Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

No picture, but many like a "smaller" tire, personal opinion, but the 245/40-17 is only slightly larger than the 135/80-16" temporary spare in the A/T's, so to get the look, put the spare on and see what you think.
I've posted this before, as the temp spare comes in at 24.5" while the 245/40-17 SS is 25.7", .02" difference indiameter or only .1" on each side of the tire and after a few thousand miles it will be down the the spare diameter. The M/T spare is 24.95".

jpk7

Thanks I'll try that.

mdrolet77

This thread really help me choose between 245s and 255s So thanks everyone.

I can see some people are concerned that the tire might be too wide for the rim and since I've done much worse than that I feel the need to chime in.

There is really no problem at all running tires a bit wider than the wheel like that

Here's a pic of my winter tires I had on my previous car.



Tires are 215/50/R16 on a 6'' wide rim, it's quite obvious they are too wide for the rim but it's never really been an issue, of course they wiggled a bit more than my summer tires that were 225s on a I believe 7'' rim but you have to keep in mind that those were winter tires vs UHP summers with a beefy sidewall. Tires wore quite evenly as they wear much slower in the rear ( where the camber is usually more pronounced ) than in the front so if you swap them around every year the ''exessive'' wear will most likely not show at all.

And as far as safety goes, I've run those winter tires for about 25k miles and there were no deformations whatsoever on the sidewalls or anywhere else, you also have to consider I live in pothole land and didn't spare them at all.

Xiomaro

iTrader: (5)

I have an 07 type s, will the tpms sensors make the clearance without any issues?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^what are you trying to clear?

Xiomaro

iTrader: (5)

with the lower profile will the tmps fit inside without being damaged

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

No problem with the TPMS as it's only 1"-2" wide. Just got to make certain that with any change of tires the installer doesn't damage the sensor.

tloftis

you have sold me also!

mdrolet77

Well I ended up setteling for 245-45-R17 since I figured the 255s would stick out of the rim more than I wanted them to, really just a personal liking tho. I guess if it were more of a performance issue I would have opted for the 255 to provide the extra grip.

callahan

I'm going to buy new tires in a week or two, I wanted to get DSW's. Can't really afford to have two sets of tires atm. I have heard it is bad to run fatter tires in winter, that you should have oem or smaller to cut thru the snow but I would still love to get these in 255/40. Anyone have any experience with these? Or any help inputs?

I hate cars

As much as I love the 255s, if you see a lot of snow in the winter, I would stick with the stock size. The gains on the 235s in the snow will be greater than the gains you'll get in the summer on 255s.

callahan

Well we don't get too much snow sooo I went ahead and bought them anyhow, they will be installed shortly I'll let u guy know how it goes.

Face9596

I like the wider stance of the car it looks meaner.

callahan

Wow the dsw are quite and did great in rain, I'll let u guys know how they do in the winter and how they last.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

When I got my Conti DWS', I tried to get 245's (let alone 255's). But they were on national backorder for 3 months! I'm on OEM size.

callahan

I work at a car dearship so I was able to get them for 136.90 per tire plus I got a gps from continental. I believe list for them is 160 ea, keep in mind I'm talking about 255/40/17.

xpressobeans

Hey there guys, My TL is hiding out for the winter time but she will need new tires in the spring, I am going to do the 255/40/17 fatties since I cant seem to find a decent pair of Aspec or smoked out SType Rims. Here is the info my advisor gave me about the tires. He said it should be A-OK.

xpressobeans

Aaron, I have the same color and rims but with the aspec skirts. Can you tell me how those BFG's have been? I am currently on the stock size BFG KDWS but my car sits in the winter so i can go for a summer tire. I like the way the BFG looks on your car but have been hearing that the Conti DW is good too?

xpressobeans

Hey there , bow do you like the DWs? I am debating on them and two others.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Going to chime in once again and repeat an earlier post. Better do some research as that chart indicates the 235/45-17 is 25.3" tall, but that is not the correct height of the OE Michelin 235/45-17 as they are 25.6".
Also, the DWS, although section width is wide in a 255/40-17, the actual tread width at 8.5" is smaller than some 245/45-17's e.g. Yokohama S.4, Bridgestone 970 just to mention a few, but your choice.

JD TL-S

iTrader: (1)

How about 245/35/19 with 8.5" rims in front, and 275/30/19 with 9.5" rims in back. About the same height, but the back will have a lip 1" wider, and a tire thats also 1" wider.

Bearcat94

You can do that yourself here: http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp


BUT - read Turbonuts post; not all tires actually measure out right on the calculated size.


