OK heres the deal. I have my stock alloys on as of right now and want to upgrade to 16". I used to have 17" and they were just too heavy and bulky. Those were 215/45/17. My stock tires are 195/60/15. I want to get a tire right inbetween the 15" and 17" tire size for my 16". I was thinking about getting a 205/55/16. A guy at the local tire shop said it would be pointless to get that thick of a tire as it alters the perfermance since thats what im looking for. He reccomended a 205/50 and I think thats too small because I want to cover up more of my wheel gap. So my main question is that will a thin sidewall such as a 40 be much different then say a 55 or 60? Sorry to confuse you guys but I appreciate the help...Thanks...

 

okay, heres the deal: aspect ratio is only one way to get stiffer sidewalls. the other is to increase the speed rating of your tire. if you want to be able to pull those lateral G's you like then go to a rating of Y or Z.

 

thicker the tire, more flex, flex = traction.
45 series = less traction.

 

if you're drag racing maybe, but in actuallity your therory is flawed in more than a few ways. i know what i'm talking about, i used to install and sell tires, i don't pull this stuff out of my ***.

 

So are you saying that the speed rating determines how much traction you'll get as opposed to the aspect ratio? How exactly does that work? Because not all tires that have the best traction have a high speed rating either.....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by d16y8EL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thicker the tire, more flex, flex = traction.
45 series = less traction.</TD></TR></TABLE>

don't we all want things to be this simple, but it's alot more than just that.

 

for you to ask this question means i'll have to start at the beginning.

i am not talking about traction. i'm talking about grip; the way the tire holds the road in a turn (measured in what is known as "lateral G's). "traction" is a quality that is actually rate by the tire companies whith either "C" "B" "A" or in rare cases "AA". this rating is detrmined by the distance it takes to stop an industry standard car from a standard speed in a set amount of standing water... basicly it tells you how well the tire stops in the rain. it will not tell you how well the tire hooks up while launching, how well it stops in the snow, how well it turns in the dirt, etc. it tells you wet weather braking, and that is it.

now to elaborate on my inital point. a tire's speed rating is determined by the maximum speed the tire can achieve on a consistant basis without structural failure. this means the tire has to be built better to attain a higher speed rating. the sidewalls, for example, are more rigid and thus flex less than lets say a touring tire. sure a lower profile (smaller sidewall) will somewhat yeild the same results, the charicteristics of the tire at the limit of grip will be totally different.

okay, hope that helps. if you have anymore questions, lemme know.

 

yes, you are in effect changing the gear ratios.

 

not if you keep the over-all tire diameter the same as stock, which you would by choosing an apporpreate aspect ratio.

 

So basically what your saying is that the speed rating determines more of how the tire is going to perform and the thickness of the sidewall is not as important????

 

yes, but that's not to say that the profile doesn't matter at all; it does indeed.

the point i'm trying to make is you can get the performance you want out of a tire without sacrificing sidewall height by upgrading to a higher speed rating.

 

the lower series sidewall you get the SHITTIER the car will ride..ur call
yes the car will handle much better slammed on 17's