I need help figuring out what tire size to go with for my new wheels. I'll do a break down of everything.

Car: mostly stock. I have headers, test pipe and exhaust. I'll have Megan track coils on it here soon and it will be low, but probably not completely slammed. My fenders and quarters are rolled and pulled and whatever else. It's about as wide as a stock body car will get.

Drive Style: I like to drive "spirited". Its not uncommon for me to bang through the first 2 or 3 gears to get up to speed, but I would say I spend an equal, if not great amount of time just cruising around. My S is my daily. I do not want all seasons at all. I have snow tires for the winter.

Needs: I am on a budget. I want a tire that will last longer. I know I wont be able to push my car to 10/10 or probably even 8/10 but I would appreciate something that's not a slug. Road noise could be annoying, but MY exhaust is loud as hell and I listen to my music pretty loud so I don't know that it would make a huge difference. Dry handling is important, and so is wet, but probably less important. It doesn't rain THAT much in ohio. I'd like a little bit of stretch, but not a ton.

Wheels are 18x9 et 25 front 18x10 et40 rear

First question i have is why are the stock sidewalls staggered? i.e. 45 front 40 rear. This seems like an odd thing to do. I feel like I've seen people run the same size sidewalls all around on these cars.

Second question: I cant decide between 225/40/18, 245/40/18 or 235/35/18, 255/35/18. If the above question proves that I need to run the staggered sidewalls, my situation may become a little easier.

Tire options:

Continental ExtremeContact DW
pros: best overall, cheapest, long lasting
cons: apparently soft sidewall

Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K112
pros: good handling, cheap, tread life (?)
cons: apparently a slightly soft sidewall, tread life (?)

Between the first two, I would likely do the continentals. When I talked to a tire rack rep, they said they've heard the Hankooks don't last as long but I've heard otherwise from different people.

BF Goodrich g-Force T/A KDW2
pros: dry grip is great, not too expensive, wet grip is pretty good, look so damn cool, quick response
cons: noise, tread life (?), towards the top of my budget

I really appreciate the help. I just bought this car at the end of the summer so I've yet to buy new tires for the car.

 

help

 

The sidewall number is a percentage, not a fixed number. 45% of 215mm is roughly equal to 40% of 245mm, keeping the sidewall height and overall diameter of stock AP2 sizes almost identical. Based on the low offsets, you are going to have a tough time fitting a 235 front and a 255 rear depending on how much negative camber you run. I'd say go with either a 215/40, 245/35 (easier to fit) or 225/40, 255/35 combo. Both will keep the stock tread width stagger and diameter. I run the V12's on my daily driver, decent tire but I can't really compare it to the others. I have heard good things about the Conti's.

 

Thanks man. Anyone else have any real life experience with any of these tires to give me some feedback?

 

If your on a Budget, look into the Feneral Max/Extreme summer line up. About the best bang for your buck. Good all around handling 'performance' tire for the S, year around. OEM 215/245 stretched tires is what it looks liek your stuck with on these wheels. The 595's might be the best option for you since they have a bit more tread.

 

I would say that the wheels are really aggressive and fitment will be close even with the body work. I would go 225/40R18 front and 255/35R18 rear. Those are the limits on the tires fitting on the wheels you have. For bang for the buck tires I would look at the Hankook Ventus V12, Sumitomo HTRZ3 and the Bridgestone RE760 Sport. These are all good handling tires but more reasonably priced.
If I can help let me know.

 

Thanks Jim. Was hoping to hear from you. I talked to Kyle on the phone (no clue if you know him) and he was great. Any particular reason you would choose the Hankooks over the Contis? Kyle seemed to think the Contis lasted longer and that the Hankooks were getting slack for not lasting so long