3.3TT RWD GT Tires

[IM2SLOW]

I need help finding what is the widest tire I can fit on my 2018 Kia Stinger GT RWD. I have Intake, Exhaust, and Racechip. I live in las vegas we can have light slow and cold temperatures. I have 11k miles and I have already replaced the stock tires once and need to find something wider for traction reasons. Any ideas?

 

[MerlintheMad]

Hi, and welcome. So, you're after looks rather than performance. Because if you go wider than the OE tires you are messing with the designed intent of the tires and suspension and balance. I know you can go pretty wide in the rear. I've read on here of ten and eleven inches tread. You're probably going to induce understeer the wider you go. I don't know what else. Snow: narrower is better than wider for traction.

 

[Hapa88]

Hi, it’s a common misconception that wider tires is going to get you better traction. What you actually want is a sticker tire in the same size and width as you already have or the correct compound for whatever conditions you’re driving in. I used to live in Vegas and only saw snow once (and it didn’t stick). Currently live in Tucson AZ so our weather is pretty close. I’d recommend high performance summer tires (categorized by “extreme” or “max” performance tires on TireRack.com) since it’s rare to see snow or sub freezing temps in Vegas.

Check our this article:
You Thought You Knew - Tire Contact Patches

 

[Tonkabob]

How about stickier and wider?
Some have gone 285s but depends on rim width and offset.

 

[MerlintheMad]

If I lived where there is never sticking snow, I'd keep my summer tires on year-round; i.e. if "they" don't salt the roads, then summer tires are good in that climate.

 

[IM2SLOW]

Thank you all for the input. the biggest problem I am running into is I can not get more than 6,000 miles on the factory tires. What are the recommendations? I was thinking 275/30 R19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S or Pirelli P Zero But now I am questioning that.

 

[antne]

Thank you all for the input. the biggest problem I am running into is I can not get more than 6,000 miles on the factory tires. What are the recommendations? I was thinking 275/30 R19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S or Pirelli P Zero But now I am questioning that.

If you're only getting 6000 miles on OEM Michelins, you need sponsor decals or lay off the loud pedal a bit.
A "wider" tire is going to give you a shorter (fore to aft) contact patch and possibly increase rolling resistance. A "max performance" , Type R compound will throw up gravel and other road debris and ding up your paint.

 

[MerlintheMad]

the biggest problem I am running into is I can not get more than 6,000 miles on the factory tires.

Lol. You, sir, are a maniac. That's the "problem". You just have to budget for tires, plain and simple.

 

[Ahawk1968]

Are you planning on keeping the stock wheels?

 

[Nasscar]

I think if you are wearing your tyres that quick, you will need to change your avatar name.

 

[JVsGT]

Thank you all for the input. the biggest problem I am running into is I can not get more than 6,000 miles on the factory tires. What are the recommendations? I was thinking 275/30 R19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S or Pirelli P Zero But now I am questioning that.

I just replaced my OEM tires in the rear with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3s. It's an all season ultra High performance tire with a warranty of 45k miles. The OEM tires are only warrantied for 25k miles... of course the warranty is cut in half due to the staggered setup. I got about 13.5k out of my factory tires. If I can double up that usage for this set, I'll be happy.

 

[MerlintheMad]

The OEM tires are only warrantied for 25k miles...

30K, I believe. But that is not enough more to get excited about. 45K is pretty good. I went with Nitto Motivo A/S UHP because they have a 60K miles treadlife warranty.

 

[Disco]

If you're only getting 6000 miles on OEM Michelins, you need sponsor decals or lay off the loud pedal a bit.
A "wider" tire is going to give you a shorter (fore to aft) contact patch and possibly increase rolling resistance. A "max performance" , Type R compound will throw up gravel and other road debris and ding up your paint.

Help me out with this one; I'm not good at math. If you lower the ratio to keep the overall diameter the same, how does going wider shorten the contact patch as you say? I'm not trolling you; I genuinely want to learn. I have almost always gone at least a centimeter wider than stock on all my cars and was considering going up to 235 on the fronts on my Stinger.

 

[G70 Owner]

Help me out with this one; I'm not good at math. If you lower the ratio to keep the overall diameter the same, how does going wider shorten the contact patch as you say? I'm not trolling you; I genuinely want to learn. I have almost always gone at least a centimeter wider than stock on all my cars and was considering going up to 235 on the fronts on my Stinger.

Do Wider Tires Give You More Grip? Not All the Time

 

[Helo58]

At first it wasn't obvious to me what both linked posts were talking about. It is worth mentioning that the two articles weren't explicitly clear in describing the nuance of what they are describing.

For the first article, the takeaway for me was, a wider tire ON THE SAME RIM at the same pressure may not always increase the contact patch, but a wider tire on a wider rim clearly increases the contact patch. Without changing the wheel width or diameter or tire pressure, you'd be best served by picking a stickier tire.

In the second "test" my takeaway was that a cars suspension is tuned from the factory to work with the factory installed equipment. If you install different wheels/tires, then the suspension needs to be tuned to work with them for maximum gain. As far as I know, the tester in this scenario changed nothing but tire size. According to lap times in dry handling, the wider tire wins and ties for braking performance.

Interesting, but long read if you want... Tire Contact Patch | Lowering Pressure Gain Traction

Clearly wider rims/tires offer more potential grip and I am not convinced that a wider tire on the same rim won't increase grip. I think it will, but the patch increase% is not in line with width% increase. If you increase tire width 10%, you might get a 2% increase in contact patch (different shape) with appropriate pressures. The ISF community did this regularly and successfully.

 

[MerlintheMad]

… a wider tire ON THE SAME RIM at the same pressure may not always increase the contact patch, but a wider tire on a wider rim clearly increases the contact patch.

The same width tire on a wider rim also increases the contact patch under cornering conditions. This is a trait of the side wall being stiffened by being stretched; it keeps the tread patch more firmly planted. The Michelins on my "summer wheels" are stretched half an inch in front and an inch in the rear. I have barely gotten a "squeak" out of them; and that would have been the worn down front tires before replacement as I pushed some hairpin curves the hardest I've dared go.

 

[Nasscar]

Nice new avatar Merlin. I had to look twice to check it was you. Getting into the Christmas spirit.

 

[Helo58]

Do Wider Tires Give You More Grip? Not All the Time

Think of this in terms of pressure. A wider tire would have more surface area, lowering the load pressure (lb/area) on the contact patch. If the pressure is lower, the tire will sit "higher" or less smushed out front to rear.

 

[me&stinger]

I'm also in the market for aftermarket wheels but I decided to stick with the OEM measurements.

I've always widened my tires in past cars...That is until I bought my Stinger. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I figure the engineers who designed the car know what they're doing and fitted the best sizes for performance. If anything, I would have gone with 9" max but these OEM 8.5" look pretty sweet as is.

 

[BertBert2019GT]

OEM Suspension

245/35R19
275/35R19