06 G6 GTP Tires. Why only 2choices?

[goldfinger]

It's been a long time since I visited the forums, but I am back! I have an 06 G6 GTP Coupe which I will be needing tires for soon. I looked at TireRack.com and there are only 2 choices! The size is 225/50-18.

The only choices are the Goodyear Eagle LS-2 and Bridgestone Potenza RE050A (which is what I have).

I like the Bridgestones, but at $200 per tire, plus shipping, plus mounting and those are some expensive tires with only a 180 treadwear rating and summer only!

Does anyone know if this car requires a special tire or something? I was hoping I would have more options than this.

Thanks

 

[Blokey]

It used to be that just a handful of tire sizes would fit most of the vehicles out there. Nowadays carmakers are specing all kinds of unusual sizes so it's not surprising that a particular size has limited choices available. The tiremakers keep an eye on which sizes sell and which sizes don't. If they feel it's profitable to make a tire in a particular size, they'll make it (why produce a tire that few will buy?). I don't think your car requires a special tire, just a hard-to-find size. Give it some time and you may have more choices.

 

[Rand]

You would be better off getting a second set of rims (smallest that fit over brakes) and running winter tires in the winter.
and maybe step upto a 235/50-18 for summer.. more choices
will still fit fine.

 

[goldfinger]

Thanks guys. I'm glad there is nothing special about the wheel. Knowing that 235/50-18 will fit opens up some options for me. I live in Arkansas, so we don't see enough snow/ice to justify buying a set of wheels and winter tires. On the 2-3 days that we do have snow or ice I just park it and borrow a 4x4 from the parents or the roads are closed anyway.

 

[b-man]

You might want to go back to the Tire Rack and take another look. I saw 5 different tires in the 225/50-18 size.

Another tire size worth considering would be the 245/45-18, it's 26.68" tall as compared to the 26.86" tall 225/50-18. There are 61 different tires in this size, cheapest being the General UHP at $120 a pop with a 380 wear rating. They recommend a 7.5" to 9" wide wheel for this tire, and a 6" to 8" wide wheel for your current 225/50-18.

Just need to check to see if a little added width will clear, chances are good it should be okay.

 

[GC4lunch]

Quote:

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Another tire size worth considering would be the 245/45-18, it's 26.68" tall as compared to the 26.86" tall 225/50-18. There are 61 different tires in this size, cheapest being the General UHP at $120 a pop with a 380 wear rating. They recommend a 7.5" to 9" wide wheel for this tire, and a 6" to 8" wide wheel for your current 225/50-18.

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"Recommend" might be too strong a verb for the rim width. Every tire is designed for a specific rim width, and that is the "measuring rim" for the tire. Usually, there is also a range of "acceptable" rim widths on which a tire will physically fit, but will perform less than optimally. It is usually a good idea to avoid fitting a tire to a rim at the extremes of the range. There is a rule of thumb on recommending a tire for a rim: for aspect ratios 50 and higher, the rim should be at least 70 percent of the section width, and for aspect ratios 45 and below, the rim should be 85 percent of the section width. A 225/50 tire is optimal on a 7" rim, which is probably what the G6 comes with (I have not checked), but a 245/45 really needs an 8" rim, even though the tire can be physically squeezed onto a 7.5" rim. A 235/50 tire, in contrast, will fit optimally on a 7.5" rim and quite acceptably on a 7" rim.

Goldfinger has the right idea about simply parking the car on the rare snow and ice days in Arkansas, incidentally: on the more frequent wet-pavement days, a three-season ("summer") tire will have much better wet traction than a so-called all-season tire, which pretty much makes a direct trade-off of wet traction in order to achieve some snow traction.

My personal choice among the 235/50-18 tires that would fit goldfinger's G6 is the Dunlop SP Sport 01, a superb German-made tire developed in conjunction with Audi and BMW to be the OEM tire on the Audi S4 factory hot rod and the big BMW 745i sedan -- but then he is back to a $200 tire.

 

[goldfinger]

Quote:

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Quote:

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Another tire size worth considering would be the 245/45-18, it's 26.68" tall as compared to the 26.86" tall 225/50-18. There are 61 different tires in this size, cheapest being the General UHP at $120 a pop with a 380 wear rating. They recommend a 7.5" to 9" wide wheel for this tire, and a 6" to 8" wide wheel for your current 225/50-18.

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"Recommend" might be too strong a verb for the rim width. Every tire is designed for a specific rim width, and that is the "measuring rim" for the tire. Usually, there is also a range of "acceptable" rim widths on which a tire will physically fit, but will perform less than optimally. It is usually a good idea to avoid fitting a tire to a rim at the extremes of the range. There is a rule of thumb on recommending a tire for a rim: for aspect ratios 50 and higher, the rim should be at least 70 percent of the section width, and for aspect ratios 45 and below, the rim should be 85 percent of the section width. A 225/50 tire is optimal on a 7" rim, which is probably what the G6 comes with (I have not checked), but a 245/45 really needs an 8" rim, even though the tire can be physically squeezed onto a 7.5" rim. A 235/50 tire, in contrast, will fit optimally on a 7.5" rim and quite acceptably on a 7" rim.

Goldfinger has the right idea about simply parking the car on the rare snow and ice days in Arkansas, incidentally: on the more frequent wet-pavement days, a three-season ("summer") tire will have much better wet traction than a so-called all-season tire, which pretty much makes a direct trade-off of wet traction in order to achieve some snow traction.

My personal choice among the 235/50-18 tires that would fit goldfinger's G6 is the Dunlop SP Sport 01, a superb German-made tire developed in conjunction with Audi and BMW to be the OEM tire on the Audi S4 factory hot rod and the big BMW 745i sedan -- but then he is back to a $200 tire.

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Excellent info. Thank you. The stock rim is indeed 7" wide. The Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position tires are more in my price range and look like a bargain at $129. Now that I know 235/50-18 will fit I will do some shopping around.

Thanks!