hh1976

Hi Gang,

I am a new to the group and new to my new (new to me at lease) 2003 CL-S 6MT and need to put new tires on it. I am in love with this car and can see myself being an Acura fan for a long time to come. I have the stock 17" rims that came with the car and the factory 215/50 tires. I want to put something wider and a better tire overall on it. How wide can I go? Can I put a 235/45 tire on this rim? What is the best size I can put on the factory rim to give me the best handling?

I also welcome any advice on tires to put on it. I want something to really bring out the handling of the car and grip for acceleration with the 6 speed. I do not need all season as it snows rarely here, but I want good wet traction. I am thinking about a BF Goodritch T/A KDW2 or a Toyo Proxes T1R, etc. I would go with the Goodyear F1 GS-D3, but I can not afford at this point. I also do not want a tire that is too loud as I commute some and don't want a ton of tire noise.

Thanks for the help. I look forward to being active in this community.

Best to all,

Hunter

gr4mm4t0n

I love my Falken Azenis ST115's. Quiet, great handling, stylish, and best of all affordable.

hh1976

Thanks for the tip. I was told by tire shop that 235/45 17 would not fit on my rim. He said that the factory CLS 17 rim was 7" deep and the 235/45 tires need a rim that is 7.5" deep or better. I saw on the FAQ on this site that 235/45 was a good choice for my factory rims.

Any feedback from anyone on that would be really appreciated. I just put that exact tire on the Audi A4 cabriolet that I am selling. They only have about 3K miles on them at most. ANy problem just putting those tires on the Acura?

Anyone know a good tire/mod place in or near Nashville, TN??

Thanks all. I will post some pictures soon.

easyrider

Just got a set of these installed on my 2003 CLS.
235/45 x 17 fit with no issues at all. My commute
takes me thru winding mtn roads every day and
these tires grip well. The ride is much improved over
the stock Michelins as well. The price was right, $89
each from Tire Rack. I'm hoping they will do well in the
rain this winter too.

My 2 cents,
Easyrider

gsrblack

easyrider...did you put the uhp's on the stock rim?

i'm also about to pull the trigger on the general exclaims, but read that the sidewalls were a little soft.

i am about to replace my falken azenis st-115 (235/45-17 as well) but wanted to try something new. my st115's currently have 23,000 miles on them and are down to the wear bars. i've been doing some research and are currently trying to choose between these:

general exclaim uhp in 235/45-17 (21lbs, 25.3" diam, 827 revs/mi)
toyo proxes4 in 235/45-17 (
falken fk-452 in 235/45-17 (25.1lbs, 25.1" diam, 819 revs/mi)
yokohama avid v4s in 215/50-17 (25lbs, 25.7" diam, 809 revs/mi)

anyone have thoughts on these?

btw, i think the falken fk-452 replaced the azenis st-115. my falkens were smooth, except that they only lasted 23,000 miles.

Dave

My two choices would be the Toyo Proxes 4 in either 235-45-17 or 225-45-17.

They also can be had for a good price from edgeracing.com

gsrblack

hh1976, sorry, just rereading your thread and i noticed that i almost hi-jacked it!

anyways, sorry about that. i'm guessing you may be interested in the same tires i'm looking at.

again, i've had the falken st115's, but they do tend to wear kinda quickly. i was able to get about 29,500 miles on the stock michelins...and the falken's only lasted about 23,000.

a lot of people recommend the toyo proxes4. i'm considering those now, but it's all gonna come down to price vs. performance (value). will probably make a decision in a week or so.

hh1976

no worries! I am here to learn more than to talk at this point, so your thoughts and advice is most welcome!! Are the proxes 4 an all season tire?

Any thoughts about my previous post regarding putting my almost new Audi tires on the Acura? Will the wear pattern of the Audi cause problems even though they only have about 3K miles on them?

Have any tire shops given anyone a hassle about putting that tire size on the car? Costco will not do it, and another local shop told me it was unsafedue to how wide the tire was compared to the rim, but I think I am hearing from feedback on this site that it is mostly CYA for the shop and costco and that I will be just fine. I hope so as I really want a wider tire and I think the 235/45 17 is a good solid size.

Thanks!

Hunter

cls57

Have the Yokohama Avs Es100. I love them the grip is awsome. But i dont know if it is a all-weather tire i live in Hawaii the weather is always the same.

hh1976

Aloha! Thanks for the info. I was thinking about the Yoko ES100's as an option. I do not need an all season tire. Like you my weather is pretty good most of the time. Not quite Hawaii, but pretty good on the whole.

