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I've seen a lot of negative information on the internet on these kind of tires:they're bad on snow and ice, wear out faster, ride rougher, etc. Is it feasable to buy a car with these tires, buy smaller rims and put standard tires on the car.
You'd have to be nuts to own them where I live, I cant imagine how many flats and smashed rims people get.
There is no reason you can't switch, check the original specs on the car. I did the same thing on my car but switched 17's to 18's, these were factory rims though. The original rims were slightly damaged from original owner and I really needed four tires all the way around. I was able to get the rims really cheap on CL and it was actually legit deal. Overall the tire size was nearly identical side by side and they aren't super low profile tires either.
I've seen a lot of negative information on the internet on these kind of tires:they're bad on snow and ice, wear out faster, ride rougher, etc. Is it feasable to buy a car with these tires, buy smaller rims and put standard tires on the car.
It's not specifically low profile tires that are bad. Depending on the what the tire is designed to do, they may not meet your expectation.
Low profile tires are available in many performance specifications including:
- high performance summer tires which handle very well, wear quickly due to soft compound, and are awful in the snow and temps below 40F
- grand touring all season tires which handle adequately, last longer due to harder compound, and are a compromise
- dedicated snow tires which handle snow and ice, handle adequately in dry conditions and poorly over 40F, and are usually noisy.
If you have to drive in all types of weather, then pick the proper tool.
I've seen a lot of negative information on the internet on these kind of tires:they're bad on snow and ice, wear out faster, ride rougher, etc. Is it feasable to buy a car with these tires, buy smaller rims and put standard tires on the car.
As long as the new wheels can fit over the brakes and you maintain the same overall diameter (wheel + tire), then it shouldn't be a problem.
I've seen a lot of negative information on the internet on these kind of tires:they're bad on snow and ice, wear out faster, ride rougher, etc. Is it feasable to buy a car with these tires, buy smaller rims and put standard tires on the car.
Define "low," please.
I have a Tacoma X-Runner, a sport truck, so cool factor is split with utility I must say.
Stock wheels are 18", stock tire size 255/45/ZR18. I put 20" wheels on it, just for grins, and current Cooper tires are 245/45/20. I thought the previous Falkens, 40 vs. 45, were a bit on the low side. Those were summer tires pretty much, the Coopers are highly-rated all-seasons.
You can play all sorts of games with rims and tires, using an online calculator of some kind to determine if the absolute diameter of both changes much from the stock geometry. Messing with ride height, wheel weight, and wheel diameter including tires affects the vehicles's stability in some fashion.
I've seen a lot of negative information on the internet on these kind of tires:they're bad on snow and ice, wear out faster, ride rougher, etc. Is it feasable to buy a car with these tires, buy smaller rims and put standard tires on the car.
If youre buying used, and the dealer has a few of the same car on the lot, you might be able to get them to switch the wheels to a set with more meat on the tires. (if the wheels fit over the brakes.)
Otherwise, your only concern should be where youre driving the car. If youre in an area with alot of potholes and bad roads, then yes you should switch.
Your best bet is if you live in a bad area, just dont buy the car with low profiles on them.
Also dont buy low profile if you dont want road feel, they can be rough sometimes.
Low profile is usually defined as a tire with a sidewall aspect ratio of 50 or less. So a 255/45/18 would be a low-profile tire technically.
Many OEM's come factory with such tires and drive perfectly fine. My vehicle has factory 19" wheels and rides very well. I have all-seasons on the car, currently have 30K miles on the tires (and plenty of tread-life left) and drove in this past weekends snowstorm perfectly fine.
It's not specifically low profile tires that are bad. Depending on the what the tire is designed to do, they may not meet your expectation.
Low profile tires are available in many performance specifications including:
- high performance summer tires which handle very well, wear quickly due to soft compound, and are awful in the snow and temps below 40F
- grand touring all season tires which handle adequately, last longer due to harder compound, and are a compromise
- dedicated snow tires which handle snow and ice, handle adequately in dry conditions and poorly over 40F, and are usually noisy.
If you have to drive in all types of weather, then pick the proper tool.
yep. when you buy tires you need to look at the date codes first, then the traction, tread wear, and temperature codes. you want tires made in the last couple of years. and when i look at the other three codes this is what i want;
tread wear 440
traction A
temperature B
those are the minimums i am looking for. and it depends on what you are looking for in a tire as well. those numbers should be doable for performance street tires with modern compounds.
if you want a long wearing tire, then the higher tread wear number the better. if you live in a high heat environment, and you are putting the tires to heavy use, then you want a temperature code of A, that is the highest you can get.
if you want the maximum traction available in a street tire, then look for a traction code of AA.
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