I am looking to upgrade Tires (or may be wheels as well) for my '02 Honda Accord Ex Coupe. The OEM config is 205/60R16

Need your expert advice on, which one would be better? considering I drive almost 200 miles a day, and looking for comfort ride and better handling

Thanks
Vics

 

Well if you are just looking to ugrade tires, than i would recommend you going just a hair bit wider... And choose a good z rated tire... This will give you a little more comfort, and better handling...
Although, if you are going to get Upgraded wheels, what size are you looking to get???

 

In terms of comfort, switching to 17" will be more harsh. Not bad, but not in the direction of comfort.

x2 about going wider with 16" just because you mentioned comfort. A bit better handling without the harshness of 17".

 

Thanks Guys

@Corvetteking, I might switch to 17" only, not too fancy..

But I think if 215/60R16 fits perfect on OEM wheels (16'', width 6.5), than I will drop the idea for upgrading wheel, and just go with Tires.

What you guys think of Bridgestone Turanza w/Serenity (215/60R16 94V). Or could suggest something similar with other brand.

Thanks again.

 

It should fit... I myseft am a big fan of the bridgestone potenza's...They make a 215/45/r16... How much are you looking to spend on your tires??? And why are you going with a 60 profile??? why not 45 or 50???

 

As you go wider, you need to use lower profile in order to maintain about the same overall outer tread diameter (for speedometer & clearance).

215/60-16 would be bigger, but less than 2% difference.
225/55-16 would be 20mm wider, but less than 0.5% bigger diameter.
215/45-16 would be about 8% smaller diameter - I don't think I'd do that.

Go to www.tirerack.com & put in your car's information. Pretty sure that'll show acceptable substitute sizes.

 

@CorvetteKing, Well, the reason why I am stick to high profile i.e. 60, is the comfortable ride. I believe lower profile can make your ride bumpy. I have a budget arnd 500.

@JimBlake, so going with 215/50R16 would be better? How about the ground clearance of car, will it get change? What would be the impact?

Thanks again

 

Going with a higher profile will mean your speedo will be borked. It gets annoying quickly when you look at your speedo and have to do math in your head to figure out how fast you're actually going. A 225/55 on 16"s is plenty of rubber for a smooth ride, IMO.

 

215/50-16 would be about 5% smaller
215/55-16 would be smaller by less than 2%

I guess I'd look at 215/55-16 or 215/60-16 depending on what's available in which tire.

Taller sidewall (215/60) would be more comfortable, but the difference is subtle. There's a comparable difference in comfort between different tire types of the same size. Check out TireRack & look for Touring tires, rather than High-Performance tires. They've got some pretty good discussion about the trade-offs between comfort & performance.

 

Thanks Guys,

So I went to Firestone and other dealers yesterday, and recommended to use only 205/60R16 (with 16" wheel), as more width might rub the inside wall during turns, and hardly gain anything.
And said, if I want to increase the width, than go with 215/R5017 i.e. upgrade the rims as well.
confused now..