Gs300 17" Rims - Tyre Sizes

[Jehannum]

Hi,

In the summer, I bought a 2003 GS300, with standard 235/45/17 tyres on. My previous car was a V6 Camry running on 225/65/15, which were a lot more forgiving. I'm thinking of changing to 235/50/17. The insurance company are happy to let me do this, as long as I don't change the speed rating.

- will there be much difference in ride harshness?

- will there be much diff in noise level, ignoring the fact that new tyres are generally quieter anyway?

- will there be any noticible change in economy? I don't thrash it, but I'm not a grandad.

On the plus side, the speedo will be more accurate. I've calibrated the speedo using a GPS unit, and at an indicated 75mph, I'm actually doing 70mph. That's quite handy, cos it's easy to remember. Accordion to http://www.alloywheels.com/TyreCalc.asp, the 50 profile tyres would bring my speedo more into line with actual speed - reducing the error by about half.

On the cons side, there's a lot less choice in brands for 235/50/17.

Any comments?

[TigerFish]

I wouldn't think it would make much difference in ride quality to be honest. I wouldn't have expected that harsh a ride on 17's with 45 profile tyres. Maybe the Camry just had even softer springs and shocks. As far as noise goes, it would be more brand related than the change in profile, I've found the falken FK452's on mine much quieter than the eagle F1's they replaced. No idea on consumption, in theory it would work the car a little harder to get rolling with a larger circumference, but you might gain it back cruising at a teeny bit lower revs.

[Jehannum]

Thanks for the reply. It's probably not really a harsh ride, it's just that I was used to something much, much softer. I'll probably just get used to it. At least it doesn't roll so much. :-)

J.

[dave1]

I've found the falken FK452's on mine much quieter than the eagle F1's they replaced.

When you need to replace again I can strongly recommend Avon ZZ5. Have run 452's for 4or 5 years on 2 cars and loved them but changed recently to these ZZ5's and they are even better and very quiet. I only changed because I couldn't get 452's at a good price.

[TigerFish]

I've found the falken FK452's on mine much quieter than the eagle F1's they replaced.

When you need to replace again I can strongly recommend Avon ZZ5. Have run 452's for 4or 5 years on 2 cars and loved them but changed recently to these ZZ5's and they are even better and very quiet. I only changed because I couldn't get 452's at a good price.

Cheers Dave, I'll keep them in mind :)