Tires

meeker

I am in need of new rubber for my 2003 Saab 9-3. The Kumho All-Seasons it had when I bought it are 215/55/R16. I use a set of Blizzaks for winters but I need to know how much I can change my size and still fit on my rims and not lose handling or increase wear.

What does a lower profile do to handling? What range can I move to for width and still fit on my rims?

I am looking at the following:

Kumho Ecsta SPT 225/50R 16

and

Yokohama S. Drive 225/50R16

RUNN1NGMAN

Lower profile tires give you a more-responsive, but rougher, ride. They also are generally "performance" tires so they have a type of tread that gives good traction on dry asphalt but poor traction on wet asphalt.

Pretty sure if you want lower profile tires than stock, you need to buy new rims. Otherwise you're changing the tire circumference and your speedometer and odometer will be off.

L Ron Howard

You can usually fit a bunch of different sizes on your rims. There isn't so much of a set width, mostly on how it fits. Meaning for 16 inch wheels, you're most likely going to go anywhere from 200 to 260 mm in width; though 225 is the most common dimension for 16 inch diameter rims.

Low profiling helps you car corner better, but it's not recommended unless you want to look cool - on the streets anyway. Tires absorb a bunch of the shock from hitting things like cracks and potholes in the roads. If you have a low profile tire, you've got a lot less to absorb it. You'll feel it in your ride. There's also a much higher chance of you bending the rims when you do hit things. If you change the diameter of your tires, and not your rims to stay withing a certain overall radius, you'll also screw up your speedometer and odometer.

I don't have any personal experience with either of those two tires. Well, sorta. I had some old Kumho Ecstas on one of my old rides. They're not too bad for the money you pay for them. Unfortunately, they're made for desert-like places, as their driveability in wetness, such as rain or snow, is terrible. They'll do, but you're certainly going to have problems getting going and stopping in in any form of precipitation. I had the all-season versions of those, of course. I can only imagine how much worse the summer-only tires would be like.
However, I see that you linked to Tirerack. They have reviews there on all of their tires. I'd recommend you take a look at that. Just remember that people view that, and have all sorts of weird ways of judging tires. People will drive them for 50 miles, not even break them in, and call the tires junk. Or, as you'll see most often, people will say they're above average tires, when in fact they aren't. If you compare all of the summer-only tires, looking at how people have rated them statistically, they all rank 7-9, because it's all based on "feel" and how people think tires should "feel" at times. Keep that in mind, but also realize that there isn't much of a better indicator out there.

firewaterword

Keep in mind low-pro ultra high performance tires don't last as long as general use ones. They're fantastic to drive on though! But you'll pay for them. I just bought 2 new Falken FK452s for my G35, and it was about $450. So yeah.

meeker

Thanks for the advice. I ran Performance summers and winters for years on my old Saab before it was totaled, but the tires I bought I just matched to the stated rim size. The trade off with summers and Winters is you spread the longevity between 8 tires instead of 4. I lasted 4 summers on my old Yokohamas. I just didn't know how far I could adjust my tire sizing and still fit and not have a change in handling.