225/50 18" Tire Size
 

Good morning all! Lost my second front 18" wheel to our local potholes (stock tire size 235/40 18")
I was contemplating going to 225/50 18" which is the stock size on the current TLX. I know this will be
about 1" larger in diameter and will affect the speedo, but give lots more sidewall for wheel protection.
Has anybody gone with this combo without big issues? I'm currently on new stock suspension 2006 TL.
Only other choice would be to go back to 17" but I much prefer my current wheelset.
Thanks for any input you may have!

A couple of comments:

• The correct size for your car with 18" wheels is 235/40 R18 (diameter of 25.40").
• Your 235/45 R18 (diameter of 26.33"); nearly an inch larger in diameter than stock.
• If you opt for 225/50 R18 tires (diameter of 26.86") you'll be even further beyond OEM spec.

I'd avoid the 225s for a couple of reasons, they are an inch or so narrower than the OEM spec tire and will not provide as much traction (linear or lateral), and they are nearly an inch and a half larger in diameter than OEM spec which will make for significant speedometer and odometer error.

Thanks horseshoez I had a typo when I posted which I corrected - have been using 235/40 R18. It is stock size for the 18" wheel.
Looks like the only option will be back to 17" I guess........so tired of these crap roads........

Agreed. Unfortunately, even dropping back to 17s for the winter is no guarantee of immunity to pothole damage; I just had the opportunity of buying two new tires for my TL running stock 17s due to a pot hole. One other option, if you have a non-Type-S model with an automatic transmission is to drop down to 16" wheels and run 215/55 R16 tires.

Yes mine's a base with AT. Continental DWS06 tires......weird thing is the tires are fine even after the wheels were substantially bent.
I'm still mulling the 235/45/18 as it would be the same sidewall as stock 17s. I'll talk to the service manager tomorrow and see if I can
get away with it. None of this would of course be necessary if our insane tax dollars actually paid for infrastructure........:(

But that will impact both your speedometer and odometer.

Have you considered a 245/45 18? I’m in a similar situation to yours. I haven’t lost a wheel or tire to a pot hole yet thankfully, but the area I live in has some pretty bad roads and my 235/40’s just aren’t cutting it anymore. They’re perfectly fine on flat surfaces, but bumpy, pot hole ridden roads with the occasional train track makes the ride quality absolutely terrible. I’ve looked at tons of tire size options that would work well our cars and I’m pretty confident the 245/45 would add a nice fee overall. They’ll give a little over an inch to the sidewall height and a little less than half an inch to the width. I haven’t yet pulled the trigger on these but I will be as soon as I make a final decision on the tire brand

With 245/45 R18 tires your speedometer and odometer will noticeably under report speed and distance.

Thanks for the feedback - much appreciated! I had considered this size as well. Not sure if I'd like to increase the section width as that usually tends to increase impact feel. I think staying with the 235/45 R18 would likely give he best overall feel. As for tire choice I would highly recommend the Conti DWS06 tires as they have a slightly softer sidewall. I noticed a big change in comfort when I moved to these tires. I think these tires and the increased sidewall height would be the winning combo. Going to put this together shortly and will report back!

As mentioned above, the correct size for your car is 235/40 R18; if you opt for 45-Series tires your speedometer and odometer will under report.

Thanks Horseshoez yes I understand this, but I'm ok with it as the difference is not huge.