Also, in general you don't want wide tires in snow. The wider the tire, the more snow you plow. Especially MN winter. Narrower is the norm for winter tires.

ch1zo

iTrader: (1)

I'll be joining the group soon with 255/40/17 Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec

callahan

^ nice you'll love the new stance

ch1zo

iTrader: (1)

Yeah cause I'm currently running 245/45/17 with Hankook Ventus V12's, but I cant wait to see how these look with my 15mm H&R spacers as well. They already look decent on these tires, but 255 FTW!

ken08tls

Good info here!!!

Steve 21

Just received my 255/40ZR17 Continentals DWS!!! Going to get them installed in a little bit, can't wait.

(FYI)
They are on back order everywhere I found except I came across them at tirebuyer.com...with free shipping! The tires are brand new but they do look as if they have been thrown around a bit during storage. Thats the only problem I see is the scuff marks around the tires.

Julian G

amazing how much difference the tires make...

thanks for the info, great write up

i_love_cars

iTrader: (1)

wow.

So I've worked my way through every post in this thread over the past week or so and I think I've settled on tires, finally.

Would like to thank Inaccurate for starting the thread and all the contributions - I'm an engine guy and don't know jack about tires, wheels, suspension, etc. so this was pretty educational.

I'm definitely joining the 255/40/17 club. Found some Nitto NT555's for about $140 per. I'm in Wisconsin but have a separate set of wheels and snow tires so I wanted to have some fun with some pure summer tires that I could beat on.

thanks for all the info, people.

Dan Nguyen

+1

TL ROOKIE

+1.

Shoeface

Been browsing around for tires recently. I'm currently on some Falken ZE-912's on OEM rims, but they were on it when I bought the car so I'm not exactly sure how many miles are on them, or how they compare to other tires.

After doing some research, I'm pretty sold on the Conti DWS's, but not sure what size. 255/40-17 seems to be the way to go, but I haven't read the whole thread yet. I like the way they look on the OEM rims, and I don't have plans (or money) for new wheels anytime soon - probably because I have other plans for my car first!

Thanks for the write-up! I'll be reading this thread soon enough.

lsimmons

I just got Conti DW (not dws) 255/40/17 put on mine about 2 weeks ago. Loving them! Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread.

FCVadi

iTrader: (3)

Innacurate, how is the cornering been recently with 255? I saw on Swoosh thread you took that turn with no issues but wanted to make sure you were still using the 255s.. and which one are you using now?

the annoying part is you dont care about road noise wit your TL diet!!

So to the others using 255/40 what tires and your road noise experience?

and I agree with the others for winter stay at the 235, the DWS is the best i have driven for snow and icy/wet roads.. cant go wrong with that tire

Inaccurate

I switched to a different tire size since January 2009 (click here). I switched for my TL Diet.

Credit for my cornering is due to the lightweight and to the coilovers. When I recently installed my BC Racing coilovers, my cornering took a mega jump in improvement (grip wise). Before the coilovers, I would slide around that same turn that I mentioned with the Mustang. It would be a slow predictable slide but it was indicating that I was at my limit, traction wise. But after the coilovers, I can go MUCH faster before reaching my traction limit.


I don't know why the coilovers had such an improvement. Below is some possible reasons.

Before the coilovers, I had very little body roll. So, I rule that one out. But, I could be wrong and the much stiffer suspension is helping that much. I have my coilovers set at max stiffness in the front.

Before the coilovers, my suspension was sitting exactly one inch higher than oem in the front and rear. I think this is the reason for the improvement. I adjusted the coilovers to make my car sit at oem height. I think before the coilovers, I had compromised suspension geometry.

I installed new tires at the same time that I added the coilovers. I don't think this is the reason. I can tell from acceleration and braking limits that my old tires were offering the same level of grip as the new tires.

Greggsg

I missed what year the car is.... but if I remember correctly, '05 and earlier were part of the Honda odometer issue??? I think Honda changed the tolerances, but it "may" have given some people an additional 5% on the odemeter for their warrantee period.

subinf

Last set of tires experienced an abnormal amount of wear on the inside. I had the alignment check twice. Anyone else experience any uneven wear issues? I've put about 15k on the new tires and haven't noticed anything yet.

Inaccurate

^ As a side note, this condition can be specific to a brand/model of tire. Even with alignment within specs, some brands/models of tires exhibit weird wear patterns. I have stopped using some brands/models due to this reason.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Certainly would like to know the brands and models that exhibit inside tire wear, especially, as you state, with the toe and camber settings correct.

FCVadi

iTrader: (3)

wow, I am surprised that OEM height helped.. I am wondering though if it is because you are lighter.. if the car is heavier you want to be lower so there is less momentum pushing it up top or in the back.. wondering since your car is much lighter if increased height of the car balances out the top and bottom weight... just guessing.. trying to picture it in my head.. going to need to research this one.. wont change my future plans but I do love to be educated

its funny, I am on 235/45 right now and OEM height.. want to go 245 or 255 and 1" drop.. but I am not going to go light weight.. maybe lose about 100-150lbs but that is about it