225/50/17 or 235/50/17 has anyone changed to these, Pic's ?

[Swiftoy]

For those of you who have already changed your tires on your Solara have any of you went to a different size. I would like to see some pictures if possible to see what side wall bulge is achieved from going to a wider tire. The 235/50/17 is the same size as the 215/55/17 (26.3) The 225/50/17 (25.9) is slightly smaller but will work. I would like to see pictures if anyone has them.

Thanks!

Swiftoy

[drglitch]

225/50/17 here. When compared side-to-side with regular tires [EL42 Turas], you can really tell the difference in appearance.

Can post overall pics too if u want em [ie from rear]

...Oh yeah, car's supposed to be black, but too much salt on roads

[slingshot]

Which Michelins are those ?

[drglitch]

Michelin pilot sport A/S.

AMAZING tire - see my other posts for all the praises

They are louder and stiffer - but their road grip is so insane that you have to remind yourself to slow down on turns when driving with a passenger [as in HOLY _____ SLOW DOWN - THERE IS AN OFFRAMP WITH 15MPH LIMIT RIGHT AHEAD AND YOU'RE DOING 60!!!]

I've put on 5000 miles on these so far...rotating this week.

Im trying to reason myself into buying a RSB - i am certain the car would behave even better with that. Right now, the car feels a little "uncertain" - ie on really hard turns, given the sideroll amount, i "feel" the car should lose grip and slide any second...but it just doesnt. [been a few months now but i still get this feeling here and there...but after turn is done, my grin only gets bigger:)]

P.S. Snow traction is a lot better than EL42s [friend has SEV6Sport so we compare all the time]

[slingshot]

Where did you get those Sport A/S and how much? I'm definitely getting them for my next set of tires. I recommend getting the RSB to cut body roll down. The combo of that and your tires should really bring big smiles to your face. If you get it, let us know how much improvement you saw. I don't remember seeing your other posts but will have to search on them.

[drglitch]

I got the tires bought and installed at a local tire shop [Anita Tire]. Tires+install+disposal+nipples+alignment+synthetic oil change ran $1050 total.

Breakdown is something like this...
50 oil change
80 four-wheel alignment [you should always get it when you get new tires - did i mention that getting these fully fixed left pull problem?]
5 disposal [per tire] fee ... welcome to New Jersey
15 total for nipples
<20 per tire install

After factoring in shipping and wait time [i had a small puncture in my old set] as compared to tirerack.com, i went ahead with local purchase - difference was like 8 bucks per tire.

Almost went for Fuzion ZRi 235s ... they are ~110 bucks cheaper PER TIRE - and look WAY wider [my tech described them as "ricer-orgasm"] - but i am doubtful about their winter performance. Since you live in Long Island, im sure you can relate [think two weekends back ]

[slingshot]

I don't have problems in the snow with the OEM tires because I don't usually drive the first day of a snowstorm if I can avoid it and wait a day till they clear the roads. The OEM tires with traction control easily handle the side roads after that. They would probably stink without traction control. I still want to get your tires. Another poster in the past also said those tires got rid of the left drift. Very cool. Looks like the tire sides bulge out enough to protect against wheel curb scratching when parallel parking. True? When you say nipples you mean extenders??

[drglitch]

Depends how fast you are backing into the curb... They provide excellent protection against running into New York's metal curbs. The high suburban concrete ones are not too big of a problem neither - i scraped the curb on one or two occasions, with zero damage to the rims.
The few bad curb encounters i have had overall are all from my OEM tire days.


I dont know about the traction control as i dont have it, but i had to drive somewhere the morning after the storm [still was snowing] and liked the overall experience [as compared, for example, to friend's '02 camry with OEMs, which was all over the place]

Nipples = Stems, or whatever you wanna call the plug for filling the tire with air

[Swiftoy]

Thanks for the pictures. Is your Solara lowered or stock height. Width wise they look okay. I think 235's would have a bit to much sidewall bulge.

Swiftoy

[drglitch]

All Stock

[Pilyo]

Where did you get those rims? Are they 225/55/17 setup?

[Down2TheC]

Stock on ragtop.

[PhreakdOut]

For those of you who have already changed your tires on your Solara have any of you went to a different size. I would like to see some pictures if possible to see what side wall bulge is achieved from going to a wider tire. The 235/50/17 is the same size as the 215/55/17 (26.3) The 225/50/17 (25.9) is slightly smaller but will work. I would like to see pictures if anyone has them.

Thanks!

Swiftoy

"Reinflating" this topic. The pics of the 225/50/17s look good. But has anyone tried the 235/50/17s?

I need to buy a set this week. So far, it looks like the Michelin Pilot A/S tires are the best choice.

Any issues with clearance to the front struts? Does anyone have a pic of the 235s?

[PhreakdOut]

"Reinflating" this topic. The pics of the 225/50/17s look good. But has anyone tried the 235/50/17s?

I need to buy a set this week. So far, it looks like the Michelin Pilot A/S tires are the best choice.

Any issues with clearance to the front struts? Does anyone have a pic of the 235s?

I decided to experiment yesterday. I had the shop mount one tire and try it on front and rear to see if there are clearance issues. Here are the specs for the 235s versus the OE size.

215/55R17 Diameter: 26.5" Tread width: 7.3"
235/50R17 Diameter: 26.3" Tread width: 8.0"

The 235 fit just fine on the OE rim. The clearance between tire and strut body is as tight as I care to go. (Around 0.5" to 0.75") I expected this. On the positive side, any flex in the tire shape occurs at the lower half of the tire. (Underinflation, sidewall roll, etc) So, the clearance to the strut shouldn't change.

Clearance to the strut spring seat remained the same due to no change in diameter.

Handling has improved. Hopefully it will help in rain and snow. I did this more for correction of wet weather performance than dry pavement. I can imagine how well this would handle with performance summer tires. (3/4" more tread width on each tire)

It may be my imagination, but I think it looks meaner from behind. I'll post up pictures tomorrow.

[mmcdonald]

In response to drglitch's question on the RSB - egads man! Get the thing now! You will notice a tremendous difference over the stock pieces.

You must get the front strut tower brace since when you put on the RSB, you will then definitely feel that the front end is uncertain. This is very hairy.

Set the RSB on the middle hole to balance with the FSTB. This is a fine set up.


BTW, when I called TireRack, they strongly recommended against the 225 size on this car. I told them first I was using the stock rims, so I don't think this was a sales pitch.

I got the Avon Tech M550 A/S (yes, all season!) in the stock size and they perform very well. Less noise, smoother highway travel, very good grip, and I hear they have good snow traction.