All season tire advice

celeron_266

Hello all,

Background - my car is an 2007 BMW 323i, tire size 205/55R16, 55000km and needs a tire change, all seasons with good wet traction, ideal if it has some capabilities in light snow, V-speed or higher

I will be ordering tires through tire rack and pick up myself at the border
I do not want run flats

Past tire experience (on other cars)
1.  Pilot sport (summer) - awesome tires, love it
2.  Bridgestone Turanzas (Run flats/non-run flats) - loud tires, reasonable traction
3.  Dunlop signature - similar to bridgestones in terms of traction, but significantly quieter
4.  Falken 912 - quiet, good dry traction, but sucks in rain/snow

After some research, I find the following to be pretty good options
1.  Continental ExtremeContact DWS
2.  Goodyear Eagle GT
3.  Hankook Ventus V4 es H105
4.  Kumho Ecsta ASX KU21

I understand that the korean tires (kumho/hankook) are at a completely different price point compared to the Goodyear/continental, I actually am not sure if the extra $20/tire will give me a significant difference in terms of performance.

So...which one should I go for?...or should I consider something else?

thanks in advance!!

celeron_266

Lik: i wish i have cash to get a set of nice BBS for summer tires...sadly i dont have the money yet....
one interesting thing - i was doing some calculations regarding final price of the tire+installation if i do it here in canada compared to getting the tires from tirerack, ship to blaine, pay tax+duty, and find a place to install it....the price difference is actually only about 80 dollars...thats why i am debating if i should just get the tires here in canada.....

spoonek4:  yea this one...i will look into the toyos as well then...seems that its only slightly cheaper than the continentals...

one more question:  the wheels that i have right now are 7Jx16 and stock tire dimension is 205 55R16, i am wondering if it is possible to change the tire dimension to 225 50R16 and how much handling improvement i will see?

thanks!!

celeron_266

sadly i dont even have cash for OZs or enkeis....
i got a quote from a neighbourhood tire store for the DWS - 757 dollars everything included

if i get from tirerack
$106/tire = $424 for four
$56.40 shipping
$59.24 HST
$29.68 duty
Fee for the place at Blaine ~ $20
Installation ~ $80 for four tires
Total ~ $670

so yea...$80 dollar saving....

(I was looking at the tirerack quote if i make them to ship all the way to canada...tirerack will charge the tire levy [$20]...so i am not sure if CBSA will charge it as well)

celeron_266

the duty depends on the origin of the product i think...if the product is made in certain countries...there will be no duty..

ummm...$110 cheaper eh?...maybe i should consider that...

still need to find out if 225/50R16 tires will fit my 7Jx16 wheels nei...

thanks!!!

celeron_266

7Jx16 wheels with 205/55/16 tires (323i no sport package)


7Jx16 wheels with 225/50/16 tires (323i sport package)


i guess pretty hard to see the oversize tire bulging at this view...

celeron_266

quoting from http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg4.html

A rim that is too narrow in relation to the tyre width will allow the tyre to distort excessively sideways under fast cornering. On the other hand, unduly wide rims on an ordinary car tend to give rather a harsh ride because the sidewalls have not got enough curvature to make them flex over bumps and potholes.

so mr. lik i think you are correct, the distortion of the tires basically cancels the positive effect of the increased footprint from the wider tires, resulting in no increase in cornering ability....

celeron_266

i am starting to think with all these precision analyses...they may apply to racing conditions...but everyday use..even with spirited driving style...it wont really make a difference....

celeron_266

Minor correction here:

When you go with a wider tire on the same car, the contact patch doesn't ne ...
Lik 發表於 2011-7-16 21:26

    this probably applies to when there is equal sidewall support for both tire widths, but like you said in a previous post, i only have one set of tires (7Jx16), and putting 225mm tires into 7in wheels will reduce sidewall support for a bit, resulting in tire deformation during turning, how will this counteract the increased lateral acceleration provided from the wider tires?