Hey guys, I have a few tire questions that will hopefully be pretty simple to answer but bear with me - I'm definitely a tire noob.

I drive an '04 Touring Model Z with the Bridgestone Potenzas. I have 225/45R18 91W in the front and 245/45R18 100W in the rear. The other night my front right blew out when I was on my way from my hometown to my university, although I'm sure I need new tires for all 4 by now anyway. I believe the issue was due to feathering (at least I think that's what it called when the tires go like this //---\\.) Am I to understand correctly that this is an alignment issue? For those of you that have gotten this fixed, about how much money am I looking at spending for the alignment fix?

I have a tire connection in my hometown for cheap, so I don't want to buy 4 new ones here, and obviously don't want to drive on the donut. A buddy at my apartment complex is looking to get rid of his tires cheap, and I need something temporary to get around on; the only issue is I have no idea whether they will fit. His front tires are Antyre HP188 and the specs are 225/40ZR18 92WXL. Will they fit on the Z as a temporary fix?

My final inquiry has to do with the new set of tires I'll be buying in about a month. I understand that there are a lot of options and many things depend on preference. I use the car as a daily driver, and don't ever get out to the track, so I'm not necessarily looking for top of the line performance. I had never paid much attention to size before, and have been browsing the tire threads here. I like the fat tires more than the stretched, and would really like to run something like a 255/35/18 and a 285/35/18. What midrange priced tires would you guys recommend?

The two reccomendations the manager of Discount Tire gave me were the Goodyear Eagle GT and the Michelin Pilot Sport AS+. Do any of you have experience/thoughts on either of these?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

if you are on stock wheels there is no way you are going to mount 255/285 tires on them. Did your car come with VDC? Be carefull not to upset it. GL

As stated your Fronts are 225/45/18 , you CAN NOT mount 225/40/18.

 

Just to be clear, the reason I can't use the friend's tires is because of the wheel size right?

 

Feathering concerns answered above.


Tire circumference addressed above.


255/35/18 and a 285/35/18.
You want to run these tires on what wheels?

 

Thanks for the help David. I glanced over the Tire Feathering FYI thread before posting this, but as the thread is ~7 years old and 85 pages long I wasn't able to get much from anything but the OP. Are there sparknotes anywhere?

I am still unclear as to why I would not be able to use the friend's front tires with my current (OEM) 18" rims. Would you mind clarifying?

As for the wheels I am looking at using for the new set of tires, I was thinking of these:
http://www.wheeldude.com/catalog/pro...oducts_id=6354

 

Typical cause of feathering is lack of rotation and/or alignment issues. Not uncommon on this type of car with the oe tires. The 40 series is a bit shorter than normal and may cause VDC issues. I'd recommend against using them. Factory wheels are no where near wide enough to run the wider tire sizes. A 285 needs at least a 9.5" wide wheel. You wouldn't have stretch, but instead a lot of tire bulge, if you could even get it to seat properly.

 

Difference in tire circumference is 6.3 percent (127.2/2001.8). VDC will not like this.

 

Thank you guys for all your help. I know I am a noob but please understand I really do put in effort to find answers before coming to you guys, so thank you for your patience.

I found a replacement set of tires to last me a week or two until I can get new rims/tires, so I'm alright on that front.

I think I understand the issue with the VDC that everyone mentions, but am not very good with the math behind it. I want to get tires that are on the aggressive/fat end of the spectrum, but nothing extreme. The rims I'm currently looking at are the Rota DPT in flat black. I am unclear whether the differences in wheel width (9" - 10") are even noticable, but found the package in the link where they come with 9s in the front and 10s in the back. Is this fairly standard?

I quite like those wheels, but am still undecided on whether I will go 18" or 19". My question is, if I decide to go with the 18s, what is the standard tire specs that I will need to not upset the VDC (keeping in mind my slightly fat/aggressive preference)?

Likewise for the 19"?

Thank you guys for all your help, it truly is appreciated.