Stupid Tires Question

"J. Walter Weatherman" (J-WalterWeatherman)
04/18/2014 at 12:57 • Filed to: None

I have what may be a very stupid question about tires, but I am going to ask it anyway, Jalop cred be damned.

Here's the situation: My wife drives a 2007 GTI that has the 18" potato cutters (pictured), and correspondingly small sidewall. She is ... well... not the most attentive driver, and has a bit of a problem with hitting curbs. Not surprisingly, all of her wheels have curb rash on them, and a few of them are actually bent. As a result of the bent wheels, I recently picked up a used set of wheels for her car off of Craigslist. The new wheels came with old, worn out tires on them, which I will be replacing before putting them on her car. However, in looking at those tires, I noticed that the sidewalls extend out from the edge of the rim noticeably more than the tires that are currently on her car. The tires on my wife's car are nearly flush with the wheel (meaning that if you hit a curb, it is guaranteed curb rash) but on the new set of tires, there is actually a significant amount of tire that sticks out beyond the side of the wheel (meaning that if you were to hit a curb with those tires, there is at least some hope that you wont get curb rash). However, both sets of tires are the same size (225/40R18).

So the question is this: Is there some tire size measurement that I am missing here, regarding the width of the sidewall? Or do some manufacturers just make slightly wider tires (or thicker sidewalls)? When I get new tires, I would definitely like to get ones that offer a bit more protection to the wheels, but I am not sure how to go about finding which tires those are.

DISCUSSION (21)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > J. Walter Weatherman
04/18/2014 at 13:03

I know that some purposely have a thick sidewall that extends past the rim to protect from curb rash. Don't think there's a measurement that indicates it but it's usually advertised on the info for the tire on websites and such if they have that feature.

Jcarr > J. Walter Weatherman
04/18/2014 at 13:08

Section width does not factor in raised lettering or protective ribs so that's why tires can have that protective lip, but still be the same size as ones that don't.

J. Walter Weatherman > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
04/18/2014 at 13:20

That's what I suspected. I am currently poking around on TireRack looking to see if any tires advertise this, but so far I am coming up empty.

I may have to resort to walking into a tire shop and asking if they know of any tires that stick out further from the wheel. I fully expect them to stare at me blankly like I am some sort of idiot though... and then maybe offer to sell me tires that are actually larger (as in, have larger section width and/or aspect ratio).

Party-vi > J. Walter Weatherman
04/18/2014 at 13:20

It's usually a feature on tires that have recessed bead to protect wheels. Just get some Michelin Pilot A/S 3 tires because they're amazing.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > J. Walter Weatherman
04/18/2014 at 13:35

Yeah I don't think it's something they'll often get asked for. They should probably advertise these sort of tires better, I know plenty of people who could use them...

Spaceball-Two > J. Walter Weatherman
04/18/2014 at 13:38

What are you doing with old set of Detroits?

J. Walter Weatherman > Jcarr
04/18/2014 at 13:45

Well, the weird thing is, the tires that are currently on her car do have a "protective lip" that juts out right above the rim, but then slopes back so that the rest of the sidewall is flush with the wheel. That protective lip too narrow to do much of anything, though, and hasn't prevented any of the curb rash from happening. The tires on the new wheels I picked up don't have a distinctive protective lip, the entire sidewall just seems to be wider. Yet somehow both tires have the same measurements.

J. Walter Weatherman > Spaceball-Two
04/18/2014 at 13:48

I am keeping the wheels that are straight to use as spares (I doubt we have seen the last of my wife's run-ins with curbs). I don't have anything in particular planned for the bent ones.

Spaceball-Two > J. Walter Weatherman
04/18/2014 at 13:50

Gotcha. I've been searching for a decent set for a while. Most have met the same fate.

BadMatt > J. Walter Weatherman
04/18/2014 at 13:55

Maybe the new wheels are not as wide as the originals? Therefore, same width tires will "balloon" more out of the edges...

J. Walter Weatherman > Spaceball-Two
04/18/2014 at 13:55

Yeah, it took me a really long time watching CL to see a decent set pop up.

HammerheadFistpunch > J. Walter Weatherman
04/18/2014 at 14:14

The Potato cutters were designed with that flush look, but the new wheels should have the same offset, just different amounts of material around the rim. I hate those wheels (the cutters) for that reason. Figured out what tire to run?

Jcarr > J. Walter Weatherman
04/18/2014 at 14:16

The Continental ExtremeContact DWS that I have on my Jetta have a good size lip. I've got about 40k miles on them and still lots of tread left.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > J. Walter Weatherman
04/18/2014 at 14:18

You're not missing anything, some tires have this as a feature to prevent cur rash. I have a set of Yokohama S-Drives that I got a great deal on tirerack for...great summer tire and protects my rims great too (honestly I'm not even sure if this tire has this as an advertised feature - at least on my car it seems to go beyond the curb quite a bit and I haven't experienced any rashing - I've definitely hit the curb a few times).

J. Walter Weatherman > HammerheadFistpunch
04/18/2014 at 14:21

For the record, the new wheels are the exact same. It is just another set of potato cutters off of another 2007 GTI. I flirted with the idea of getting different wheels, but, in the end, it was easier to just get the stock ones, since I knew they look good on the car, and the set I found were in really good shape and weren't very expensive.

I haven't figured out what tires to run yet. I am welcome to any suggestions that you (or anyone else on here) may have.

J. Walter Weatherman > Jcarr
04/18/2014 at 14:22

Thanks, I will check those out.

HammerheadFistpunch > J. Walter Weatherman
04/18/2014 at 14:25

I've got Pilot Exalto A/S on my tdi, they are super tough and grippy without turning into slicks in the wet. Sad story; I am the only person to curb rash her wheels...I even had to replace the tire. GUH!

trynthink > HammerheadFistpunch
04/18/2014 at 16:04

+1 for the Pilot Exalto A/S. They are great.

Boss2452stolemylunchmoney > Jcarr
04/25/2014 at 23:30

I run that tire on my dd... Great tire.

Boss2452stolemylunchmoney > J. Walter Weatherman
04/25/2014 at 23:33

Are the new wheels the same rim width? If the new wheels are narrower, it could explain that. The other thing is that the new tires could actually be wider. The 275/35-19's I just bought are actually wider than the 285/35-19's that came on my car.

Boss2452stolemylunchmoney > J. Walter Weatherman
04/25/2014 at 23:35

Conti extreme contact DWS all the way. Great tires, quiet, grippy.... You could drive them on the bottom of a pool without hydroplaning... And they'll keep doing it for over 50,000 miles.