2007 Sonata which Tire Size to Buy
 

Hello All,

Thank you very much for your continued support, I have another question for the forum.

I have a 2007 Hyundai Sonata 2.4 liter with aluminum alloy wheels which has Michelin 215/55 R17 tries.

I am located in California and I am looking to buy just regular tires for my Sonata however my question is that what size should I buy? There are six variants available

1. 215/50 R17
2. 215/55 R17
3. 215/60 R17
4. 215/65 R17
5. 225/50 R17
6. 225/55 R17
7. 225/60 R17
8. 225/65 R17

I would understand that 215 and 225 is the width of the tire but if I go for a wider tire will it interfere with my wheel arches of my car? Also if I stick with 215 tires then can I opt for either 50/55/60/65.

My colleague indicated to me that the engine life of the car increases if the tires have a larger diameter namely 215/65/R17, he also indicated between 215/65/R17 and 215/50 R17 it will be better to opt for 215/65/R17 as the engine will be spinning at a lower RPM for the same speed which in turn will marginally affect engine life and mileage. He did say that there will be a speedometer error which will have to be compensated


Is there any brand of tires which is better than the rest?

Any advise will help me out.

Regards
Veneet

Your original 215/55 R17 tries are 26.3" tall.

215/50 R17 tires are 25.5" tall and will cause an speedometer error of 3.0%. (Unacceptable)
215/60 R17 tires are 27.2" tall and will cause an speedometer error of 3.3%. (Unacceptable)
215/65 R17 tires are 28.0" tall and will cause an speedometer error of 6.7%. (Unacceptable)
225/50 R17 tires are 25.9" tall and will cause an speedometer error of 1.5%. (Acceptable)
225/55 R17 tires are 26.8" tall and will cause an speedometer error of 1.8%. (Acceptable)
225/60 R17 tires are 27.6" tall and will cause an speedometer error of 5.2%. (Unacceptable)
225/65 R17 tires are 28.5" tall and will cause an speedometer error of 8.3%. (Unacceptable)

Personally, I would go with the 225/55 R17 tires.

As far as brand, I've always had good experience with Kumho tires.

Engine life will not be enhanced if you increase the tire size. It still takes X amount of force to propel your car at Y speed. Better off driving the car slowly and change the oil on time.

I recommend buying the stock tires as this is the tire that was designed for the car. It's a crap shoot to second guess what might be a better size.

Nova is right, Kumho is a great balance of price and performance. The best Kumho tire is excellent, even for my Lexus. You could buy Michelins, but they cost 33% more and are not any better.

Explore your tire options on tirerack.com, the largest seller of tires in the world.

Hello Nova and Jsinton,

Thank you very much for your responses.

will stick to the origninal size of what I currently have.

Regards
Veneet