How much better ride LGT on 205/50/17?

Hi,

I need new summer tires for my 08 LGT daily driver, and I was thinking of going 205/50/17 DWS's to improve the harsh ride and better protect the rims on the crappy roads we have around here.

For those who have done this, how much difference in ride going from a 45 to a 50?

 

Thanks,

 

Paul

I'm running that size for my winter tires. They do ride a bit better but they also give up some cornering ability/stability. If that's a trade off you're willing to take I say go for it.

205 x 50% = 102.5mm (+5.75mm)

215 x 45% = 96.75mm (stock)

225 x 45% = 101.25mm (+4.5mm)

 

Given the same model of tire, you will get most of the same benefit going with 225/45 as you would going with 205/50. Plus more stickum for your more dollars.

For a dd, go with 225/45

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I ended up going with the 205 50 DWS and I am very happy with them.

The car rides much smoother, as I mentioned in my first post, we have crappy roads up here.

The only down side is that the spedo is off by about 3 MPH at 65~70, I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for Johnny law

 

Cheers,

 

Paul

I'm closer to dead on with 225/45, so your speedo isn't like as far off as 3MPH. Compare it to GPS if you have one.

I'm closer to dead on with 225/45, so your speedo isn't like as far off as 3MPH. Compare it to GPS if you have one.

I did compare with my GPS on a recent trip of several hundred miles, spedo was dead on with the stock size, but indicated 70MPH is now really 72~73MPH according to the GPS.

Since the non LGT's run 205's, I was wondering if I there was a simple reprogram that could be done in the ECU to change for the tire size?

I have a Diablosport Predator for one of my other cars, and one of the selectable programing parameters is tire size to correct spedo error with non stock sizes.

 

Cheers,

 

Paul

 

OOPS! Just noticed you are in Ontario. The cops are going nuts here because the province and cities are broke, they will give tickets just fro sneezing these days.

Things are further complicated because I have a US car, so the KPH scale is smaller, the wife already has problems with it, she was unknowingly hooting along at 55MPH in a 50KPH zone the other day, that would be VERY expensive, at 90KPH in a 50KPH you get hit with "Excessive Speeding", massive fines and they seize the car...

Non LGTs also have smaller wheels. Your combo travels .6" farther per revolution than stock non LGT, or +.77%.

 

You are +1.94% over stock LGT. 70MPH on the dial should be about 71.4MPH actual.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I ended up going with the 205 50 DWS and I am very happy with them.

The car rides much smoother, as I mentioned in my first post, we have crappy roads up here.

The only down side is that the spedo is off by about 3 MPH at 65~70, I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for Johnny law

 

Cheers,

 

Paul

 

Would love to hear your long term review of the DWS. Considered getting them when I needed tires. Ex-wife rushed to get some tires and bought some cheapies that I'm chewing up.

I purchased my cars with the DWS on it.. not sure how long they were on the car before I bought it but I got 40k on em before I lost one to a nail and had to replace them all. Definitely great winter tread, they handle great, just make some noises when hard turns/off ramps, probably from sidewalls being slightly squishy. Worth it for the cost, I replaced them with another set of DWS

I had The Conti's DWS on my WRX great tire all around but did get a hugh bubble on the side wall after hitting a NYC pot hole, they had about 10K on them

I had The Conti's DWS on my WRX great tire all around but did get a hugh bubble on the side wall after hitting a NYC pot hole, they had about 10K on them

 

Yes, I've read about weak sidewalls.

I changed to 225/45/17 and it made my speedometer dead-on. It read high before that.

Non LGTs also have smaller wheels. Your combo travels .6" farther per revolution than stock non LGT, or +.77%.

 

You are +1.94% over stock LGT. 70MPH on the dial should be about 71.4MPH actual.

 

Did over 1000kms in it yesterday in the US round trip, according to my Garmin 70MPH on the spedo was actually 72~73...

On the Canadian side, 110 KPH was about 115 on the Garmin, but I have a US spedo with the small KPH scale, harder to read accurately.

 

Would love to hear your long term review of the DWS. Considered getting them when I needed tires. Ex-wife rushed to get some tires and bought some cheapies that I'm chewing up.

 

I now have about 2500 miles on them and still very happy. Dove through a snow squall in the Adirondacks a couple of weeks back, and locally through a big storm last week.

They work very well in the snow for all season tires (but they are new), but are for sure not my Blizzaks.

On the Blizzaks I almost never kick in the ABS, but did when stopping in packed wet snow on the DWS' a few times.

They ride very smoothly compared to my old OEM 092's (in fairness they were 45 series though), but there is more noticeable sidewall flex in the corners, as I knew there would be. IMHO, the 092's had almost the same limited sidewall flex as the run-flats on my Corvette, not what I wanted on my daily driver up here on these bad roads.

I do a lot of highway driving so for me these are great smooth comfortable tires, they've transformed the car, but so far also stick well and are very good in the wet.

I am disappointed with the amount of spedo error though, difficult to stay legal in KPH's in Canada with my US spedo, you always have to think of it...

If I had to do it again I may have gone stock size, but not sure how they would ride compared to the smooth 50's?

 

Cheers,

 

Paul