selling my wheels

[SupaStealth]

well, i figured this day would come, i'm going to be selling my wheels to a friend of mine, since my money situations can not allow me to purchase new tires for them, its goina be sad to see them go, but at least they'll be on my friend's 2001 black impala.

[luvmybravada]

Noooooo! And why didn't you offer them to your fellow Aurora owners? Anyway, sorry to hear.

[mission008]

BOOOOO!!!!!!! offer them here!

[Custom88]

just how badly do you need tires right now? Why not wait a few months and save up money, then get some tires for it?? Do you already have tires on your stock wheels? Why not put those back on until you CAN afford tires for your wheels..

[aurorabrain]

I see how much tires cost in that size. Ever think about getting 235/50-18 tires, they're closer to stock height, and they are stock width. They're considerably cheaper than the 255/45-18s. You'd probably get better gas mileage too. ;D

[unirok]

Hey I can understand. Money trumps style sometimes. You can always get new rims at another time.

[TheLoveThatNeverDies]

Darn... Sorry to hear that Joe. I understand your position though, I've been there myself Hopefully, you can get some new rimzos later down the road

[95mushroom]

It's sad to hear. Dunno how bad the $$ sitution is, but the cheapest tires I found are $77 each. BF Goodrich g-Force T/A KDWS. That doesn't seem too far off the average price of them so it shouldn't be too much more locally.

[NYsteve]

Sad part is as soon as you sell the wheels, presto, enough money to buy new tires.

[mission008]

nysteve said:

Sad part is as soon as you sell the wheels, presto, enough money to buy new tires.

so very true unfortunately

[SupaStealth]

lol, well, you guys sure do help me a lot, heh, i never thought of buying different sizes, i figured all the tires that would fit would be around 200 bucks, if you guys could help me find some with really good treadwear for less than 100 per tire, then that'd be awesome cause thats the thing thats been bad, i've got like 30,000 miles on them and they're pretty much bald, i'm ashamed that i even let them get down that far.

[95mushroom]

Those BFG's g-Force TA's I linked to up a few posts are 235/50/18 with a tread wear of 400 vs. your Conti's 280. I would expect to get at least 45k out of them. And they're $77 at tirerack.

[levymic]

STOP!!!

Before you buy new ones in that size you need to know the tires Overall Diameter. The aspect ratio of the tire may be 235/50r18 but the OD may be too big and rub the strut towers under cornering. Also this will throw off your speedometer. The tires on there now are fit to your vehicle for that reason. What I would suggest is find your stock tire OD and match it up that way with an 18" tire. Also look at the Speed Rating of the tires. Usually the higher the speed rating ( S,T,H,V,Z,W,Y in that order) the lower the milage warranty and softer the rubber is used to get better traction. Most tiresVand higher don't have any milage warranty for this reason. Most tires in that rim size will be a high speed rating because of the (lack of) sidewalls. Just do some homework before you buy...... If you have any more questions please feel free to comment and as soon as I can get it I respond. I just don't wanna see you make a problem worse and have it cost you more money.
Below I'll list somethings to remember and what they mean....

Aspect Ratio= 235/60R16 The size of the tire. 235mm is the width of the tread, 60 is the height of the sidewall. It is a percentage of the width so in this case it is 60% of 235mm. Since no speed rating is given it is assumed to be S-rated.

Overall Diameter= The diameter of the tire. Usually around 24-26 inches for cars unless they have really small tires. Any tire shop can look this up as to what is factory for your car. The closer the number of the new tire is to your stock tire the better off you are.

Speed Rating= The rating of the tire as to how fast it will go under perfect conditions before it loses traction. On most vehicles it is an S rated tire which is around 108mph or so. Next would be T about 116mph, then H, V, Z, W, and Y. The higher the rating the better the traction at "normal" speeds (and they can handle a higher speed). Usually have stronger sidewalls as well to assist in cornering and they are usually shorter in the size as well. Most company's will group together Z, W, and Y under the Z rating. The speed rating can be found either in the aspect ratio or at the end of the aspect ratio....
ex. 235/60VR16 or 235/60R16 88V for comparison.

[aurorabrain]

I think when you're talking about speed rating, and losing traction, you mean the tire coming apart? The higher speed rated tires will have a stiffer sidewall, and sometimes a higher load rating. The stock load and speed rating for Auroras is 99S, and 99V for autobahn. The load rating on tires for this car shouldn't be much less than 99 because of the weight of the car. I have 245/50VR18 100V tires on my '97 Aurora and they do not rub whatsoever. They are about 27.8" in diameter(stock is 27.2"), and at 60mph on the speedo i'm actually going about 61-2mph. Stock tires turn around 766rpm, the 245/50s i have turn 749rpm.

These are Bridgestone tire specs, and different manufacturers post different specs for the same size tire.

[levymic]

But if the sidewall is too tall compared to the width it will rub and also throw off the speedometer. I just wanted him to make sure he knew relatively what to look into before making a decision that's all...

[Custom88]

www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

use this

According to that, 235/50/R18 will only be .6% off from the stock ratio, and they're much cheaper tires as well compared to the 255's you have now.

[95mushroom]

Couple of things about levy's post, not for Supa or anyone else to be thrown off about buying tires.

First, brain is right, usually you get a stiffer sideway with a 'sportier' tire. Even comparing the size tire in different sizes, 235/50/18 vs 235/60/16 the 18 will have a stiffer sidewall. This is because you have less sidewall before your rim hits the road, so a stiffer sidewall is a must. In a performance tire, the stiffer the sidewall, the less the tire 'rolls' and the tread surface stays flat and bigger grip is achieved. Usually tire manufactures tweak the stiffness for trade-offs between performance and comfort.

Second, about different sizes and speedo accuracy, any tires available in any of the sizes mentioned so far (235/60/16 255/45/18, 235/50/18), are about .5" in difference, ranging from 27" to 27.5". That's a difference of less then 2% at the widest margin from tire to tire. Given that the stock tire diameter is 27.18 (I believe) that drops the percentage to less then 1% from the stock diameter to the tallest tire. That's less then the variance from car-to-car and the normal inaccuracy of a stock speedo (they're not always correct).

Lastly, since the 235/50/18 is a skinnier tire, then the 255/45/18 Supa has now, and within' a tenth of an inch difference in height, there would be no problems with rub. 235/50/18 is also the stock tire that comes on the Bonneville GXP. Also if you venture over to the Bonneville forums, you'll find a lot of people there running wider rubber without a problem.

[aurorabrain]

custom88 said:

www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

use this

According to that, 235/50/R18 will only be .6% off from the stock ratio, and they're much cheaper tires as well compared to the 255's you have now.

That tire calculator is SWEET!!!! Thanks ;D