mtnsubie Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 eh, fellas. i am really thinking of stepping up to 18s from my stock 16 on my legacy 2.5i. but i'm hesistant with the stories i hear of ruptured tires from potholes, the rougher ride, decreased mpg, speedo error. then there's the thieves that become interested in cars that are customized too. they suddenly think there's more goodies on the inside if the outside looks so good. but damn, do these cars look sweet with the 18s! what have been some of your bad experiences out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklin Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 I'm waiting on delivery of some replacement wheels. I bought 17" x7.5" . Thought about 18" they do look sharp but in the frost belt potholes could kill you quick. The tires that match up for 18" would be 225-40-18" saw them on a car at my work. The sidewall was real short. Concerned about a nasty ride and being too easy to nuke a rim on a pothole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepFreeze2 Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 I went with 18's on my LGT (up from 17's stock), and I had the same concerns. However, I found the tires I chose (Falken 512's in 225/40/18) improved the ride and steering response over the stock wheel/tire combo. And the sidewall on the stock tires wasn't that tall to begin with, so I took the plunge. Btw, if you decide to upgrade, I would recommend the "tire replacement/road hazard" plan if it's available. YA RLY!!! Home of +2500 useless posts!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmanus88 Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 be sure you are an experienced driver i regret getting new PIAA spor tmesh 18's on my ride jsut when i starte dout driving, because first 2-3 weeks are always bumpy. i have curb rash on 3/4 of my rims. i new i shouldve waited on the stock 17s...oh well. at least i learned something . as for ride quality, yes u will be susceptible do damage moreso than anything smaller, but you will also be forced to change your tires from stock to something (hopefully) a lot better, which improvs ride quality overall. i think it is worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripod Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 The tires that match up for 18" would be 225-40-18" saw them on a car at my work. Actually 215/40/18's match up size for size the closest to LGT's stock 17's according to all the tire calculators. 225's would be a touch wider, but also taller. For the original poster. I don't know if I'd worry about theives on 18's. Nowadays, they punk/thugs that steal wheels won't look at anything smaller than 20's. Since you own a 2.5i, I'd just get a nice 17x7.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al-gorithm Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Actually 215/40/18's match up size for size the closest to LGT's stock 17's according to all the tire calculators. 225's would be a touch wider, but also taller. For the original poster. I don't know if I'd worry about theives on 18's. Nowadays, they punk/thugs that steal wheels won't look at anything smaller than 20's. Since you own a 2.5i, I'd just get a nice 17x7.5 Check out Keefe's sticky in this forum and you will see some reasons for choosing that tire size. I believe Keefe had maintaining OE diameter to keep the speedo in check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklin Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Actually 215/40/18's match up size for size the closest to LGT's stock 17's according to all the tire calculators. 225's would be a touch wider, but also taller. For the original poster. I don't know if I'd worry about theives on 18's. Nowadays, they punk/thugs that steal wheels won't look at anything smaller than 20's. Since you own a 2.5i, I'd just get a nice 17x7.5 The 215/40 /18's would have even a shorter sidewall. The concern I had when I saw the friends car was that with the sidewall this short it would be way too easy to damage a rim when you encounter a nasty pothole. Here in the N/E even being carefull it does happen. Stock 17's made it thru the winter w/o problems I did not want to push my luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 I have 225/40/18's on Prodrive P1's and have zero issues even after driving in downtown DC (pothole city). Sometimes, lighter wheels are not the best choice for street driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illt3ck Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Downside of owning oversized wheels? I can only fit 4 other girls in my car at once!~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripod Posted June 28, 2005 Share Posted June 28, 2005 Check out Keefe's sticky in this forum and you will see some reasons for choosing that tire size. I believe Keefe had maintaining OE diameter to keep the speedo in check. 215's make it about .2 inches taller already. 225's are taller yet and only a smidge wider. I also compared stock with 215/40/18's side by side and the 215/40/18's are indeed only a smidge taller. I've driven my car REALLY hard with the 215/40/18's and have ZERO issue. I've also checked the speedo to tach on both and they are so close in size that the speedo matches up perfectly. If you want a slightly beefier (and heavier) tire like the 225/40/18's by all means go for it. But I was just correcting that 215/40/18's are the closest to the stock tire/wheels overall diameter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fzanetti Posted June 28, 2005 Share Posted June 28, 2005 Not sure if everybody knows, but here's the formula/values: Example: 215x40x18 width x height x diameter 215 is measured in milimeters, so 21, 5 cm 40 is measured in percentage of the width, so 40% of 215 is 86 mm of height or 8,6 cm. 18 is measured in inches so for 1 inch= 2.56 cm = 45,72 cm of diameter. Not sure why they mixed Metric with English units, but this is how you calculate them!!! ;-) Good resources: http://www.yokohamatire.com/utperf.asp http://www.web-cars.com/math/tiresize.html http://www.car-videos.com/info/tirespecs.asp Cheers, Flavio Zanetti Boston, MA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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