I would like to upgrade my stock GTS tires (215/45/18) to something a little wider and hopefully a little better in terms of all season traction and ride quality. Does anyone have suggestions on which tires would be best for a reasonably priced upgrade? Should I go 225 width or 235?

 

Try a 225/40-18. The GTS has the same size tire as the MazdaSpeed 3. A lot of MS3 owners go up to that size or even a 225/45-18. How wide is the stock GTS wheel. If it isn't at least 7.5 inches, stay away from a 235. If it is, try a 235/40-18. All these sizes will keep your speedometer fairly accurate.

 

Stock GTS tires are 215/45/R18.

To keep your speedometer errors to a minimum, for a 225 wide tire you'd have to go 225/45/R18.

For a 235 wide tire, you'd have to go 235/40/R18.

Not sure which is a better size to go with personally, I'm still stuck on the same question myself.

As for the actual tire model itself, you can have a look at Tire Rack, they have a pretty good selection. Some of the popular models would be Pirelli PZero Nero M&S PINNA, and Bridgestone Potenza RE92A.

 

I run 18x8 +38 Rota Torque with Toyo proxes 4, 225/45/18 grip is great, but I had to roll my rear fenders.

 

225/45/18 would be the best replacement. 245/40/18 would be a good option if you can figure out how to fit it. 235/40/18 will through your speedo off by .5mph. When your speedo says 60 you will be going 59.5mph.


235/45 will not fit, so I read.

 

I will be buying the BF Goodrich KDW2's very shortly. Ran them on my last car for DD and auto crossing, and loved em.

 

Ill be going 235/40 on a 35 offset wheel as well

 

^ can you post pics when youre gonna have them installed? i wanna see how it looks =)

 

yeah it will be a couple of weeks though, gotta wait for my dealer to get thier hands on the TPMS sensors for the wheels

 

Tires are like shoes, which ones are best depends entirely on the conditions and what you'll be using them for. I would stay away from RE92s though, they came stock on my car and I'm glad I got rid of them.

 

All-season tires are usually a compromise between wet/dry traction, tread life, ride comfort, snow traction, among other things. i find that All-seasons do none of those particularly well so i try to stay away from them. If you live in an area that gets little to no snow, I'd go with a summer-style tire that has excellent wet/dry traction. If you live in an area that gets plenty of snow (like myself) I would invest in a set of rims with Snow tires mounted on them. I will be getting a set this fall as there is no way in hell the stock dunlops will be touching the snow!

 

^Agreed, all-seasons are no seasons.

 

^^ I have to get all seasons because I dont have any room to store an extra set of wheels or tires. I work a lot and barely have time for oil changes and regular tire rotations.

So what would be the best all-seasons. I would just like to get something decent in snow and rain.

 

in secret, i've always wanted to try toyo proxes 4
http://www.toyo.com/docs/tires/tires...category=sport

 

I had BFG Traction TAs and they were decent.