It is time to change the stock tires on my 2001 Maxima GXE. I am happy with the current tire performance (Dunlop SP Sport 5000, very sticky).

I wanted to change the 15" steels to 16" alloys with 215/55/16 tires. However, my wife definitely hates low profile tires. So I am stuck with 15" wheels. I would like to upgrade the current 205/65/15 tires to 215/60/15, but heard people say it will make the handling sloppy.

Anyone has any experience here? What do you feel about the new Dunlop Sport A2's

Yuan

 

Get 17s and tell her to take the bus

 

easier said than done

 

Or maybe you can try the "Honey they are 15s they look bigger because I cleaned the rims and shined the tires" I say get 16's and the Sport A2s and the ride comfort level will be just about the same. as long as you stay away fro the max performance stuff. My friend has th D60 A2s and the ride is great on 15s.

 

guess i'm lucky...my wife wants for me to get bigger rims/lower profile tires. thus, i'm getting 19's. however, 17's aren't that low profile. tell her it's standard on the 2k2 max...beg...plead.

 

215/55/16 is a low profile????

I can float down the river on one of those.

 

with good tires, you won't find too much difference between 15" wheels and 16" wheels.

 

I agree. My current Dunlop Sport 5000 205/65/15's are very good. There must a reason why they are rated Ultra High Performance All-Season. But I feel I can use somewhat wider tires when doing hard starts. 205's are too skinny.

What about the handling of 215/60/15's (plus 0)? I am a little concerned here.

Yuan

 

So what will she tell me in the bedroom? :-)

 

what psi do you set your tires at? i have sport 5000 too same size

 

How many rivers you got there in Phoenix? I had to drive miles to find any sizeable water when I was living in Tucson.

 

33-34 psi all around. Could even use higher psi, I guess.

 

do you think they last long?? / how many miles do u have on it now? I got about 20000km

 

We have the Salt River Recreation center. It's more of a stream I guess, but people go tubing there.

 

this is grounds for divorce

 

I drive pretty aggressively, e.g., high speed (40mph) street cornering, etc. So far I got 33K on them. Still have some tread left for another 5-10k.

But they do wear very unevenly. I guess part of the reason is my aggressive cornering wearing down the inside much more than outside edges. Another problem is they are rather unstable in the snow, like an elephant on marbles (I guess good for circus shows :-).

 

I got 33K so far. I think the tread still has about 5-10K left. The wear is rather uneven though, due to hard cornering, I guess.

 

The Dunlop D60 A2 is a great tire, I have them in P215/60/R15. I drove my friend's '94 Max with Sport A2's, also a very good tire. I'm probably going to replace them before the snow comes, they're getting pretty worn with at least 30k miles on them...

 

15's????? WOW!!

And you want to go up to 16's???


I didn't think "real" cars came with tires that small anymore.


One...Jas

 

I concur. Is it your car or the wife's car? 15" to 16"? She won't even be able to tell the difference.

I don't let my girl drive the Max, even if she could drive manual.

 

Hang on here EVERYONE!!!!!

We need to find out:

1. What she hates about them? Appearance? Ride quality?

2. How 'low' is meant by 'low profile'? 50's? 35's?

3. How much you really want to keep the whiner around?

 

Dude..... read his post again. A 16" tire is considered low profile!!!!!

 

Not true!! If that were the case, the whiner would complain about big wheels. Low profile is sidewall, period.

Either we all have read this wrong or the chick doesn't even know what she is *****ing about!!

 

I vote for the latter.

 

Well, she takes care of our two kids and me. She also makes decent money to support my current expensive part-time schooling. I guess I will keep her happy and her butt soft and smooth for a long while. :-)

 

How is the handling of 215/60/15 compared to the stock 205/65/15, which is smooth IMHO.

 

OK, OK, j/k on #3.

But what really is her answer to 1. and 2. ?

 

A wider tire almost always means better handling because of the increased surface area in contact with the ground. Of course, this can also mean decreased fuel economy, but I still break 30mpg regularly, even with 155k miles on the car. The 205-65-R15 Yokohamas that came with the car were great, but we upgraded to a 215-60-R15 Yokohama tire when the originals wore out. For a while we had 215-60-R15's Yokohamas on the Sable wagon, it took corners well for a heavy car
______________________
'96 Maxima GXE Automatic
155,530 miles and climbing...

 

I guess she does not like anything other than a supply smooth ride. I used to have 185/60/14 on my '96 Civic. She thought it was too rough.

 

Guess it's time to take the Max to a Caddy dealer....

Seriously though...if you explain that a Max will NEVER be a boulevard cruiser that floats down the road it might help you out. Personally I am riding on 225 55 17's for the very reason that I prefer some more flex on bad Houston roads, so I can see her point...

I still don't understand how people would think the upgrade you considered would be 'sloppy'....

 

Unacceptable. Explain to her that a man must have rims no smaller than 17"