I saw some reviews that said the ES100's were loud and wore out more quickly. What has your experience been?

Thanks!

gsrblack

I believe the Toyo Proxes4 is an all-season.

The Yoko ES100's is a summer tire and is not an all-season.

easyrider

GSR,

Yes I installed Exclaims on stock CLS rims. There is some flex in the sidewalls compared to the stock
Michelins, but once you get used to them it isn't an issue for me. This also contributes to the ride quality. I read through all of the posts on this forum about tires before I made this decision and I am quite happy with them.

Dave

I think some of the members here have had good things to say about the Toyo T1r tires. They are a high performance summer tire and come in the 225-45-17 and 235-45-17 sizes. The 225 tire diameter is a little different than the stock 215's and the 235's, but they do fit our stock CLS rim better.

You seem to want a really high performance tire, so I am not sure you would be happy with softer sidewall tires, such as the general exclaims.

Like I said earlier, I had excellent service from edgeracing.com when I bought my Toyos.

htown

I love these tires. Too bad Falken discontinued them.

hh1976

When you say that the 225 fits the rim better, what problems could I face if I use the 235 size if any? I am wanting a wider foot print, but do not want to make a choice that could cause me problems due to the tire size being too wide for the stock rim.

Also, I have not heard from anyone on the pro/con of useing the tires I just put on the Audi that I plan to sell. That tire is a 235 and pretty new. The tires are BFG G-force TA KDW.

Thanks again for the feeback everyone!

Dave

I will do my best to explain! If you go to some tire manufacturer's websites (such as bfgoodrichtires.com) and look at their tire selections, you will see "recommended rim width" as well. You will notice that 235-45-17 recommended rim parameters fall slightly outside our stock 17*7 rims.

That said, many members including myself experienced great results and no problems with 235-45-17 tires. That is why using the tires from your Audi makes a lot of sense.

The 225-45-17 is another option; however the diameter is slightly different, but the 225 recommended width does fall within our 17*7 rim.

I think the tires from the Audi would work just fine.

hh1976

Thanks for the help Dave!!! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me make a smart choice as this is a pretty expensive set of options and I want to be sure I get it right.

Thanks again!!

Hunter

YeuEmMaiMai

I have the Hannock tires and I am not buying them (they came on the car when I bought it used) since they are already pretty much about 1/2 gone at 43K

boetheis

Ok, this seems like a good thread to throw in my “two-cents” and learn something about tires. I have a 2003 CL-Type S, 6-Speed stick. I drive it hard and fast – what Tirerack refers to as “spirited” driving. I think I treat my car way beyond that description. For example, I take a road here in Southern California called Turnbull Canyon Road. It is about 2-3 miles of twists and turns over the mountain from the City of Industry to Whittier. The average speed limit is 15MPH. Why? Because one bad choice, a small furry animal crossing the road, or another crazy driver can send you off the cliff to your death. Some of the turns are sharp 180 degree turns. There are no straight-aways to catch your breath. And in my Acura, I can almost maintain 40mph around the entire road (some turns just cant be taken that fast). What stops me from doing that on a regular basis? My tires.

Previously, I had the Yokohama Avid V4S, stock size 215-50-17. They were fantastic when I first got them. Quiet, comfortable and handled great. At about 10,000, the tire almost disappeared. Then I started taking Turnbull Canyon. I realized there was enough grip left for some fast runs through the turns, but the road ate my sidewall treads and before I knew it, my tires were gone. From start to finish, I got about 12,000 miles out of the Yokohama Avid V4S.

But how can that be? There are people on Tirerack who have that tire for over 30,000 miles and some of them are Acura owners. But most of them drive rear-wheel drive vehicles (mainly BMWs), which made me think that no tire would last as long on a front wheel drive, performance coup.

I asked for help on this bulletin board and did plenty of research for my next tire. I went with the Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S, but I had to change size to the 235-45-17 (Pirelli does not make our stock size). They also cost significantly more than the Yokohamas. When calling around for prices, one tire seller gave me a warning. He said that changing to a bigger size is not a good idea on our cars, especially if you drive around lots of turns at high speeds—the car has a tendency of sucking in the tire. I thought he was full of it.

My Pirellis are hands-down, the worst tires I have ever purchased. And, the guy was right. Within the first week of driving those tires on Turnbull Canyon, I noticed a huge difference. At my normal speeds around those sharp turns, the car would give out on the front end—it felt like a sudden body roll that happens on old cars. I really felt like I had no control at those high speeds, so I found myself having to slow down and really change how I drove through the canyon (and though I use it to get to and from work, I do enjoy driving that road).

