Changing tires on my 2016 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL

2637 Views 6 Replies 2 Participants Last post by AsrarGuna, Feb 20, 2020

AsrarGuna

Discussion Starter · Feb 17, 2020

Hello All,

I am new to this forum and this is my first post. I have 2016 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL and it is time to change the tires.

Currently Tire: Michelin Primacy LC; 215/55R17 (Company fitted). It is an All season Tire.

I was thinking of buying wider tires. I like wider tires. I think they look good. Don't know how it will affect my Car though. I checked online and following 2 are closest to above tire in diameter.
295/40R17
235/50R17

I am working in Kuwait and temperature here goes up to 55 Degrees (130 F) during summer. During winter it drops to 5 Degrees (40 F) with rains.

1) Should I go with Summer Tires instead of All Season? Will summer tires be better as far as safety and comfort are concerned for Kuwait's climate?
2) Should I stick to the original dimensions of 215/55R17?
3) If I go with wider tires, which one should I go from above 2 or do you recommend any other dimension? Will it improve the handling? Also since the above 2 are almost similar in diameter to existing ones, will my Altima sensors still need to be tuned?

Sorry for the long post.

Thank you,

Regards - AG

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d0ugmac1

· #2 · Feb 17, 2020

Normal words of wisdom from snowy Canada are your non-winter tires start to lose effectiveness around 8'C. Since you only ever get down to maybe 5'C...I'd say you could go with performance summers over all seasons no problem. I don't think they'd be any safer...Primacy's are good tires...but you can get softer rubber compounds in summer tires which will provide increased grip...at the expense of wearing out sooner (I go by the rating 280 is very soft, 400 is what I ran on my Altimas...and 600+ are eco-friendly, high mileage tires..but often noisy and less capable.

You cannot 'tune' the car to handle different wheel diameters...you need to try to keep the wheel size about the same (within 1% or so). In general for every 10mm in width, you need to drop 5% in profile...ie 215/55 are about the same size as 225/50's. There's no way a 295/40 is anywhere close to the same size as a 215/55. You could probably squeak the 235/50's on to your rims, clear the suspension parts, and only have minor errors in the speedometer.

I don't know what the roads you drive on are like, but going to profiles in the 30-40 range dramatically increases your risk of rim damage due to curbs, cracks holes, debris etc. but will provide a more responsive steering feel...in as much as that's possible with an Altima

You pay a lot more for these tires too.

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AsrarGuna

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 18, 2020

d0ugmac1 said:
Normal words of wisdom from snowy Canada are your non-winter tires start to lose effectiveness around 8'C. Since you only ever get down to maybe 5'C...I'd say you could go with performance summers over all seasons no problem. I don't think they'd be any safer...Primacy's are good tires...but you can get softer rubber compounds in summer tires which will provide increased grip...at the expense of wearing out sooner (I go by the rating 280 is very soft, 400 is what I ran on my Altimas...and 600+ are eco-friendly, high mileage tires..but often noisy and less capable.

You cannot 'tune' the car to handle different wheel diameters...you need to try to keep the wheel size about the same (within 1% or so). In general for every 10mm in width, you need to drop 5% in profile...ie 215/55 are about the same size as 225/50's. There's no way a 295/40 is anywhere close to the same size as a 215/55. You could probably squeak the 235/50's on to your rims, clear the suspension parts, and only have minor errors in the speedometer.

I don't know what the roads you drive on are like, but going to profiles in the 30-40 range dramatically increases your risk of rim damage due to curbs, cracks holes, debris etc. but will provide a more responsive steering feel...in as much as that's possible with an Altima You pay a lot more for these tires too.

Hello @d0ugmac1

Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it.

Regarding rating, I think my current tire is 240 A A. I am thinking about going with 400 range rating.

Regarding the tire size comparison and best fit. I checked various sites for Tire size calculator and found below info.

		Side Wall	Diameter	Speedometer vs Real Speed
Current Tire	215/55R17	215*.55=118.25 mm	668 mm	60 km/h -> 60 km/h
	225/50R17	225*.5=112.5 mm	657 mm	60 km/h -> 59 km/h
	235/50R17	235*.5=117.5 mm	667 mm	60 km/h -> 59.9 km/h

Based on the above table, 235/50R17 is the closest match to 215/55R17. However you mentioned that I will have to clear the suspension part to fit 235/50R17. Could you elaborate this, please?
If this is some major work, I would go not go with these tires then.

Regarding the roads I drive on. I drive on highways usually. Even internal roads are smooth here with rarely any bumps or crack holes. The speed on highways is usually 100-120 km/h. Could you please
explain what you mean by "going to profiles in the 30-40 range dramatically increases your risk of rim damage"?

Thank You again for your time.

Regards - AG

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d0ugmac1

· #4 · Feb 18, 2020

I stand corrected on the tiresize calcs

235's will be 2cm wider, 1cm on either side hopefully...you just need to make sure you clear the fender lip through the full range of travel of the suspension and a comfortable clearance from the strut/shock brackets/hoses.

For instance, a 35 series tire of the same dimensions (265/35/19) has a sidewall depth of 3.7" vs 4.7" for (215/55/17)...that's an entire 2.5cm less sidewall flex before your rim hits the pavement/curb/whatever.

I personally think the tires you have now would be pretty awesome in your climate/road environment. I can't believe you'd want to give up that 240 class of traction unless it's for longevity of tire life.

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AsrarGuna

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 19, 2020

d0ugmac1 said:
I stand corrected on the tiresize calcs

235's will be 2cm wider, 1cm on either side hopefully...you just need to make sure you clear the fender lip through the full range of travel of the suspension and a comfortable clearance from the strut/shock brackets/hoses.

For instance, a 35 series tire of the same dimensions (265/35/19) has a sidewall depth of 3.7" vs 4.7" for (215/55/17)...that's an entire 2.5cm less sidewall flex before your rim hits the pavement/curb/whatever.

I personally think the tires you have now would be pretty awesome in your climate/road environment. I can't believe you'd want to give up that 240 class of traction unless it's for longevity of tire life.

@d0ugmac1

Thank you again for the details. I really appreciate the time you have taken out to explain my queries. Thank you again. Now i get it.

After reading your answers, even I am thinking about sticking to 215/55R17 as I don't want to do all that work to fit a wider tire. I am more inclined towards Michelin Tires and wanted to get Michelin Pilot sport 4 but I don't think this tire comes in 215/55R17. This was one of the reasons I wanted wider tires. Maybe I will go with Pilot Sport 3 or Primacy 3/4.

Regarding UTQG, I got this detail from a website which showed that my current tire is 240 A A. The pic i took of my tires has this part worn out. I highly doubt that my current tire Michelin Primacy LC is 240 A A. It has to be more than 500. I will check my other tires and see if I it shows correctly. The ones I am looking for are below:

Primacy 3/4 -> 320 AA A
Pilot Sport 4 -> 300 AA A

Thanks again.

Regards - AG

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d0ugmac1

· #6 · Feb 19, 2020

You can get these which will do you nicely:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Sport+PS2&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=35YR7SPORTPS2N1&tab=Sizes

They should fit your rims and clear your suspension. Super sticky

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AsrarGuna

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 20, 2020

d0ugmac1 said:
You can get these which will do you nicely:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Sport+PS2&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=35YR7SPORTPS2N1&tab=Sizes

They should fit your rims and clear your suspension. Super sticky

Wow! 220 AA A. Nice!!.

Thank You ?

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