so, I have been spying over the fence at my neighbor...errrr.... I mean tire racks website... and I am pretty frustrated at the findings for tires in the outies size... as a matter of fact, I found only one.
and I really am not that interested in getting another set of those crappy crapyears...
however here is what I am thinking, and you guys tell me what you think... honest opinions, in both speedo readings, fuel mileage, and in ride quality...

I am thinking of making a huge step, and dropping to 225/40/18s.... I know it sounds like a lot just mull it over, and tell me whay you thinks...

 

oh, and yes, the speedo would be off, but off in my favor... by that I mean, if the speedo were reading 65, I would actually be going 63... not that huge of a diffrence... not to mention, according to tire rack, the overall diameter of most of the 40 series tires were 25.3 inches, while, my outie is right now, after setting pressure at all four tires to the recommended 32lbs/inch is a little less than 26.5 (my tape says 26 3/8ths)

so.... fire away guys, and tell me what you think...

 

I recently changed from the 215/55/18 to 225/55/18s. I think there are more choices in that particular range. I changed to the Continental CrossContact UHPs.

Hope that helped.

Cheers!

 

Are your tires worn out?

I'm curious what kind of life to expect out of them.. The Brigestones on my VUE only lasted about 28K before they were scary..and that was an even stranger size..it was the same tires, or some really expensive Goodyears or Michelins..Luckily, Kumho came out with some good tires at a great price

 

That would be a 10% reduction in Diameter from the stock 225/55R18. That's huge. You might want to consider something like a 235/50R18. That isonly about 1.5% different from thestock 225/55R18 with a much larger selection.

Don't blame Tire Rack. Blame Mitsubishi for specifying a very rare size of tire for the vehicle.

 

here is a neat calculator....

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

I just got my XLS wednesday...really happy about it so far ...but for the tire I will probably look for 245-50-18...much more common..but will probably need to find wider rims...

 

That is a kick *** site. I wish that was around when I was shopping for tires for my chevelle. Bookmarked.

 

I switched from the stock Goodyear 225-55-R18 tires to the Bridgestone HL Alenza tires in a 235-55-R18. I did this swap about 4 days after getting my Outie. The newer tires have proven to have better traction and GREAT wet handling. Also they are very quiet. I am pleased with the decision to switch.

 

Watch when changing OD (overall diameter) with the Gen 1. (unsure of gen 2)

I changed to off-road rubber, and this means that the car has to get more speed up when taking off before it gets into the torquey range of revs.

Probably not a big problem for you racer types (LOL) but something to ponder.......

I managed to get 88000Km's out of the original rubber supplied in Oz, which I think were goodyear Wranglers. (215/60 R16's)

The Kumho AT offroad rubber I have now lasted around 80000Km's before the tread depth is no longer legal. Andbelieve me, the outsides of the tread is where the most wear is due to hard bitumen cornering!


[IMG]local://upfiles/14107/E9CE6FE3B9C04147A524134B26A207C8.jpg[/IMG]

 

thats a good site, http://www.rims-n-tires.com/rt_specs.jsp < i like that one though