Hey friends new to the forum and wanted to poke someone’s brain who might know more about this than I do. I have a 2007 4.0L auto v6. The stock tires are a P215/65R16. I upgraded a couple years ago to a 17”x8” rim with 225/60r17 and it’s time for new tires! I’ve spent the last few days researching and learning about tires but still can’t make up my mind. If my math is correct because of the 1” increase in rim size I loose 25mm in aspect dimension of the tire... so in theory the biggest tire I should be able to go is a 255/45r17 which would match perfectly as stock but just be super-wide and possibly affect ride comfort. I don’t drive this thing like a psycho any more and don’t really think I need a performance tire. I just want something that will last a long time, is quiet-ish, and can do straight-line daily driver highway driving well, a grand touring tire maybe? Ballin’ on a budget and would like something reasonable (80-110$ range, I’ll shop for clearance and specials if I have too!) but I can be convinced to spend a little more if it’s a good set of tires that I can get 70k+ out of. So my options/questions are as follows.
1) Stick with the 225/60?
2) Revert back to a “stock” size (with a 215 width the closest is an aspect of 55 on a 17” rim)
3)Get as big a tire as possible, 255/45r17, hoping it’ll be “better”
4) get something in the middle, 235/50r17?
5)some other size I’m not considering, the current 225/60 is technically about 20mm oversized but I haven’t had problems with it...
6)how does load index affect ride comfort (lowest I can go is an 89 I think)
7)speed index... its a v6 and in very very rare occasions will hit 90mph Highway... do I have to get an tire with an H rating or higher or does this not matter (some tires I’ve considered are T rated ~115mph but I will never in a million years be going that fast on a public road, the car maxes out at like 120ish when I was a young dumb teen)
I’m not exactly sure how a bigger tire is better. Better traction/breaking and straight line driving but harder to turn? Also will tires with lower aspect and more rubber make more noise and have less ride comfort or will this not matter if I stay in the touring tire category? Not sure, lots of considerations. Insight is greatly appreciated!
1) Stick with the 225/60?
2) Revert back to a “stock” size (with a 215 width the closest is an aspect of 55 on a 17” rim)
3)Get as big a tire as possible, 255/45r17, hoping it’ll be “better”
4) get something in the middle, 235/50r17?
5)some other size I’m not considering, the current 225/60 is technically about 20mm oversized but I haven’t had problems with it...
6)how does load index affect ride comfort (lowest I can go is an 89 I think)
7)speed index... its a v6 and in very very rare occasions will hit 90mph Highway... do I have to get an tire with an H rating or higher or does this not matter (some tires I’ve considered are T rated ~115mph but I will never in a million years be going that fast on a public road, the car maxes out at like 120ish when I was a young dumb teen)
I’m not exactly sure how a bigger tire is better. Better traction/breaking and straight line driving but harder to turn? Also will tires with lower aspect and more rubber make more noise and have less ride comfort or will this not matter if I stay in the touring tire category? Not sure, lots of considerations. Insight is greatly appreciated!
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