It's time for me to get rid of the stock tires. I want to know what I should replace the Michelins with. What are the best all season tires to put on stock rims? Will going from 215/50 to 225/45 improve handling (in both dry and wet)? How do 225/45 compare to 215/50 all season in the ocassional snow. Let me know what size and brads people have on their stock wheels, and how has it affected the performance compared to stock.

 

You could find one brand of 225/45-17 that would outperform another brand on 215/50-17 in a snow, dry, or wet.

If you actually find a particular tire that you really like and has excellent reviews, get it in the size you can get it. IOW, some tires are available in a 215/50-17 and not in the 225/45-17 and vice versa.

And, in general:

A 215/50-17 will have a slightly longer footprint than 225/45-17. As you go down to a lower and lower profile -- e.g. 215/50-17 to 225/45-17 to 225/40-18 to 225/35-19 -- you lose front-to-rear contact area for increased side-to-side contact area. If you are in the snow, you generally want to stay with the higher profile. THIS comment is based on the tires all being exactly the same in construction in design.

The 225/45-17 should give you better handling in wet and dry when compared to a 215/50-17. (This is based on the two tires being of identical make and brand *and* there can be exceptions to the rule.)


Go to the Tire Rack for a start:

Link to ultra-high performance all-season radials in 215/50-17:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...HPAS&x=19&y=14

(Watch the load ratings -- some can be a bit too low. 93 is the OEM recommended load rating.)


Link to ultra-high performance all-season radials in 225/45-17:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...HPAS&x=19&y=14

Ultra-high performance all-season tests:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...HPAS&x=23&y=11

Ultra-high performance all-season customer survey results:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...jsp?type=UHPAS


You won't find the all-season Toyos and some other worthy brands for sale at Tire Rack.

 

I replaced 4 of the original Michelins for sidewall bubbles, and one for a puncture.

Finally got tired of paying so damn much for lousy tires and switched to Continental Extreme Contact, same size as the originals. Cost half as much as the Michelins.

IMO they are much better tires all around; WAY better in snow and more resistant to planing. They stood up to bad NJ/NY winter roads and afer ~10k miles have no bubbles, and no wheel or suspension damage.

They are no louder than the Michelins and ride a little stiffer (probably better sidewalls).

 

Thanks for the replies. I had already replaced 3 out of my four tires in the last two years because of bubbles. So I now have one tire (the original) with 45k miles, one with 28k, one with 27k, and one with 5k (cheap brand of the same size - didn't want to pay $200 for a Michelin again!). I just want to replace all of them with a set of performance tires that can handle a minor pothole going at 20 mph!

 

225/50/17 is closer to stock size than 225/45/17

Remember that the speedo was probably calibrated for the non-Type S which had a 25.7 inch diameter tire.

As others have said, the choice of tire will have more to do with handling than the size.

 

the stock cl-p comes with 205/55/16. That diameter is closer to 225/45/17 than it is to 225/50/17. I don't understand why you 225/50/17 will be more accurate with the speedometer than 225/45/17 if the speedo was calibrated to the cl-p. I'm confused.