips on the tirerack. I just bought some tires from the guys that I've been buying from for the last 15+ yrs and he pissed me off this time so I'm gonna be looking around. I've got nexxen summer tires (never even heard of them before the dealer put them on the stock alloys when I bought the car, it also came with Kumho ASX's and Kumho powermax's on 15" steelies). Yesterday I bought Mastercraft glacier grip II's 195x55r15's to take the place of the kumhos after we had a wicked snow/ice storm here in Pittsburgh and after I slid all over the place when I started from a stop. Any comments or pointers on any of the tires I mentioned? the Mastercrafts are part of Cooper tires and were $85/tire installed.
 
mach1219 said:
Thats funny, belive it or not, i just got some tires with a 600 tread wear rating, and it doesnt slide at all! can you believe it! It actually still sticks to the road. Try it sometime, you might learn something, not to mention save some money and not have to change yourr tires every couple years
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How many years do you get out of tires anyway? I'm on year 2 with a set of 300 rated tires, and they look as though I'll probably get 2 more years out of them with good tread. Tires with a lower treadwear rating are softer...softer tires grip the road better. Sure there are a lot of other factors that contribute, but this is generally true. Hope you learned something.
 
solort said:
You must not push your car too hard! Most high treadwear tires are all season with soft sidewalls that dont have very good turn in response.Also, as the rubber is exposed to sun and cold temps over the years, it hardens and loose it's grip. Also the sidewalls can crack.
I'm glad you found some tires that will last you forever! But since the tires are the only connection between the car and the road, I will not skimp with anything but a high quality tire. I use the customer ratings at www.tirerack.com to help me buy the best tire for the money. Try it sometime- you might learn something!
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I never suggested "skimping". I drive my car hard enough that if i drive it any harder, to the point where my tires are sliding, I dont need to be on the road with other cars, and neither do you.

If you take your car to a track, thats a different story. But for most people, who drive on the street, they would be better served with a higher tread wear rating, which will still perform with excellent results, as well as last longer
 
MazdaSpeeder said:
How many years do you get out of tires anyway? I'm on year 2 with a set of 300 rated tires, and they look as though I'll probably get 2 more years out of them with good tread. Tires with a lower treadwear rating are softer...softer tires grip the road better. Sure there are a lot of other factors that contribute, but this is generally true. Hope you learned something.
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no kidding sherlock. thats why they wear out faster, because they are softer. I dont think that was part of the disagreement. How many years they last doesnt tell me anything without the mileage you put on your car.

I have a Nissan Titan, which came brand new with good years with a 360 tread rating. The truck will be three years old in january, but only has 21,000 miles on it. The tires are worn rather low already, one of them is almost to the tread wear replacement indicators. And they have been rotated on schedule

when i replace them, i will be getting a high qaulity, good handling, and long lasting tire with a higher tread wear rating, as there is no need to replace your tires every 2-4 years because you went with a lower tread life, 'softer" tire when the harder tires perform very well, which people would know if they tried them.

Im just suggesting you dont even consider a tire with lower than a 400 tread wear rating, and theres no reason to, unless your racing on a road course or soemthing.

Ive had a lot of cars, and bought a lot of tires. I used to sell tires and install them as well. I dont like seeing the popular misconception that you have to buy a "performance" tire, which comes with a short life, for your car to handle well. its simply not true.
 
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340 tread rating, 15k miles (driven hard) on the tires thus far, and they probably have 3/4 of their life left. The difference in hardness does make a difference in handling, though I would imagine on a Nissan Titan it doesn't really matter. In any case, there are many people whose experience would say otherwise...softer tires grip the road better, leading to better handling. You're entitled to your opinion, but I disagree.
 
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The titan was simply one example to help clarify my point. I got a good price on some dunlops with a 600 rating, and a rather agressive tread pattern that i dont really care for on this car, but again, the price was right.

they arent that low of a profile either, 205/55 , and my car simply handles great.

Maybe it is a confidence thing, and i have confidence to push these tires, and they handle everything i throw at them. If buying a "performance" tire give you more confidence, then maybe its for you. Your entitled to your opinion, but I disagree
 
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poundNP5owner said:
Don't know if you purchased your tires yet, but I just got Kumbo ASTs for $39 a piece.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=0

The guy from tirerack actually called me to ask me if I was sure I wanted to run the smaller diameter tire. For that price I'll put on some 70 series balloons!
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As much as that is a steal of a price, I really would like to get a high quality tire. I'm not too optimistic about that tire in the wet or snow.
 
mach1219 said:
The titan was simply one example to help clarify my point. I got a good price on some dunlops with a 600 rating, and a rather agressive tread pattern that i dont really care for on this car, but again, the price was right.

they arent that low of a profile either, 205/55 , and my car simply handles great.

Maybe it is a confidence thing, and i have confidence to puch these tires, and they handle everything i throw at them. If buying a "performance" tire give you more confidence, then maybe its for you. Your entitled to your opinion, but I disagree
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So which Dunlop model did you buy with a 600 rating? If it's the Dunlop SP 60 tire, it looks to be a noisy (but long lasting) passenger all season tire. Seems to be geared for less sporty cars (like Caravans and Olds 88).

Since you are a tire expert (and seem to have a Protege ES like mine), you have increased the diameter of your tire by 1.2 inches, which is 5.1%. This will throw off your speedometer and cause your car to have sloshier handling with taller softer sidewalls from the all season tire and the "aggresive" tread. But looks like they might do better with snow than most performance tires. But you know all this...

PS- How do you go about puching tires?
 
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