So, we tC owners are stuck with low profile tires? =o

I never thought much about this before, I've ran into some curbs making sharp turns, and a few pot holes before too, etc. With low profile tires, treads are softer and wear out quicker, pot holes hit you harder cuz of that and can pop your tires, running into curbs has a higher chance of bending your wheels cuz theres less tire protecting it.
^some of the things I read in the past 10 minutes or so. I've run into stuff and never thought about any of those things, not that I try to, but now I'm definitely gonna be more careful =x

So...some people are saying you gotta change these tires in around 20k miles or less? I'm wondering how many times you long time tC owners have changed your tires. Cuz 1 change is alot of money already o.0 I'm doing my first change for around 550. There is 30k miles on my car and my tires are like smooth round and kinda peeling looking... but I dont know if the previous owner had changed them before that...

 

Sounds like there are a lot of 'sort of' truths in what you're reading.

Softer compound tires wear faster whether they are low profile or not-there are autocross tires that are 60 series that will wear faster than a 35 series tire.

An underinflated regular tire will allow just as many pot hole dings to your wheels as a properly inflated low profile-so it really is more about checking your tire pressure.

Hitting curbs and preotection of the rim of the wheel comes from the width of the tire compared to the width of the rim. A 195 width tire on an 8.5 inch wide wheel gives little or no protection whether low pro or not. A 215 width on a 6.5 inch wheel flares out quite a ways from the rim's lip whether low pro or not.

There is a lot to know about tire, wheels, and proper balancing of the 2 and saying low profiles do this or that with out any other info isn't really telling much of the story.

 

Low profile tires don't wear out faster. I have had my tires on for 23000 miles and they still have maybe alittle less then half the tread left. These are just the stock tires that the car came with and they have a pretty bad tread wear rating to start with.

Just up grade to a tire that has a better tread rating and they will last you a good while. Also rotating the tires regularly helps a lot and having a proper alignment.

 

well.. those were just some stuff that I just read. D: They sound like pretty good points to me which seems to make sense, I never really thought about all that before.

I'm thinking more about the money though: how often I'm going to change my tires. cuz I drive my car locally alot for work. (I wonder if I could write these tires off...)

 

Well if you buy tires with a high tread wear rating you will have to change them a lot less. How many miles do you think you drive a year?

 

High traction usually means they wear faster-not always the case though, Depending on where you live you might be able to pick up used sets (usually juat a pair that matches) for a whole lot less at your local tire dealer. Do some calling around. similar sizes can be substituted 215/45-17 and 225/45-17s are pretty close. 205/50-17 and 215/45-17s are pretty close.

I have picked up quite a few pair of tires, used but mounted and balanced for around $100 a set-new they were between $145 (proxes 4s) to $275 (michelin pilot sports) each without the mounting and balancing.

Find a dealer you can trust but first read up on tires (traction rating, wear rating, brands that are good, various sizes that are close=tire calculator on www.1010tire.com is good for that, temperature rating, what the sizes mean)

size 215/45-17 means 215mm tread section width, 45 aspect ratio=the % of height to tread width and then 17-diameter of wheel inside the bead

 

I just ordered proxie 4s from a local tire shop for 142 each including mount/balance....now the problem is though that I dunno if they properly mount these things or not... =/

If I keep up what I'm doing I'll probably drive around 25k or more. I know I drove atleast 2k last month. I'm starting to not like the idea of using my car for work anymore...

 

Well the toyo's have a pretty good tread wear rating. Better then the stock Bridgestones. So they should last longer. Like I said I should be able to make it to like 30000+ on my stock tires. So if you rotate and make sure you have a good alignment you be able to make it a good amount longer then that. Also don't beat on the tire like some people do, by doing burnout or spinning the tire all the time.