JHouse

For 2008 S550 - I know some of you tire experts out there know this off the top of your heads (right?)

I know this is contra-trend but:

A friend has 19" wheels with the following (staggered) tires:

255/40-R19

275/40-R19

He has blown out both front tires on different days and he's had it. He needs more forgiveness of our roads. What size will fit on the wheels and just give him a bigger diameter tire (that will fit) so his sidewalls will have a little more room for pothole errors? And, of course, without rubbing.

I know (at least on a theoretical level) the effects such a change will have on lateral handling, ride, speedometer accuracy and acceleration. But $450 a week is a little steep, so he's willing to compromise

Thanks.

JHouse

If I just kicked up the section to a 50 on the front and 45 on the back, would that work?

Looking at the calculators available:

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCal...bmit&reset=yes

http://www.ajdesigner.com/fl_tire/tire.php

A one inch sidewall increase sounds small, but must be huge, as it gets me out of performance tires almost completely and into SUV tires. WTF?

amdeutsch

Tell him to
1) learn how to drive
2) to avoid the holes - this isn't golf.

rominl

factory spec is 255/45/18, so 255/40/19 is also in spec.

your friend's setup right now is funny, 275/40/19 that's overspec. if he wants to run overspec, he can always get 255/45/19 for the front.

but i really wouldn't recommend anything larger. the sizes you specified that's like 2" overspec, don't think that's a good idea

desired_speeds

factory sport package comes with staggered 19s 255/40/19 front and 275/40/19. He is running the correct sizes currently.

He can run 245/45/19 in the front for a half inch larger diameter wheel. I would not recommend any other sizes being used.

rominl

oh that's right, forgot about the sport package

JHouse

Thanks. If he goes from 255/40 to 245/45 in the front only, the calculator says the sidewall only increases 1/3" in height, which doesn't sound like much. The 255/45 would increase it 1/2". Do we know if that 1/3" will make any difference in the "forgiveness" of the tire?

Also, going from the 255 width to the 245 width makes the tire skinnier. What's the theory behind that since the wheel width remains the same?

I see all kinds of threads with guys putting 20's and even 22's on this car. I can't see how the sidewalls can get much shorter than these 255/40's so the overall diameters must be larger on some of these custom setups. So it doesn't seem like I should be afraid of an overall 1" increase in the total tire diameter. No?