But what really made me mad was how fast I wore down these tires. Within two months of driving Turnbull Canyon, I had no sidewall tread left. It was completely bald. The tread itself started to show wear, especially the front tires. They scream around turns, and even chirp at low speeds across the paint on sidewalks. There is already slipping on wet pavement. It has only been 8,000 miles and I am already looking for new tires. I will not buy these tires again.

I learned a lesson. That guy knew what he was talking about—he has been driving Acuras for years through Turnbull Canyon, and knew that increasing the sidewall width was a bad idea for that kind of driving, even though you increase the footprint of the tire. My car handled better with the stock tires. In terms of everyday street and freeway driving, there is almost no difference. The difference is felt when I push my car to the limit, like taking a 180 degree turn at crazy speeds.

So the guy who started this post should really consider the type of driving that is going to be done. Straight freeway and road driving? Then changing sizes won’t matter. Are you going to do “spirited” driving through a dangerously twisted canyon? DO NOT increase the size of your sidewall. I would recommend the Yokahama Avid V4S, even if they don’t last very long, but I would stay far far away from the Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S.

Once again, I am looking for a new tire. It needs to have a very strong sidewall tread so that I can grip around turns. I would like it to last longer than 10,000 miles. I drive my car hard and in all conditions—freeway, street, stop and go, long distance and of course, my canyon.

Will a summer tire accomplish what I want (my other two were all-season)? Don’t summer tires generally wear faster, and at the rate I go through tires, doesn’t that mean I will chew them up faster? But if they have stronger performance numbers I would consider it.

A lot of users here recommend the Toyo Proxes 4 or the Toyo Proxes T1R tires. Will they hold up to my driving habits? Do they make a stock tire size for our car?

Thanks for reading and for any responses.

Zippee

I have run two tires on my CL-6, the Kumho 711 and the Goodyear Eagle LS. Both in stock size.

The Kumho was a good performer but noisy and hard riding. The Goodyear is more of a touring tire but still not bad on the twisties. Both good in the rain, the Goodyear a touch better.

Dave

You make a lot of great points Boethies - and I think summer tires in general will wear faster based on loooking at treadwear ratings.

The stock 215 size tires are insufficient as far as off the line traction and tire adhesion at the limit of corners.

I have driven with 215-50-17, 235-45-17 and now I have the Toyo Proxes 4 tires in 225-45-17 size. Yes, the 225-45-17 dimater is a little different, but I still get crisp handling and very good traction off the line with these tires. The wear seems good too; I rotate them every 3000-4000 miles.

We do not have any canyons in Omaha, but I also drive my car pretty hard, so hopefully my comments will be helpful.

boetheis

Thanks for the info. How much of a difference in diameter is there between the three tires? Since you have actually used all three on your car, what difference can you see (you are one of the few I know of to have run all three sizes).

According to the calculation (I used a website that calculates all the dimension difference and effect on speed, gas, etc.), there is a slight difference between 215/50-17 and 235-45/17. But there is a bigger difference with the 225/45-17.

I also discovered that Toyo does make a Summer Tire, the T1R, in 215/50-17. I think I am leaning towards those tires in the next few months. But if you really like the Proxes 4 at 225/45-17, I may have to look into those too.

Thanks for the input.

Dave

You are right that the 225-45-17 has a more significant difference in diameter than the stock tires, but in my mind the far better traction off the line and in cornering make it a great choice.

The 215-50-17 just does not cut it, especially if you have a six speed.

CLSpeedster

I fit toyo proxies 4 on my stock rim, 235,45,17. they are great all weather tires. I even run them in the summer on my RJs. i got em for 99$ off a website i found. I think it was the same shop Dave got his from, edgeracer or raceshopper.com. I forgot. oh well hope this helps

hh1976

Hey guys. great thoughts from everyone. I really appreciate the input and exchange of ideas, etc. I finally made of my mind. I got a coupon in the main from costo and can get a set of 4 Bf Goodrich T/A KDW 235/45 17 for $90 each carry out. I think that is a pretty good deal, so I will go get them sometime next week unless anyone can think of a reason that it would be a foolish choice. I had the same tires on my 2003 Audi A4 3.0 CAbrio and they performed great even with that super heavy car. I am really excited to see how it improves the car off the line and in corners. I am sick of the wheel spin in 1st, 2nd, and even a chirp in 3rd. I know the car has nice power, especially with my 6mt, but I would prefer to transfer that power to the road.

I hope everyone has a rockin week!!

Hunter