stupid tire question

[mctoone]

The guys at work today were looking at my new P5 and were impressed with the "low profile" tires it had. They said that when they need to be replaced I had to replace them with the same type of tire. Low profile...I know nothing about tires. Is this true? And are low profile tires more expensive and give a less comfortable ride than normal tires? Would I need to change the rims to get normal tires on there? I didn't even notice what kind of tires were on the car. Low profile? God I'm naive when it comes to these things.

 

[mountjonas]

you're fine. low profile means that the ratio of your sidewall compared to the width of the tire is small. low profile tires means that they don't look like donuts.

 

[alexlitov]

why you don't like low profile tires?? They grip better then regular once although they don't last that long...

 

[mctoone]

So they are low profiles on the car? It's not that I don't like them, but I don't want to be replacing tires and especially if they are more expensive than normal ones. Grip might be important but I don't drive that fast so comfort would be better for me! I'm not one of those old farts out there but I'm not a racer either! I use my car all day long for work so I don't want to be going through tires regularly. Can normal donut tires be put on the rims once these Dunlops wear out?

 

[drumsbeloud]

the only real thing you have to be concerned about it the overall diameter of the wheel/tire combo because that has a direct effect on your speedometer and odometer readings. if you stick with the stock rims, you will have to stay with the same tire size, or go with a tire that is only slightly different in size (you can do a search to closely related sizes). if you get a smaller diameter wheel, you can get a tire with a larger sidewall (looks more like a donut) and still have roughly the same overall diamter. that would give you a more "cushy" ride, and you could get tires that were less expensive.

 

[grishulia]

Relax... first of all those tires should last you at least 40-50K miles... second, "low profile" generally means that the middle number on the tire size is 50 or below... and third, you can basically get as cheap a tire as you want in maybe size 195/65-16... and it'll be fine...

 

[mctoone]

Thanks Guys