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bigger tires, 2003 TL?

2003 TL, bought used last year, love the car (despite needing a new transmission, as many do).

The standard tires are 205/60R16, and compared with my previous Pontiac Grand Prix GT, which as 225's, I'm pretty sure I can feel the difference. Granted, it's a different car, sits a little higher, just a tiny bit narrower (as I recall) ... but I still miss the grip.

The owner's manual says that altering the slightest specification about anything will bring certain destruction upon the vehicle. It claimes the TCS system, for example, depends on nothing changing.

But a car-aficionado friend of mine says - with no more of a reference than "I've read the magazines a lot and you hear it all the time" - that "Hondas" are meant to be modified, and that's the reason a lot of people choose that brand over some other.

And, the 2003 S-Type sported 215's - I would guess that the frames and suspensions, etc., are about the same.

So - what about getting wider tires when it's time to replace them?

Reply to
Charles T. Low
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Reply to
James

Thank you.

The tire selectors at two online sites yield only "stock" answers,

205/60R16. And yet clearly many people modify these specs. How hazardous is this, and how much does performance improve?

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Charles T. Low

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Reply to
Charles T. Low

Try this site:

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It shows 16, 17 and 18" tires that will fit your car. You just want to make sure you get the right sized tire so your spedometer doesn't get messed up

Reply to
James

James,

Thank you. It's taking a little digging, but for example I found a Dunlop SP Sport 5000, 215/50R17 (vs. the "stock" Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus, 205/60R16) which is within 1% of the original diameter, and looks like it has adequate numbers to suit my year-round driving in a cold winter climate. (Yes, I know I "should" use snows ... except that 90% of the time the pavement is bare ...)

Then at dunloptires.com, just to make life more interesting, the catalog doesn't list the rim sizes and diameters for all of its tires - only some. Grmph.

Because it would be "convenient" not to have to change wheels. I wonder if something like the SP Sport 5000 in a 215/55R16 would work, for example. It looks like a higher-end tire than the current Michelin - but I really don't have a good idea what it would be like to live with.

(You can see that I would like some improvement but am not fanatical about it.)

Thanks again.

Charles

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Charles T. Low

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Reply to
Charles T. Low

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