loarmistead

My factory Potenzas are on their last leg, and after reading a lot of tire reviews and seeing what great things folks have to say about the Hankook Ventus V12s, I was really looking forward to buying a set.

I have the "Sport" package on my sedan with the 18" wheels. My current Potenzas are:

Front - 225/50 R18
Rear- 245/45 R18

I see that the Ventus V12s come in my rear size - "245/45ZR18" - but they don't appear to come in my front tire size.

I'm no expert on "plus zero"ing my tires, so as far as that goes I'm clueless. I was just a little bummed to see that the tires I had spent so long researching aren't available in my Front size. Is there a way to "plus zero" my tires in order to get a set that fit Front & Rear, or do I need to look at a different tire? Recommendations are greatly appreciated!

yogregb

iTrader: (7)

240/45 frt and 275/40 rear, I think. Try neal at tire rack,he'll set you up

loarmistead

Thanks. I sent him an e-mail. For posterity I'll report back with his response.

loarmistead

Neal hath responded:

This is news to me... if it's better to have the same size tire on front and rear, why did Infiniti bother putting different sizes on front and rear from the factory? Thoughts?

pdxg37s

I would not reccomend a 245/40 on the front mainly due to it looking a little pinched on a 7.5 inch wide wheel.I am assuming you have 7.5 and 8.5 wide wheels. Same goes for the 275 on the rear.

Car companies have a reason to their madness (Usually)
Have someone send you a pic of the wider tires on wheels before you order them..

One fact i will put out there ...
If you go with any of the wider Ventus tires they will not handle better in dry or wet weather compared with the original Bridgestones.

Don't get me wrong the Hankooks are super tires.It's just the bridgestones are a whole other compound ,which is why they last for10-15K miles

The Bridgestones are so sticky that i have seen threads within myg37 wondering why they couldn't light up the rear tires and if they really had the traction control turned off..

anyways... .I agree they look a little undertired on the sedan ,but it drives great with that setup

Before everyone jumps on me. I agree that the Hankook is probably the best bang for your buck tire on the market...

Good luck with whatever you decide
(Source: family performance tire/wheel/suspension dealership for 30 years )

loarmistead

So it's looking like I may not be able to get the Ventus V12s then. I certainly don't want to compromise an already-good thing.

pdxg37s

don't just take my opinion..Mainly do your research since you can't really return tires.Probably a ton of pictures available through this site.
Depending on your area you might find a tire shop that will help.We keep a bunch of funky sizes in used tires for fit checking purposes and stance questions.

loarmistead

This is my first time researching car tires. It was always so easy to pick out tires for my trucks in the past. I never had to worry about these sizing issues. Now after putting so much time into researching the best tire, completely disregarding whether or not they actually made that tire to fit my vehicle , I feel nothing but let down and a bit overwhelmed - the main reason being the point that you brought up, tires aren't really returnable and if I make a wrong decision in the process I've bought it. Too much risk for this noobie bean counter to handle.

loarmistead

I may have to give Neal a call tomorrow and hash this dilemma out. The best I've been able to find, I can plus zero size the front to a Ventus V12 in 245/45 18, but if I wanted to maintain the stagger I'd need to size the rears to 275/40 18. The issue I run into with the rears is that that size Ventus V12 is that they require a minimum rim width of 9", and my stock wheels are 8.5". Gah.

Some tires carried that fit my vehicle in stock sizes are the Michelin Pilot Super Sports. I haven't read much on them, I guess I'll do that. Does anyone have any experience with them?
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

EDIT: Nevermind! It looks like the Pilot Super Sports might actually be too narrow for my wheels!? The stock sized front fit rim width 6-8'. Killin' me. I really don't want to have to buy the stock Potenzas again. They were good tires but I'm not a hard driver and I'd like to go for a more comfortable tire.

antirice

iTrader: (2)

Have you considered the RE760 Sport? It has great reviews and comes with Sedan's stock size.

yogregb

iTrader: (7)

I checked the tire rack site, you can go 255/40 or 265/35 in the rear to fit the wider wheel... I would keep the staggered set up... also try this link to compare tire sizes side by side...

Wheel-Tire size comparer - RIMSnTIRES.com

loarmistead

That's a great tool, yogregb, thanks.

antirice, I like the Re760s a lot. Rear tire matches up perfectly but the front tires in the stock size might be too narrow for my wheel. 6" vs the 7" of my stock RE050As.

Why does my staggered setup have to be so complicated? It seems like the only performance tires I've come across that match up exactly to my wheels are the stock RE050A Potenzas. Ayah!

pdxg37s

That is a sweet site for comparing..
When i put the 275 and 245s on the factory widths they look like sideways dog bones

loarmistead

After looking at the numbers again, I'm not sure what I was looking at incorrectly with the Michelin PSSs, but I was wrong, they match up to my stock tires! Huzzah! And with the reviews I've been reading on them, and the price that they are running on Tirerack, I definitely think these are the tires I'm going to go with. I appreciate everyone's help.

yogregb

iTrader: (7)

Can't go wrong with the Michelin Pilot sports... pricey, but great!