I am in search of new tires. The car has 160k miles on it and is basically a beater car to and from work (which is 95% highway). That being said, my main factor is price really. In that, I am exploring different than OEM sizes as options in addition to the 215/45/17. Here are the sizes I am looking at

215/50/17
225/45/17

Pros and cons of either? Would you choose one over the other? Is there a size not mentioned you would consider or are currently using? Again, car is used 95% highway and is the stock ride height.. Also not too concerned with the speedo be off a little

 

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Out of those two optional sizes you mentioned. The only one I would consider is the 215/50/17. The 225/45/17 will increase the contact patch area and increase rolling resistance. This will affect your fuel efficiency negatively. Probably not a lot but it will. The 215/50 will increase the sidewall height which will give you a softer ride as the sidewall will be able to deflect bumps more. But in turn it will give softer handling on the curves.

I personally would stick to the OEM size and look for a tire with a high UTQG rating and proper load and speed rating. Our recommended load/speed rating is 91H. The higher the UTQG rating the longer the treadlife of the tire. I also usually am a low cost tire shopper as I drive a lot and can't be constantly replacing low treadlife/high cost tires. Two sites that I usually buy tires from are Onlinetires and Simpletire. You can do some research on those sites for the tires in the size you want and see their ratings and reviews.