Wider tire on stock rim..pics
 

This isn't exciting or anything but...

I did not like the noise, ride, or narrow look of the stock tires so I did a little research and found what I wanted.

Hankook Ventus v12 evo - numerically the same values as stock but the physical dimensions are much more appealing. Overall height appears to be identical to the stock tires but the contact patch/width is about 3/4" wider. The tire looks more square. I just installed them today so I don't have much road time but just the feel at cruising is much better. The pressure needs to stay between 35-38 psi cold, otherwise it gets too rubbery and unsettled. Forward grip has improved dramatically(harder to spin) but I have not been able to test much with lateral grip besides side-to-side motion on the road.

Ignore the black shavings..had to peel the plasti dip off my rims since it was damaged during install...pita

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b7...703_185614.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b7...703_180953.jpg

? re: comparion pix
 

Thanks for the post and pix. 2 questions... in the side-by-side pix, is the OEM tire on left mounted (on a wheel)? 2) I'm guessing the OEM tire shown doesn't have any weight on it (from car) - right?

What tire size? 215 or 225

I doubt it's 215. Then it would defeat the purpose of having "wider" tires lol. Those look at least 225.

He mentions " numerically the same values as stock" so I'm guessing still 215

Depends on the make too, I've had 215/45 Michelins in the past and 215/45 Bridgestone RE002 on a 8" wheel and the Mich were stretched and the RE002 looked liked a track tire

actual width varies brand to brand. Kind of annoying but often more sport orientated tires are pretty generous on there sizing numbers.

Use the Tire Rack's web site; they list tread widths for most tires.

215/45-17 seem to range from about 7.4-8.4 inches, although section width is the same for all (8.5 inches, IIRC).

My 205/50/17 snows are physically wider than the stock 215/45/17's by a few mm, and my 225/45 Z2's are MUCH wider than stock, more like an inch.

This was taken from my old forum VipStyleCars.com credit goes to them
SMALL:

• Falken ST115
• Falken ZE-512
• Falken FK451 (D)
• Fuzion ZRi
• Venezia Crusade
• Nankang NS-II

TRUE:

• Nitto 555 Extreme
• Michelin Pilot Sport
• Dunlop SP Sport
• Hankook 104
• Toyo T1S
• Toyo Proxy 4
• Yokohama S.Drive
• Avon Tech M500
• Nitto Neo テク Gen
• Ultrac Giugiaro
• Nexen N3000
• Dunlop Sportmaxx
• Achilles ATR Sport
• Bridgestone RE050A Run Flat

LARGE:

• Continental Contisport
• BF Goodrich g-Force KDW
• General UHP
• Bridgestone S03
• Kumho SPT
• Federal ss595
• Pirelli P-Zero Line
• Goodyear F1 Line
• Falken FK452
• Cooper Zeon 2XS
• Kumho Ecsta Supra 712
• Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta
• Proxes T1R
• Wanli S-1099
• Nitto Invo
• Wanli S-1088
• Marshall Power Racer
• Kumho Ecsta AST
• Potenza RE-11

Sorry for the slow response.


The oem tire on the left is not on a rim. But, I did have them sided by side in the shop(both mounted and not on the car) and it appeared to look the same as in this pic. The Hankook is definitely wider.

They are 215

I agree. That's why I went with stock size because I knew it would be physically wider.

From what I could tell the new tires are a tiny bit shorter in appearance. I used 2 different gps before and after install and now it seems I'm going a mph slower(at 65) than what the speedo says...which is fine.