Ok... my tC is on the way and I'm definitely keeping the stock wheels - I really like the way they look and although I've seen some aftermarket stuff that is better, it's definitely not worth the money to me. I do live in the PNW where it rains a lot and we get a little snow every once in a while. I'm going to be trying to figure out what tires to get (another question) but do I have any options on tire size? All the numbers get jumbled up in my head. I know someone posted a list of what you could put on an xB, but if there really only one size tire I can fit on the stock wheels? Would it ever make sense to get one with a larger outside diameter?

 

hey gary.. yeah i got rid of the stock tires too.. put some pirelli pzero nero m&s on in the stock size.. very smooth, quiet, ride is a little more firm, but not harsh, handling is greatly improved.. braking is better also.. it did take about 200-300 miles for the tires to break in and for it to really "stick"..

these pzero nero m&s are actually wider than stock, in that the stock tires are kind of "narrow" for a 215/45-17.. 8.5 inch tread width, compared to 7.5 for the RE92 (stock).. i would suggest these tires, as I have tried some other tires, bridgesone re950's (not that good and noisy) it's what made me go with the pirelli's.. tirerack.com had review and for a dry, rain and a little snow kind of tire, the pirelli's were #1.. i can see why..

i'm quite happy with the pirelli's.. just were a little "squirelly" for the first 200.. then they broke in.. everything is good now

 

Hey man - that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Did you get them from tire rack? how much did you pay for them? How does the mounting and everything work? Do they just ship them to your house and you get them mounted? Does the wider tire guard the rim or anything? I really like the look of a wider more "square" tire. I think when my car hits the ground, that's going to be my first "mod"

 

yes I did get them from the tire rack, paid 116 a tire and $30-31 for shipping via fedex 2nd day.. so total about $495 (not doing exact math here) and these are the stock size of 215/45-17 that I put on.. they are just wider when compared to other 215/45-17 tires..

Well I had the local dealer install the tires, mount and balance them. $40 for that, discount tire could also do that for ya as well.. Yes they just ship them to your home and you take them to get mounted.

Yes the tire does have a rim guard and it's a lot stiffer than the stock bridgestones!! so i would assume more protection.. Yeah the more "square" tire does look much better on the car.. and looks more substantial. And I can tell there is more rubber on the ground since these pirelli's are wider than i've seen.. Looks like this is the tire that should've been on the car in the first place.. yeah these are the m&s version tires.. so it's listed as pzero nero m&S.. which means all-season.. i don't think they could handle a blizzard, but an occassional snow would be fine.. the big thing in an all season is that it can handle the cold.. summer tires can't put up with a temperature drop, they get all slippery and have no traction when it gets cold.. so that's what's nice about these.. it gets cold, the compound has more silica in it.. so it will still stick.. and the treadwear says it's gonna last 40,000 miles..

oh one more thing.. they do seem to be sensitive to tire pressures.. i'm running 32 front and 31 rear.. i've gone under that and the rear feels "too soft".. but it's all about preference.. it's amazing how 1lb of air can make a big different, guess it's the low profile..

Hey let me know how it goes.. glad i could help ya out..

 

Does the door say 29/29? I'm always trying to figure out what pressure I really should run and it's sometimes hard to decide. If I get these, I'll remember your suggestion.

 

yeah door says 32 front.. 29 rear (both cold temperatures)

 

At least it gives you some indication that there should be a difference. I should get a digital gague. Right now my tired are close but I'm sure they're wrong - I just don't check often enough. My girlfriend has an air compressor (I just realized) so I don't have to bother taking it up to the gas station.

 

yeah i hear ya.. i did get a nice digital gauge from target.. about $14.00 accutire i think the brand is.. more accurate than what the dealer is using..

and yeah a private air compressor is good.. everytime i went to a gas station, water would pour out of the hose! not something i'd like to put in my tires..

if you do get the pirelli's.. post here, i'd like to see what you thought of them..

 

I've seen those gauges around - I'll definitely pick one up. I've been looking for an excuse for a while and that sounds good to me. As for the tires, I'm just waiting for my damn car to get here - can't put much on a car you don't have. Anyway, I'm definitely a fan of safe driving as I almost crushed someone with my San Diego tires when I moved to Seattle. I'm not going to wait around until I almost hit something to switch over, especially considering the season. There is a decent little tire place up here that got me some really good tires that I've got on my Integra right now. I'm going to call them up and see what they have in this tire size. If they have the Pirelli's I'll definitely get them. If they don't but they have something else really compelling I'll go for it, otherwise I'll probably go the tirerack route. I'd just rather buy them from somewhere where they might throw in free balancing or mounting or something - plus I'd rather not pay for shipping if I had other options.

Either way I'll post when it happens.

 

Our fitment team recommends 225/45-17's at 25.0 inches in diameter, as an option to the O.E. 215/45-17's at 24.6 inches in diameter. The 225/45-17's will provide a trouble free/rub free fitment on your TC and your O.E. wheels.

 

Click on the following link to find a nice selection of digital air pressure gauges!

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/...gauges_all.jsp

 

Is there an advantage to the 225/45-17s over the stock 215/45-17s? Is there a greater selection? Will it mess up the spedometer calibration at all?

 

looks like there are more tires in that size than the stock size.. just a few more.. i checked a diameter/speedo calculator and it looks like your speedo will be off by 1.. so if you're doing 40 it's actually 39mph.. 50 is 49.. 70 is 69.. 80 is 78.. you get the idea.. it is about 1/2 inch larger in diameter resulting in 20-30 less revolutions per mile, so your car won't be registering as many miles. the tread is 0.5 inch wider.. i am unsure if this would affect anything like rubbing when turning.. haven't had anyone to ask about it yet..

The one drawback would probably be fuel economy. since it's a larger tire, more energy is going to be required to get it moving.. hence, a loss of gas mileage.. plus acceleration might be affected since it's a larger tire, heavier.. That's another thing I forgot.. a heavier tire can affect the suspension. the re950's i had on the car were about 2-3 lbs heavier than stock and the car didn't respond well, just kind of "lumbered" along.. it was happy to get a lighter tire when i got the pirellis..

This kind of upgrade is a "plus zero" upgrade they call it.. putting a bigger tire on the stock rim, did this with the civic coupe I had and noticed that I lost some of the acceleration since it was a wider, heavier tire. Had to rev it more to get it going.. Lost about 5mpg with that.. I was happy to go back to the stock diameter.

that's my .02..

 

RogerTTR, would you be able to find out the weight for each of the following tires and post that information here? Thank you in advance for any information you can provide.

Brand - Model - Size
Pirelli - P Zero M+S - 215/45/17
Pirelli - P Zero M+S - 225/45/17
Bridgestone - Potenza RE92 - 215/45/17

I also noticed the UTQG rating for wet traction on the Pirelli's size 215 was only A, instead of AA like the size 225. Any comments on that? I would have guessed the added tread on the 225's could warrant the better wet traction rating, but there are 205's that received a AA rating. Oh, this is a bit of a stretch, but you wouldn’t happen to know the weight of the stock tC rim, would you? Thanks again for any help you, or anyone else, can provide.