225/45 on stock wheels
 

I'm looking to upgrade the tires on the stock wheels and I'm trying to determine if I can go to 225/45 to get a bit more tire with creating a bunch of sidewall flex. While I've searched the topic, I don't feel like I saw a conclusive answer. Car is mostly a daily so I value steering feel over absolute grip. I'm looking at some of the bfg comps as I hear they have a stiff sidewall. I'm open to other suggestions on tires with minimal sidewall flex. Ill do 215/45 if that's the best solution, but there are more tires available in 225/45.

Depends on the tire but if you go with a Dunlop ZII, BFG Rival, or Hankook RS3 there isn't a whole lot in lost steering feel.

Is that due to their stiff sidewalls?

You could just go with a high end 215/45. Most of them are a lot wider than the stock tires without the 225 xl load rating penalty. I'm going to try 215/40 ad07s myself. Get some gearing advantage and a much wider contact patch. Nice low weight and super stuff sidewalls. It'll prob be a rough ride and look a little odd though.

I've compared some of the tires widths on tire rack to the stock michelins. While the overall width is the same for most of the high performance tires I've been considering, the tread width it larger on all the others Michelin PSS, bfg comps, ziis, etc.....

I'm assuming that's better real world width as far as contact patch

There's TONS of good tires available in 215/45/17... every tire I looked at in 225/45/17 and 245/40/17 also came in 215/45/17.

Rivals, Ecsta XS, Z2's, RS3's, PSS, etc are all available in 215/45's.

which brands are known for stiffer sidwalls?

I can comment that the BFGoodrich KDW 2 has very stiff sidewalls.

It's not so much brands, it's specific tire models that are stiffer.

I'm looking seriously at the Michelin PSS, BFG sport comp2 and Dunlop ZII. Thoughts on sidewall stiffness?