2020 Base GT tires

[Garfy]

My GT is a base model that came with the 18" wheels with 235/50R18 Pirelli tires on it. I checked some tire dealers and they indicated that the wheels are 18x8 so I could use 255/45R18 tires on it. I'm not sure what the width of the rim is so if they're correct I could put some wider tires on the stock rims? It's just that the 235 just isn't quite "fat" enough for decent acceleration from a dead stop (I leave AdvanceTrac Sport mode on because if it's turned off, I just sit and smoke tires for awhile). Thanks for any advice.

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[ice445]

A 255 width is the max you can fit on an 8 inch wide rim, yes. However, because it will be oversized, it will feel a bit squirmy especially in cornering. More width doesn't always equal more traction. Personally I think it's better to stay with the 235 but upgrade to a grippier tire, like a Michelin PS4S or Continental Extreme Contact Sport. The stock Pirellis are fine until you expect performance, then it's just wheel spin city in the first three gears.

Ideally you'd upgrade to a "real" wheel thats 9 or 10 inches wide, but the stock 18's are pretty light, and perfectly fine for daily driving. So that's up to you.

 

[shogun32]

they indicated that the wheels are 18x8 so I could use 255/45R18 tires on it

you could but why not be smart and buy properly sized wheels? Or trash those CRAP tires and run 245/35 or 245/40 tires? My GTI had wider rims than that and I could still spin them under acceleration.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...ewall=Blackwall&partnum=44WR8FHI5XL&tab=Specs

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...wall=Blackwall&partnum=44YR8DWS06XL&tab=Specs

 

[Zathras]

You could go with 245/45 R18, which would be an in-between size between the 235/50 and the 255/45. The down side is that the 245/45 R18 would be a slightly smaller diameter so you'd have a little more "wheel gap" and your speedometer would read slightly higher than actual speed.

I'm also thinking about these different sizes to replace my OEM 235/50s, but I still have quite a bit of tread left and I don't plan to change the tires until I've gotten my money's worth out of the originals.

 

[Garfy]

You could go with 245/45 R18, which would be an in-between size between the 235/50 and the 255/45. The down side is that the 245/45 R18 would be a slightly smaller diameter so you'd have a little more "wheel gap" and your speedometer would read slightly higher than actual speed.

I'm also thinking about these different sizes to replace my OEM 235/50s, but I still have quite a bit of tread left and I don't plan to change the tires until I've gotten my money's worth out of the originals.

Same here; I won't be getting new tires until these are worn. The reason I looked at the 255/45 was because it's about the same diameter as 235/50. It'll only add 10mm of tread on each side of the tire so I don't think it will stress the sidewall much. I'm looking at the Firehawk Indy 500 tire as it looks like it'll be really good on dry pavement, but not sure about wet since there's large areas of rubber to contact the road compared to the stock tires. But I've read some reviews on the F/S website and it seems like it's decent on wet. Anyway, I've got time before having to get to that point of decision.

 

[cahouston]

Same here; I won't be getting new tires until these are worn. The reason I looked at the 255/45 was because it's about the same diameter as 235/50. It'll only add 10mm of tread on each side of the tire so I don't think it will stress the sidewall much. I'm looking at the Firehawk Indy 500 tire as it looks like it'll be really good on dry pavement, but not sure about wet since there's large areas of rubber to contact the road compared to the stock tires. But I've read some reviews on the F/S website and it seems like it's decent on wet. Anyway, I've got time before having to get to that point of decision.

Do you plan on any other performance upgrades such as a tune? If so, you might want to think about new wheels/tires instead. Even a stickier 255 tire can only do so much on the road. A 255 Indy 500 will be an improvement over what you have now but you will likely still spin them. I am on stock tune and in Sport mode, I have no issues spinning the 275 MPS4Ss. If you add any more power through a tune or other mods, it will only exacerbate the issue. A 10 inch wide wheel in the back will allow for a lot more tire.

 

[blind*guardian]

I’d concur that going wider may perhaps help your traction issue, but it’ll definitely negatively affect handling if you stick with the 8” rim. Ideally, for good handling, you’d want the tire tread width (as specd on Tirerack for example) to be slightly less than the width of the rim.

 

[WildHorse]

You're not gonna improve traction with a 255.

 

[Garfy]

Do you plan on any other performance upgrades such as a tune? If so, you might want to think about new wheels/tires instead. Even a stickier 255 tire can only do so much on the road. A 255 Indy 500 will be an improvement over what you have now but you will likely still spin them. I am on stock tune and in Sport mode, I have no issues spinning the 275 MPS4Ss. If you add any more power through a tune or other mods, it will only exacerbate the issue. A 10 inch wide wheel in the back will allow for a lot more tire.

No, I don't plan on doing anything to the powertrain at all. I know w/o TC on it would spin just about anything despite only having 3.15 gears, but I just want a little better accel times with AdvanceTrac Sport mode on. With it on, I'm only able to get 5 sec 0-60 runs and I know that's about the best I can get because on take-off the tires still squeal a bit for the first second or two. I'm thinking that with better tires it would launch better. I looked at the tread on the Firehawk Indy 500 and it looks like it has more massive patches of rubber than the Pirelli stuff on my car which looks like regular tread patterns for cars. The Indy 500 looks like you'd have more rubber on the pavement (and softer compound) so the only thing better would be slicks. Of course, I suspect wet traction might be compromised for better dry traction.

 

[Garfy]

I’d concur that going wider may perhaps help your traction issue, but it’ll definitely negatively affect handling if you stick with the 8” rim. Ideally, for good handling, you’d want the tire tread width (as specd on Tirerack for example) to be slightly less than the width of the rim.

True, as the sidewalls won't be as vertical if the tread goes beyond the bead seat. But, the profile will be 45 instead of 50 so that might help the stiffness a little, but I won't be doing any hard cornering like racing through a road course so that's fine. I really wish our county didn't shut down our drag strip here; about a million people on this island and no drag strip yet the outer islands (Big Island, Maui & Kauai) all have drag strips and a couple of them are NHRA sanctioned/approved tracks (Maui's got under 200,000 population and the others are much less than that).

 

[AceS550]

When I had my ‘17 GT with the stock 18x8 wheels, I tried out 255/45R18 tires. They weren’t a problem to mount at all. Traction was slightly better but still insufficient. Here’s what they looked like:

 

[ice445]

When I had my ‘17 GT with the stock 18x8 wheels, I tried out 255/45R18 tires. They weren’t a problem to mount at all. Traction was slightly better but still insufficient. Here’s what they looked like:

What tires did you buy?

 

[AceS550]

They were Zenna Argus, just some cheap tires to keep me rolling. I never intended to keep the stock wheels on for long.

 

[shogun32]

Your current tires are VERY SHITTY tires so even if you don't change the size, you'll do a lot better with just about anything else. The stock tires don't even belong on a Civic. And you need a way to get them warm.

 

[ice445]

Your current tires are VERY SHITTY tires so even if you don't change the size, you'll do a lot better with just about anything else. The stock tires don't even belong on a Civic. And you need a way to get them warm.

I imagined VERY SHITTY in big letters on the tire and got a good laugh out of that. It's true though.

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