I still have the original 255/50/20 Falkens on my 2020 Signature and have no complaints or issues. Have seen a thread about different brand recommendations but wondering if anyone has gone to a different size 20" tire for better handling such as a 265 or 275. Anyone with experience/recommendations?
Optional tire sizes for 20" CX-9 wheels?
- Thread starter gphin
- Start date
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- Canada
Apparently a 255 width is the widest recommended tire for an 8.5" wide rim. This seems to be consistent among all tire manufacturers.
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- Canada
Well, I swap between 255/50/20 Bridgestone Blizzaks on the OEM 20s and 285/35/22 Nexen all-seasons on 22x10.5 wheels. I feel like I have better turn-in response and can hold a corner a little better in clean, dry conditions. I mostly just went wide because I like the look from the back a bit better, lol
Thanks for info. I was thinking maybe a 40 or 45 sidewall. I'd still like to keep a somewhat smooth ride. I had 35s on my other vehicle but went to a 40/45 combo to improve the ride amd handling is still good. You are ok with the smoothness of your ride with 35s?
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- South Carolina
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- 12 MZ5 13 CX-5
Even 50 series tires have a pretty horrible ride compared to something like a 60 or especially a 75.
If you go lower than 50, it'll almost certainly ride like a dump truck. There's simply no rubber left on the sidewall to take up any shock from road imperfections.
If you go lower than 50, it'll almost certainly ride like a dump truck. There's simply no rubber left on the sidewall to take up any shock from road imperfections.
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- Canada
I'm personally fine with it, same with my wife who is usually fairly sensitive to some changes I've made to my cars in the past. For example, I had a Lexus IS250 that came with 17s, and when I put 19s on she definitely noticed. Same when I put coilovers on the car and lowered it.
I went with 35 because it was as close as I could get to the OEM total wheel diameter. You could do 40 or maybe even 45 without issue, as long as its a square setup (same rim and tire size all around).
There are always tradeoffs when doing certain modifications. Another further consideration is the tire brand and model. Some tires may feel "softer" compared to others, but once you get to 45-series and lower this tends to matter a lot less.
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- South Carolina
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- 12 MZ5 13 CX-5
This is imperative. Your PCM, TPMS, ABS, and TCM computers expects to see a certain number of revs per mile to keep the speedometer and odometer accurate, emergency braking effective, and especially to properly pick shift points. All too often people don't think about this.
Interesting. Thats the size I was looking at until I noticed tire/wheel charts pretty much agree a 8.5 wheel is not wide enough for a 275 tire. Yet I noticed you are running Conti dws 06 where the Tire Rack specs for this tire says ok wheel width is 8.5 -10 inches. How long have you had your tires and I assume no wear or handling issues?
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- 2019 CX-9 GT
had them for about a year now. about 15k miles. no wearing issues. i run them at 36psi. discount tire was ok with installing them on a 8.5" rim.
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- South Carolina
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- 12 MZ5 13 CX-5
We had 295/50r15's on the back of our 85 Camaro back in the day. They looked like steam rollers. They looked SICK. On the front, we had 215/65r15's for the skinnies and fats look.
They turned out to have identical heights, so from the side it didn't look weird at all. But from the rear? Oh yeah!
Haha yea my wifes X3 has a staggered set up with 275s in the back and it is wideeee. 245 fronts but came stock with summer tires in the winter in NYC last year
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- South Carolina
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- 12 MZ5 13 CX-5
Woah...
I've previously communicated with you over on the BMW X3 forum. Just curious, did you just buy a Mazda and if so what year/model.Haha yea my wifes X3 has a staggered set up with 275s in the back and it is wideeee. 245 fronts but came stock with summer tires in the winter in NYC last year
Haha wow small world. The X3 is actually my wifes but I drive it a lot lol. I had a VW Atlas, bought it brand new but the car had a lot of problems so decided to trade it in because the CX9 is 0% right now. Just picked up a 23 Touring Plus. Love how the CX9 drives for a 3 row. Cheers!
CarpeDiem
Under Pressure
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- Superstitions
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- 2021 CE Turbo
A bit of an older thread, but this video may help to answer the common question - is wider always better on stock wheels?
youtu.be
In Search of the Fastest Tire and Wheel Combination 2022 | Tire Rack
What’s the fastest tire and wheel setup? Narrow tires on a wide wheel? Wide tires on a narrow wheel? Somewhere in between? We performed an extensive test wit...
youtu.be
I started this post and just replaced my oem Falkens. Wasn't pl;anning on it so soon but wife hit a pothole and destroyed a tire. They had 5/32 left and were getting noisy so decided to replace with Pirelli Scorpion A/S 3. Highly rated at Tire Rack and priced lower than the oem Falkens. Decided to stay with oem size as I think the 50 sidewall is a good compromise for ride and handling. Just finished a 15 hour trip and very satisfied....quiet and handle well. Just an fyi update.
