My stock RE92 must go, just experienced a light snow storm that has me seriously questioning my safety on the road... anyway I really need to level the playing feild, lots of people have bashed certain tires for early wear and softside walls, I really just need a "decient" all season tire, i'm not very picky about brands etc but I don't want to buy total crap and or be replacing tires every 20-30k.... Heres what I'm thinking

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 225/50/27 -seems to be a love hate relationship (either people love the tire or hate it for early wear)

Continental ContiExtreme Contact 225/45/17 -not sure if going down to this size will be bad or not, but the calculator here http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp tells me that I should not put a 225/45/17 tire on my car... can someone shed some light?

Thanks !

00 Maxima SE 17" stock wheels +crumby RE92s on the car now

 

for 17's go w/ a 45 profile... 225/45 would be fine.

 

Has anyone heard negative feedback on the ContiExtreme Contact tires? I read a few good reviews and they do look like they would kick *** in the snow, thanks guys

 

Just got back from a little tire shopping - have a few more questions; both town fair tire and NTB suggested if I go with the Continentals I should go for the 235/45/17 -Any thoughts on that? Also, after talking w/ the guy @ NTB he suggested the BFG Gforce KDWS in the same 235/45/17 configurtion... So now I have yet another choice on the plate -He did mention that he heard the ContiExtreme was louder, but might handle better in the snow. TireRack seems to like the ContiExtreme more for snow giving the tire nothing less than 8's across the board, but the KDWS is lagging a bit in the snow collum w/ a 6...

I think I've narrowed my choices down to these two, as far as cost the BFs will run me a little more $175 each, or $150 give or take for the ContiExtreme

Now what???!!

Thanks guys

 

yea 45 series will be awsome, that is what i am running. The ride is better, and les chance of bending my rim

 

and then what about 235/45/17's on my stock wheel? both NTB and town fair suggested this if I want to run those Conti's anyone done something similar?

 

Taller? Maybe by a fraction of a millimeter:

235*0.45 = 105.75
265*0.40 = 106.00

Am I missing somthing?

BTW, I'm running 235/45/17s on 17x8. Stocks are 17x7 aren't they, which means 235/45 are too wide.

 

I wonder why NTB and townfair told me I could run 235/45 on my rim... so basically what are my options? I really really like that ContiExtreme tire and I really can't find a poor review on it. What am I sacrificing by running the 235/45???

Top, can you make a suggestion as to what tire make/model/size I should buy?

 

...also please excuse my n00bness but if a shorter side wall is really that bad, then why on earth would people run low profiles? and what do they gain/lose when doing so? please keep in mind that this car is not for the track and is really just my daily driver

 

I dont see whats wrong with a 45 profile? It meets up to all the tire calculators to be the closet stock sized tire w/ a 17" rim?

educate me.

 

my next question would be - will a 215/50 be a better choice? tire rack seems to think that with a 17x7 or a 17x7.5 inch rim I can go w/ the ContiExtreme... but this option only pops up when you go through their wheel/tire package selection tool, but the tire does not show up when I go to select a tire for my stock 17" rim based on my cars make model and year.... the stock Maxima 17" wheel is 7" wide correct?

 

Maybe I'll just go with the Continental specs for this tire...

http://www.conti-online.com/generato...tasheet_en.pdf

 

I've been using the Continental ContiExtreme Contact (235/45/17) on my stock 17" 2000 SE wheels for over a year and half (35,000 miles). I love them. Great in the snow and rain. Good performance. Good road noise. The best part is that you can get them for under $120 each.

 

35k miles? How much tread do you have left?

 

I don't have a depth guage, but I used the trusty penny this morning. I've got about 6/32 left.

 

I say for 17's go with 235/45 that should suit all your needs.

 

i have also been using conti extreme contacts 235/45/17 for a while now and they are great!! 235/45/17 is a way better tire than 225/50/17 (no matter what topelement says). a little wider and a little smaller profile= all around better handling! and it hardly affects the spedo!! cant go wrong. before the conti's i had Nokians that were also 235/45/17 and they were also great. never had a problem with them, as a matter of fact 235/45/17 came as a suggestion from TIRE EXPERTS.

 

Upstate, what kind of wear are you getting out of them? I've seen very low numbers, but if bcayot's measurement is right (and my math), he's on pace for 70k miles at the rate he's going, and a guy on another forum has 30k and expects another 20k w/ 235/45-17.

 

Here is the correct tire size for the 5 gen 17x7 rim (from teh 5th gen stickies that no one apparently reads)
What tire sizes besides 225/50R17 can I safely run on my OEM rims?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following tire sizes have been tested and found to fit and function properly on the OEM 17" x 7.0" rims:

225/45R17: This tire size is in spec on 7.0"-wide rims. It produces a speedometer error of 3.4%. This error slightly exceeds the recommended maximum speedometer error of 3.0%, but is close enough to be considered acceptable. Load ratings for this tire will normally be less than that of the 225/50R17 (load rating 93). Be certain that the tire you select has a load rating of 91 (1,356 pounds) or higher. This tire has a lower profile than the 225/50R17 and will therefore produce a less compliant ride and a wider fender gap than the 225/50R17.

235/50R17: This tire size is in spec on 7.0"-wide rims. It produces a speedometer error of 1.5%, well within the recommended maximum speedometer error of 3.0%. Load ratings for this tire will normally exceed that of the 225/50R17 (load rating 93) and should not be a factor in selecting tires of this size. This tire has a higher profile than the 225/50R17 and will therefore produce a more compliant ride and less fender gap than the 225/50R17. (Credit: exunaja.)

