upsizing my Lesabre's tires?

[Need For Steve]

the Buick will be getting a new set of rubbers here soon, and i'd like to go with a slightly wider size than the stock 205's. i've been thinking 225 or 235. something to "mean" the stance up a bit, and put a little more rubber on the road. thing is, i'm not quite sure how wide is "too wide" or if a wider size will adversely affect my handling or anything else. anyone have a suggestion for a good tire size to increase the contact patch but not over-do it?

i also can't decide if i wanna stick with white walls and hubcaps, or if i wanna ditch the hubcaps for interceptor style center caps and go with white letters...any opinions?

[willwren]

We need to know the factory size and width of your wheels.

15"? 16" diameter?

What's the bead-bead width? Is it the same as Bonneville 16's or not? Critical questions to be able to help you.

[LeSabreUltra]

Stock LeSabre wheels with hubcaps are 15".
.
.
.

[Jrs3800]

I think they are 205/70-15 stock

If you keep the 15's go with some 215/65-15

If you go up to a 16" I'd say 225/60 16... With these you speedo error may be a tad better than 1 Mph at 60 MPH iirc...

[willwren]

Going to 16" H body wheels, you can go up to 255 (some rubbing possible) or 245 safely (I run these on the Zilla) and I run 235 on the SLEeper.

[ChilinMichael]

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

Tire size calculator if you decide to up the wheel size, you can use this to calculate how far off (if any) your speedometer will be off.

[Need For Steve]

Ultra's right, i have the 15" x 6"? steelies. according to that calculator, 235/60/15's would almost match the stock size exactly...sweet

[harofreak00]

Except thats not a very popular size at all. Tirerack only shows 3 options available in all-seasons.

Find some cheap 16" rims and put some 225/60R16's on them.

[willwren]

That width is pushing it on 6" wheels.

[xX3800Xx]

215/65/15 would be a fine size. You could also run some 225/60/15. If you go to 16" you can go 225/60/16, 235/55/16, 245/50/16. I have run all of those sizes on my car.

Specification Sidewall Radius Diameter Circumference Revs/Mile Difference
205/70-15 5.6in 13.1in 26.3in 82.6in 767 0.0%

225/60-15 5.3in 12.8in 25.6in 80.5in 787 -2.5%

235/60-15 5.6in 13.1in 26.1in 82.0in 773 -0.7%

215/65-15 5.5in 13.0in 26.0in 81.7in 776 -1.1%

225/60-16 5.3in 13.3in 26.6in 83.7in 757 1.3%

235/55-16 5.1in 13.1in 26.2in 82.2in 770 -0.5%

245/50-16 4.8in 12.8in 25.6in 80.6in 786 -2.5%

[spydog]

i had a set of 235/70r16 on my 1998 sle bonneville

[willwren]

Spydog, the topic author has 15" wheels, not 16. And 6" wide at the bead, not 7 like ours.

[Need For Steve]

so i'm thinking i'm just gonna stick with the stock size, and pay for quality, not just a wider tire.

here are my options. i've never bought tires before and am completely lost lol. what do you guys recommend for a good all season/summer tire? usual driving conditions are summer and rain, my car hardly ever sees snow...


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearc ... ireIndex=0

**sorry about the thread-whoring lol. didn't know if this would completely randomize the topic of this thread or not**

[repinS]

i had a set of 235/70r16 on my 1998 sle bonneville

That's a way wrong tire size to run on a Bonneville.

How much are you looking to spend, Steve?

[Need For Steve]

repinS, i'm not lookin' to spend no more than $500 for the set, mounted and balanced. the two i've liked most so far are Pirelli P4's and a set of Michelins...

[repinS]

The P4 sound like a good bet. Yokohama Avid TRZ might be another option, they're cheaper. Buddy has a set on his Camry, VERY quiet and the traction is decent.

Which Michelin?

[Jrs3800]

so i'm thinking i'm just gonna stick with the stock size, and pay for quality, not just a wider tire.

here are my options. i've never bought tires before and am completely lost lol. what do you guys recommend for a good all season/summer tire? usual driving conditions are summer and rain, my car hardly ever sees snow...


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearc ... ireIndex=0

**sorry about the thread-whoring lol. didn't know if this would completely randomize the topic of this thread or not**

Get the 215 65 R15

This size will be the best mix of both worlds

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

repinS, i'm not lookin' to spend no more than $500 for the set, mounted and balanced. the two i've liked most so far are Pirelli P4's and a set of Michelins...

I've had a set of Pirelli P4's in 205/70-15 on my car for the past ~40k miles. LOVE them! They grip very well in the dry, and equally as well in the wet. They have good snow traction for an all-season, as I found out when in Buffalo, NY over Christmas the past few years. The handling is very good, much better than cheaper all-seasons. They're about half-worn right now, so I figure on a 60-70k mile lifespan. They're sensitive to air pressure, and get very mushy and squirmy at less than 35 PSI. They are also fairly noisy, but I like the tires telling me how wet/dry the road is.