A number of org members run 235/45R17 and 245/45R17 tires on their OEM rims. Those who run these tires generally do so because of the much wider selection of high-performance tires available in these sizes. Unfortunately, no tire manufacturer will authorize the use of these tire sizes on 7.0"-wide rims. To date, however, no incidences of tire failure have been reported as a result of running these sizes on the OEM rims.

235/45R17: This tire size is NOT in spec on 7.0"-wide rims. (The minimum acceptable rim width for this tire size is 7.5".) It produces a speedometer error of 2.1%, well within the recommended maximum speedometer error of 3.0%. Load ratings for this tire will normally equal or exceed that of the 225/50R17 (load rating 93) and should not be a factor in selecting tires of this size. Watch for abnormal wear characteristics if you select a tire in this size.

245/45R17: This tire size is NOT in spec on 7.0"-wide rims. (The minimum acceptable rim width for this tire size is 7.5".) It produces a negligible speedometer error of 0.7%. Load ratings for this tire will normally exceed that of the 225/50R17 and should not be a factor in selecting tires of this size. Watch for abnormal wear characteristics if you select a tire in this size.

Running a tire with a minimum acceptable rim width greater than 7.5" and/or a load rating of less than 91 (1,356 pounds) is definitely unsafe and should be avoided.

 

I really hate the disparity here. I am looking to get new tires soon, probably the Falkein 512's and I really want the 235/45/17. My friend I work with (StevoReno007) has that size on his car and hasnt had any problems. I dont think he has put enough miles on them to really determine if there will be any issues treadwear, but it seems if you have spent any time on here people have been using them for years without any issues if that say something. But people like me...are the reason "a first time for everything" is said!!!

 

some good info on tire sizing. i had just found continental extreme contacts boxing week sale of 225/45/17 for $110.00 cdn about half what they normally cost. one thing these tires don't meet is the load rating, for this size they are 90. 235/45/17 are load rated at 93 and cost $214 cdn. damn.

 

In This Thread, Norm Peterson said that you can offset the load rating by increasing the tire pressure by 4-5 psi, but nobody co-signed this. If you can get someone to second norm's statement, then 225/45-17 may work.

 

i am running 225/45 17 toyo proxes4 with no problem. they handle great. I am running them at 40 PSI. I was going to get 235/45 17 but this size would give more sidewall squish then I like.

 

sorry about the delayed response... i am getting good tread wear. i had 235/45/17 Nokian snow tires on the car for two years.. and they were snow tires... the summer really did a number on them, just got lazy and never replaced them in the summer. i put the Conti Extreme Contacts on in the fall so not much to report yet.

 

I am running 235/45/17 on my stock wheels for 2 years now and I have ran into no problems...

 

Load rating for cars assumes you're fully loading the car with luggage and passengers (whatever the full load capacity is... usually several hundred pounds). I've never bothered to check because I've never needed to, but I'm not sure if the full load capacity of the car assumes you will pump up the tires to max PSI, which is what the load rating for the tires assumes (A tire rated to carry 1000 lbs can only carry that at max PSI, not less). I'm going to guess NOT, just because manufactures usually "idiot-proof" the usage of their cars.

It should be perfectly okay to use a lower load rated tire even at OEM pressure settings as long as you don't carry close to a full load. Pumping a few PSI more should compensate and let you go full load OK, but how much more you'll have to consult a tire pro, as I believe they have charts to help figure this out based on comparing old/new load ratings and PSI. Whatever they suggest to you becomes your new minimum PSI.

I'm not in the tire industry, so this is my disclaimer. That's just how I understand it though, and I would feel comfortable doing this myself, as long as the load ratings aren't radically different.

 

I've used 235/45-17 (michelin pilot sport A/S) on stock 17x7.0" wheels and while the tires have performed decently, I've never felt perfectly OK with them. They felt a little "squirmish" right out of the tire shop. They've worn funny too, at least my mechanic noticed... one of them has a lot of "hop" to it, but it could have been from me driving on a bent wheel for a while. I'm ready to replace them.

 

it also depends on what tire you get... as i have said one hundred times i have had two sets of 235/45/17's on my car on stock 17x7's with no problems, even wear, balanced, and A LOT more solid than the stock 225/50/17's. the first set were Nokian Hakawhatevers, and now Conti Extreme Contacts. if you notice almost everyone that has put 235/45/17's on there car has liked them, a few have bad things to say, however, possibly you just got bad tires, the same thing can happen on stock 225/50/17.

 

i just noticed that topelement just said in another thread that a 245/40/18 would be ok on a 7.5" rim, when you just said that a 235 tire on a 8" rim would not be good?

not very consistant....

 

I had the same questions and best way to figure it out is to compare each size in a chart like this:::

wall height in mm
----40---45---50----55----60

215 86 96.75 107.5 118.25 129

225 90 101.25 112.5 123.75 135

235 94 105.75 117.5 129.25 141

245 98 110.25 122.5 134.75 147

255 102 114.75 127.5 140.25

265 104 119.25 132.5
^
Tire with in mm

 

I have 17" wheels off an '04 3.5L V6 altima and the stock wheel size is 215/55/17 meaning the wall is 118.25mm tall.
for my next tires i want to try a smaller wall hieght such as
225/45/17 or 215/50/17, I'm thinkin the 101.25mm might be a little small
anyone have any input??

I was also considering a 235/45/17 but i need them to be good in the snow, do you think 235 is getting too wide?

I'm also lookin to get the Conti's they look very aggressive::